{"id":2740,"date":"2022-09-12T03:03:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-12T07:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/?p=2740"},"modified":"2023-07-25T15:43:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T19:43:40","slug":"do-wildlife-management-areas-support-local-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/do-wildlife-management-areas-support-local-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Wildlife Management Areas Support Local Businesses?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
New research shows how visitors to wildlife management areas \u2014 including hunters, anglers, and boaters \u2014 make significant contributions to the local and state economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wildlife management areas are protected lands managed for the conservation of wildlife species and to provide public access for hunting, fishing, trapping, and other outdoor recreational opportunities. These areas are an important global conservation tool but sometimes face criticism regarding their potential impact on local economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Extensive research has evaluated the contribution of overall recreation to state and national parks, but we know less about how hunters, anglers, and others contribute to local economies when recreating at wildlife management areas. Assessing the economic contribution of recreation at wildlife management areas allows agencies and governments to make informed decisions about how wildlife management areas are developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between 2017 and 2019, we surveyed approximately 2,000 visitors to wildlife management areas to understand their activities, how frequently they visited these properties, and the expenses incurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also estimated annual visits to all wildlife management areas in North Carolina and calculated the economic contributions of these visitors to the state and to local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We found that most visitors to wildlife management areas did not hunt or fish, and these \u2018non-traditional\u2019 visitors spent $119.83 per trip on average, compared to $84.19 per trip on average for hunters and fishers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, recreation at wildlife management areas in North Carolina was responsible for approximately 2,200 jobs, $84 million in annual labor income, and $140 million in annual value added to the state\u2019s economy (i.e., gross domestic product).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also found that communities near wildlife management areas readily captured and retained those visitors\u2019 spending. Our results indicate that every dollar a visitor spends recreating at a wildlife management area generates an additional 99 cents of economic activity in North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We found that anglers took just under half a million trips to North Carolina\u2019s wildlife management areas in 2018. They spent approximately $83 per person per trip, which resulted in over $25 million in recreational spending directly related to wildlife management area visits. Almost 80% of anglers\u2019 spending occurred within the same local communities as the wildlife management area they visited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wildlife management areas are poised to become progressively more valuable for communities in North Carolina as demand for fishing and other types of nature-based recreation increases and as open space decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Casola, W.R., Peterson, M.N., Sills, E.O., Pacifici, K., & Moorman, C.E. 2022. Economic contributions of wildlife management areas in North Carolina<\/a>. Forest Policy & Economics, 140, 102747.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about wildlife management areas in NC, check out the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission\u2019s Game Lands Program website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nResearch Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What did we study?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What did we find?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What else did we find? <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Anything Else? <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n