Economic Effects of Environmental Quality Change on Recreational Hunting in Northern Saskatchewan

Abstract

This study was undertaken to provide some of the social values for the non-timber component of the Millar Western-NorSask Forest Mangement Licence Agreement. This study esimates the changes in the value of a recreational hunting experience as one, or a combination of several, of the following items change in the forest environment: i) road acecss; ii) game populations; iii) congestion; and iv) travel distance. There are several unique aspects of this study. It extends traditional contingent valuation analysis by evaluation multiple quality changes at once. A variation on the contingent valuation method, called the contingent behaviour method, was developed to examine these tradeoffs; the payment vehicle used in this model is travel cost. The data used in this study were obtained from two mail surveys if Saskatchewan hunters: one of whitetail deer hunters and one of moose hunters. Using these data, a binary choice random utility model was developed. Using information on logging-wildlife interactions, a simulation of six post-timber harvesting scenarios were created for zone 69 in the Millar Western-NorSask FMLA area and the annual and capitalized welfare impacts on hunters were calculated. The results show that an increase in the welfare of resident Saskatchewan whitetail deer and moose hunters can be expected from the harvesting of timber in the Forest Management License Agreement. The estimated annual increase in welfare ranged from $5799.54 to $18979.72 for whitetail deer hunteres and it ranged from $4247.22 to $19409.98 for moose hunters. The highest welfare impacts were obtained from scenarios where game populations were increased and congestion was decreased, suggesting that people may prefer avoiding areas with forestry operations unless the area offers increased hunting attributes (e.g. game).