Preferences for Alternative Moose Management Regimes among Finnish Landowners: A Choice Experiment Approach

Abstract

The moose was endangered in Finland, but under a strict control of limited usufruct rights has successfully increased its population. Landowners derive use value through hunting rights, but also face the cost of browsing damage in forest stands. We applied choice experiment method to study the heterogeneous views of landowners on moose management. The results show that the majority of respondents would prefer a lower population level. Although at the current population level, the value of bag exceeds the cost of browsing damage, even the group that had both interests preferred lower population levels.