Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation Research Articles

Exploring the relevance of the multidimensionality of wildlife recreationists to conservation behaviors: A case study in Virginia

AbstractWildlife recreationists' participation in conservation behaviors could provide key support to the conservation efforts of state fish and wildlife agencies. However, little is known about how identifying with multiple forms of wildlife recreation (i.e., hunters, anglers, birders, wildlife viewers) may influence participation in conservation behaviors, specifically for supporting state fish and wildlife agencies and their conservation goals. Using a mixed‐mode survey of Virginia wildlife recreationists, we explored the hypothesized relationship between individuals' participation in conservation behaviors and their identification with multiple forms of consumptive and nonconsumptive wildlife recreation. We found wildlife recreation identity is multidimensional, with many individuals identifying with consumptive and nonconsumptive identities simultaneously. Further, consumptive‐only recreationists (i.e., hunters and/or anglers) participated in conservation behaviors less often than nonconsumptive‐only recreationists (i.e., birders and/or wildlife viewers) and recreationists with both consumptive and nonconsumptive identities were less likely to support a state fish and wildlife agency in the future. Our findings underscore the importance of all types of wildlife recreationists, especially those with intersecting identities, as state fish and wildlife agencies work to advance conservation. Hence, developing multi‐faceted engagement strategies may enhance support for state fish and wildlife agencies among their growing wildlife recreation constituency.

Economic contributions of wildlife watching recreation expenditures (2006 & 2011) across the U.S. south: An input-output analysis

Non-consumptive wildlife recreation is a popular activity for many people and its importance to the U.S. economy is gradually expanding. In 2011, 71.8 million people participated in wildlife watching activities, spending $54.9 billion in equipment and trip related expenses. This is a 1% increase in participation and a 7% increase in expenditures since 2006. The popularity of non-consumptive wildlife recreation and the associated economic activity provides incentives for wildlife conservation and protection. Periodic assessment of these expenditures and their economic contributions to local and regional economies provides critical base-line information about the importance of wildlife resources to wildlife resource managers and policy makers. Input-output models were constructed for each of the thirteen states in the U.S South22The U.S South includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. and used to derive industry output, employment, total income, and value-added for 2006 and 2011 – the latest two National Survey of Fishing Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation surveys. This approach provided an initial comparison of the relative importance of non-consumptive wildlife recreation across the region and over time. Expenditures by wildlife viewers in the South remained flat from 2006 to 2011 but decreased as a share of the national totals. At the state level, wildlife watching expenditures increased substantially in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma but decreased substantially in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Regionally, wildlife watching related employment fell considerably over the period although there were increases in Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Temporal reliability of willingness to pay from the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation1

The US Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (FHWAR) has been a source of information on wildlife-related recreation since 1955. The contingent valuation method has been used to estimate willingness to pay for recreation trips in the 1980, 1985, 1991, 1996 and 2001 surveys. However, relatively little comparative analysis over time has been performed. Similar value elicitation formats were used in the 1991 and 1996 surveys for bass and trout fishing, deer hunting and nonconsumptive wildlife recreation. We statistically analyze these data to assess the temporal reliability of the willingness to pay. We control for the effects of trip quality and socioeconomic variables and find that willingness to pay is significantly lower in 1996 for each activity. A subtle, but important, change in the 1996 question format may drive the result of lower willingness to pay. 1 A previous version of this article was presented at the 129th annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, September 1999, Charlotte, NC. The authors thank two anonymous referees for constructive comments.

A Travel Cost Analysis of Nonconsumptive Wildlife-Associated Recreation in the United States

Abstract Increased emphasis on sustainable resource management in forestry has effectuated a demand for various nontimber values. Nonconsumptive wildlife recreation is an important nontimber service produced on forest and rangeland. Travel cost models and data from the 1991 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation are used to estimate the demand and value for nonconsumptive wildlife-associated recreation in the United States. Resulting welfare measures are shown to be sensitive to assumptions about the cost of travel time, pecuniary costs, and functional form. Consumer surplus estimates range from 18.7 to 327.5 dollars per trip, while aggregate estimates of consumer surplus resulting from access to nonconsumptive wildlife recreation range from 5.8 to 66.4 billion dollars annually. Availability of information about nonparticipants allows comparison of truncated and untruncated demand models. Contrary to previous findings, consumer surplus estimates from truncated models are smaller than for untruncated counterparts. Trip demand is found to be adversely affected by per capita decreases in forest and rangeland. Models include interaction variables to avoid forcing hunting or fishing as potential substitutes for the large number of people who do not hunt or fish. Hunting and nonconsumptive wildlife recreation are complementary activities, while the results for fishing are mixed. FOR. SCI. 46(4):496–506.

Estimating demand for wildlife viewing in zoological parks: An exhibit‐specific, time allocation approach

Research concerning wildlife viewing in zoological parks provides important information on which to base exhibit and zoo design decisions. Assessment of visitor behavior—in particular visitors’ demands for viewing specific exhibits—is critical for evaluating the success of current exhibits, improving existing exhibits, and designing future zoological facilities. This paper estimates the impact of exhibit and zoo design, environmental and demographic characteristics on time spent viewing specific species in zoological parks. Unlike traditional research concerning nonconsumptive wildlife recreation, this analysis uses viewing time as a means to estimate demand for wildlife viewing. Model results demonstrate that variables representing exhibit design, zoo design, and exogenous environmental conditions have significant impacts on wildlife viewing time.

A landscape ecological model for wildlife enhancement of stormwater management practices in urban greenways

A spatial distribution model has been developed to predict the pattern of stormwater catchment facilities in developing urban areas. The model has been validated through comparison of predicted results with historical data in Guelph, Canada, using nearest neighbour analysis. The validated model has been applied to developing urban-rural fringe lands in Guelph to illustrate land use patterns likely to occur under different scenarios. Simulations of various scenarios for incorporating stormwater catchment facilities into greenways have been tested with the model and the resultant land use patterns compared with the status quo, through measures of landscape ecological integrity such as connectivity and porosity. The model was applied to an area on the edge of Guelph scheduled for development. The predicted land use patterns of various planning scenarios were generated and analysed. The results demonstrated that landscape integrity could be increased, urban wildlife habitat enhanced, and opportunities for residential non-consumptive wildlife recreation improved through integration of the evolving ‘blue-green’ open space provided by urban stormwater management facilities into existing greenways.

Effect of Price on Forecasts of Participation in Fish and Wildlife Recreation: An Aggregate Demand Model

A logit regression model of participation in fishing, hunting, and noncon-sumptive wildlife recreation is estimated based on national survey data. The model is specified both with and without price...

The Value of Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation in the United States

Public interest in wildlife and wildliferelated activities extends well beyond the traditional hunting and fishing activities. In 1980, approximately 29 million individuals (16 years and older) took trips primarily to observe wildlife while 83 million (49 percent of population 16 years and older) observed specifically wildlife in both residential and nonresidential settings (USFWS 1982). Moreover, there are at least 18 national conservation or wildlife-related organizations with memberships ranging from 5,000 in the American Birding Association to 4.2 million in the National Wildlife Federation. The extent of participation in these activities reflects a substantial demand for the products of wildlife management and yet, with few notable exceptions (Cicchetti 1973; Bishop 1978; Hay and McConnell 1979, 1984), the relationship between management programs and nonconsumptive wildlife recreation has not been investigated. Just as economic studies have contributed greatly to managers' knowledge of the value of wildlife resources for fishing and hunting (Brown, Singh, and Castle 1965; Hammack and Brown 1974; Gum and Martin 1975; Bishop and Heberlein 1979; McConnell and Strand 1981; Kealy and Bishop 1986), so they can inform on the value and extent of nonconsumptive uses of wildlife, and the sensitivity of those uses to changes in management programs. In this paper we provide information for the wildlife management community and the public trustees by developing a model to estimate first, the probability of participation and second, the number of hours people observe, photograph, and feed wildlife away from the home conditional on participation. The model is used to show how participation in these activities may be changed with changes in habitat. In addition, we use it to calculate a lower bound estimate for the total benefits from nonconsumptive wildlife recreation trips in 1980. The data used for estimation are from the 1980 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (USFWS 1982).

Non-consumptive wildlife-oriented recreation: A conceptual framework

Recreational non-consumptive use of wildlife has been attracting increasing numbers of people and generating growing economic benefits from tourism activity. More importantly this type of wildlife interaction has potential benefits to conservation from the long-term effect of changing attitudes towards wild animals and natural habitats. It does not, however, fit well into the existing wildlife management paradigm due to the nature of the final product, a recreation experience. This paper aims to provide an integrated framework that illustrates the major components of non-consumptive wildlife recreation and links between research areas in ecology, animal behaviour, recreation, tourism and existing wildlife management institutions. The fundamental purpose of this paper is to cast wildlife conservation in a new light that recognizes the need to formulate management plans in both a social and biological context.

Comparing long‐run forecasts of demand for fish and wildlife recreation

Abstract This study addresses the question of stability in the empirical relationships and predictability of the logit model. It compares two long‐run forecasts offish and wildlife recreation based on the 1980 and 1985 national surveys. The results show that nonconsumptive wildlife recreation will be the most rapidly growing activity. This trend is evident in both the 1980‐ and 1985‐based forecasts, with virtually identical results being obtained for medium population growth. The historical growth in fishing is expected to continue, with growth in cold‐water fishing being more than twice that of warm‐water fishing. The 1980‐ and 1985‐based forecasts of fishing are not appreciably different, with the more recent forecast indicating slightly more growth in cold‐water fishing and slightly less in warm‐water fishing. The hunting forecasts are mixed, with small game hunting being expected to decrease slightly, big game hunting to be unchanged, and migratory waterfowl hunting to increase. In conclusion, the rep...

Harvesting and Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation Decisions

To aid in the planning and marketing of wildlife recreation, a logit regression model was used to assess the effect of age on the probability of participation in waterfowl hunting and wildlife viewing. The results indicate that the probability of ...

An Analysis of Participation in Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation: Comment

An Analysis of Participation in Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation: Comment

An Analysis of Participation in Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation: Reply

An Analysis of Participation in Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation: Reply

An Analysis of Participation in Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation

One of the roles of recreation economics in public policy is to demonstrate the magnitude and economic value of outdoor activities which do not register their importance through market transactions. In pursuing this research, economists can now argue the economic value of harvesting wildlife stocks for recreation purposes; for example, salmon fishing (Brown et al. 1965), duck hunting (Hammack and Brown 1974), and deer hunting (Gum and Martin 1975). There has been relative neglect of the nonconsumptive uses of wildlife such as bird-watching, wildlife watching, and wildlife photography. The impact of public policy on wildlife abundance and nonconsumptive wildlife recreation is determined by the responsiveness of users to changes in publicly controlled natural resources, such as habitat and stocks of wildlife. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of the nature and quantity of nonconsumptive wildlife recreation.

Nonconsumptive Uses of the Michigan Deer Herd

Nonconsumptive public uses of wildlife were divided into 4 categories: (1) nonconsumptive experiences while hunting, (2) active pursuit with intent to observe wildlife, (3) incidental observation, and (4) conceptual activities related to wildlife. This classification system was applied to measure the nonconsumptive uses of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) by Michigan taxpayers who filed individual income tax returns in 1974. A mail questionnaire revealed that 41% of the respondents were involved in searching for deer solely to observe and/or photograph the species. Nearly 90% thought that seeing deer would add, or added, to the enjoyment of their favorite outdoor recreation. An estimated 78% of the respondents during the year participated in conceptual activities related to deer. About V3 of the respondents were not involved in deer-related activities during the prior year. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 43(3):620-625 Hendee (1969) differentiated appreciative uses of wildlife, such as viewing, research, and photography, from consumptive uses such as hunting and trapping. Since that time, nonhunting uses and benefits of wildlife have received increasing attention. The economic value of nonconsumptive wildlife recreation, at least in the southeastern United States, has been evaluated and was found to exceed the combined value of hunting and fishing (Horvath 1974). The psychological values of wildlife to nonconsumptive enthusiasts have been studied (Kellert 1976), as well as the demographic characteristics of these people (Applegate 1974, Horvath 1974, Aney and Cowan 1975, Allred and Jones 1976). All of these studies have used different definitions of nonconsumptive uses of wildlife, and have focused on wildlife at a general level rather than on individual species. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to develop a preliminary classification system for describing nonconsumptive uses of a single species, white-tailed deer, and to investigate perceptions and indirect use of the herd by Michigan taxpayers. For inspiration and advice I thank G. A. Petrides, J. H. Fitch, R. L. Levine, and D. E. Ullrey, all of Michigan State University. Technical assistance was provided by G. C. Jamsen, Michigan Department of Natural Resources.