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Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a neurological disease affecting white-tailed deer has been found in many states including Tennessee. To design effective CWD management programs, stakeholders includ...

Tournament fishing is growing in the United States and around the world (Detmer et al., 2020). Participation in tournament fishing may allow anglers to compete in fishing derbies and advance their ...

Economic valuation can aid decision-makers in justifying the costs of conservation programs like wildlife reintroductions. Factors like stakeholder trust and confidence in conservation professional...

Long-term success of wildlife restoration programs depends on their potential to bring economic benefits to stakeholders. Because of the non-market nature of some benefits (e.g., wildlife viewing),...

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) provide recreational opportunities to a diverse set of recreationists sharing the same resources to meet similar or opposing objectives. Encounters between members ...

Recent trends show declining participation in consumptive outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing. A factor contributing to this trend is a decline in per capita participation among certain ...

Many land-grant institutions with agriculture and natural resource programs in the United States offer online courses to meet student demand. The goal of this study was to understand how major educ...

Sustaining public support for new and existing protected areas including wildlife management areas (WMA) requires demonstrating whether and how protected areas can bring economic benefit to local s...

To determine the diverse motivations of eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunters, a self-administered questionnaire was developed and mailed to a sample of 5,000 licensed turkey hunters in Tennessee (response rate = 36%). A cluster analysis yielded three types of respondents in terms of their hunting motivations: social harvesters (44%), experiential harvesters (22%), and social outdoor enthusiasts (34%). Hunters in these segments were then analyzed to compare their support for various hunting regulations. While 61% of Tennessee eastern wild turkey hunters reported to be satisfied with current regulations, harvest-motivated hunters were less receptive to regulations that would limit season lengths or bag limits while socially motivated hunters were more accepting. The hunter groups did not differ in their preference for decentralizing regulations by management zones. Findings from this article may guide wildlife managers in designing socially acceptable regulations.

Wild pigs are a free-ranging invasive species capable of inflicting significant damage on rural property. Wildlife management personnel may benefit from understanding the negative societal impact of wild pigs. A statewide mail survey of randomly selected landowners was conducted in rural Tennessee counties known to have wild pigs. The economic value of damage caused by wild pigs in 2015 in these counties was estimated at $26.22 million, whereas the cost incurred in control and eradication was $2.09 million. Input-output modeling of damage in these counties on the state’s economy showed $32.8 million in lost industrial output, $4.6 million in lost labor income, and 332 jobs or job equivalents affected. Findings are useful in understanding the types of damage, and the extent of these impacts on the rural economy. They could also facilitate comparing the expected benefit with the cost of control programs in Tennessee and comparable areas facing similar invasions from wild pigs.

Fouts KL, Poudyal, NC, Moore R, Herrin J, Wilde, SB. 2017. Informed stakeholder support for managing invasive Hydrilla verticillata linked to wildlife deaths in a Southeastern reservoir. Lake Reserve Manage. 00:1–10. Public opinion surveys prior to implementing management actions provide managing agencies with a detailed understanding of stakeholders' attitudes and help inform the general public on the complexity of potential management actions. Like many other Southeastern U.S. reservoirs, J. Strom Thurmond (JST), on the border of Georgia and South Carolina, has been infested with nonnative hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata). Avian Vacuolar Myelinopathy (AVM), a fatal wildlife disease linked to a neurotoxic cyanobacterial species growing on hydrilla, has been documented on this 28,733-ha reservoir since 1998, when the hydrilla acreage first exceeded 350 ha. As of 2016, 90 bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) mortalities and hundreds of waterfowl deaths have been attributed to AVM disease on JST. To assess and compare the diverse stakeholders' attitudes toward aquatic vegetation, knowledge of AVM, and support for management actions to remove hydrilla, a mail survey was conducted targeting various JST user groups (anglers, boaters, campers, waterfowl hunters, and shoreline property owners). Generally, respondents were overwhelmingly in favor of reducing hydrilla density on JST, but shoreline permit holders (homeowners) were significantly more supportive of hydrilla management than boaters. Similarly, all user groups supported management actions to remove aquatic vegetation, including stocking triploid sterile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). Support for removing hydrilla was found to be significantly higher among users knowledgeable of AVM, suggesting that outreach activities educating the public on the effects and prevention of the disease would help enhance stakeholder support for hydrilla removal and management in public reservoirs.

Hunting lease revenue can be a reliable supplemental income for forest landowners. Although studies have examined factors influencing per acre lease rates, little is known about how various characteristics are capitalized in hunting club dues. The objective of this study was to conduct a hedonic analysis of big game hunting club dues in Georgia, USA using a variety of club-, site-, and location-specific characteristics. To accomplish this objective, multivariate regression analysis was applied to explain variation in hunters’ self-reported big game hunting club dues in 2012. Implicit price was then calculated for each significant covariate. Club size, presence of food plots, and game quality had positive effects on club dues, whereas membership number had a negative effect. These results should be useful for landowners and club lease managers interested in enhancing the marketability of their hunting sites and understanding the effect of management actions.

Roads are a pervasive fixture on most landscapes and frequently impact wildlife. Management of road effects on wildlife should consider the attitudes and areas of contention among various stakeholders using the road. To inform future management of road impacts on the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), a species of conservation concern, we surveyed stakeholder groups on Jekyll Island, Georgia, USA to measure overall attitudes and value orientations relating to terrapin management and to evaluate the acceptability and potential for conflict among user groups regarding specific management alternatives. A majority of respondents supported the protection of terrapins, although support varied by group membership and value orientation. Specific actions that did not impact speed limits or road aesthetics were most acceptable, but substantial conflict existed for most strategies. We intend to use these results to improve communication and buy-in of stakeholders as we develop management alternatives for th...

Machu Picchu, Peru, is recognized as a top international travel destination. Pressure from the approximately 900,000 tourists who annually visit the ancient Inca city threatens the ecological integrity, physical substance and cultural authenticity of the World Heritage Site and surrounding area, including the Inca Trail. Multiple organizations and agencies currently involved in the management of Machu Picchu have distinct agendas for the conservation and development of the city, and conflicts regarding public access, economic growth and cultural preservation are rampant. Attempts to establish carrying capacities have failed, with proposed daily visitor levels ranging from 800 to 4000. This paper explores the complex issues surrounding tourism at Machu Picchu and presents a potential solution: an adaptive management approach based on the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) sustainable tourism framework. This integrative strategy accounts for multiple perspectives and synthesizes disparate goals embrace...

Understanding factors that influence the supply of private acreage for lease hunting has become increasingly important to sustaining hunting. Improving on existing studies that mostly utilized landowners' responses from contingent surveys, we adopted a different approach to this question by analyzing 2009 market data from Georgia counties. Results from multivariate regression indicate that supply of private lease hunting acres was influenced by: (a) site characteristics such as the relative proportion of certain habitat types; (b) market forces and access factors such as rural road networks and proximity to population centers; and (c) spillover effects of conservation programs such as wildlife management areas (WMAs), and government payments to landowners through a variety of habitat enhancement programs. The findings provide support for policies that increase public investment in habitat conservation on private and public lands or assist landowners with developing innovative marketing strategies to benef...

The spatial structure of county-level agricultural production in China in 1999 is analysed. A convenient simple method that corrects for both spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity in the input–output relationships using spatial lag models and an allowance for the response coefficients to vary across relatively homogeneous regions are described. Empirical results suggest an abundant labour supply and extensive use of agricultural machinery reflected in its declining price. Although mechanization is relatively new, machines have replaced fertilizer in agricultural production in the North, Northeast, Northwest and East regions while irrigation and fertilizer are the significantly important inputs in the Central and Southwest regions.

This study examined factors related to private forest landowners' interest in managing wildlife and avian habitat on their land. Regression analysis of survey responses from Tennessee Cumberland Pl...

We modeled hunting demand among resident hunters in the Southeastern United States. Our model revealed that future hunting demand will likely decline in this region. Population growth in the region will increase demand, but structural change in the region's demography (e.g., “browning” and “aging”), along with declining forestland access will decrease hunting demand. The results suggested that programs encouraging younger and non-white populations to participate in hunting could mitigate a forecast hunting decline in the region. Increasing license fees, while politically risky, should increase agency revenues due to price-inelastic demand. The model developed here can be applied to understand and project hunting demand in the Southeast and adapted to other regions.