Ch. 18 - Wildlife Management NR ECON EXAM

Economic Value of Wildlife

Consumptive use, non-consumption use, indirect use, option value, non-use value

Consumptive Use

hunting and fishing, commercial and trade products (fur, meat, ivory, medical resources, and fisheries)

Non-consumptive Use

wildlife tourism and safaris, bird watching and nature photography, zoos and conservation centers.

Indirect Use

pollination, pest control and disease regulation, carbon sequestration and climate regulation- ecosystems supported by wildlife, biodiversity stability.

Option Value

Future use potential- future biomedical research.

Non-use Value

Existence of polar bears.

Population Growth Curves

Need to know the growth dynamic of the population - a population increases, decreases, or remains stable due to many factors. (food availability, sex ratios, reproduction, and mortality rates)

Human Institutions and Values

The growth curve is one side, another side is how a human institutions have shaped the development of wildlife law and management practices.

Property Rights

Dominant land owning tradition in the US is private property. Land owners can exclude trespasses. Wildlife governed by state and federal law.

Open Access Resources

landowners had no incentive to conserve the wildlife, so hunters and harvesters had the freedom to take without limit.

Control by State and Federal Authorities

rules over private actions that were decimating wildlife stocks- rules on hunting, prohibition on interstate shipments of harvested game.

US Wildlife Management Outcomes

Open access resources and control by state and federal authorities

Economics of Sport Hunting

Over 100 million US residents participated in wildlife related recreation, spending over 15 billion dollars.

Sport Fishing

fresh water fishing

Sport Hunting

big game (Elk, deer..)

Effort Revenue Function

The benefits are proportional to the size of the catch.

Effort Benefit Function

Is because people value time spend out hunting.

How to Regulate Sport Hunting

Closed season (length of hunting season), Lotteries to control hunting effort, Bag limits (# of animals that can be take per person)

Private Ownership

Private owners have the right to restrict access to their property. Assuming private owners have the incentive to maximize profit, they will charge a price to reduce effort to the optimal allocation.

Distributional Issues in Restoration and Predator Control

Yellowstone Wolf: exterminated due to hunting and conflicts with livestock ranchers, eventually came the reintroduction program under Endangered Species Act. Increased visitors/ tourism, but localized costs on livestock ranchers

Economics of Sport Hunting

Illegal markets often thrive in places where conservation cannot be enforced. (In 1900- 10 million elephants in Africa, today barely 400,000).