Economic valuation of recreation access to wildlife management areas in Tennessee

Maintaining visitation at public lands is critical to public land managers in order to continue conservation efforts and offer recreation opportunities. Wildlife management areas (WMAs) are public lands set aside for wildlife conservation, education, and recreation and differ from other kinds of public lands in their relative size, proximity to rural areas, and types of outdoor activities allowed. These areas are utilized by a variety of users ranging from consumptive groups, such as hunters, to non-consumptive groups, such as wildlife watchers. While previous studies have explored the demand for public lands in general or specific types of public lands such as national or state parks, information regarding how WMAs are valued by various users is lacking. In addition, justification for investment of public funds in acquisition and development of new WMAs or similar conservation areas will require demonstrating the economic benefit to stakeholders, including visitors. The objective of this research was to estimate a model of demand for visits to WMAs and quantify the economic value of recreation access to visitors. By combining primary data collected from a mixed-mode survey of visitors on trip profile and visitor demographics, with secondary data on WMA site characteristics, a travel cost model was estimated to characterize the economic value of WMA visitation. Visitor characteristics and WMA characteristics that relate to WMA visitation demand were also identified. The aggregate annual economic value of WMA access in Tennessee was estimated to be between $137.37 and $293.62 million depending on the modeling assumptions. Per trip economic value of WMA access was found to be significantly different among user groups. In addition, personal characteristics, including party size and the primary visitation purpose being hunting, and WMA characteristics including camping allowed, boat access, and wheelchair accessible blinds were found to have a positive effect on WMA visitation, whereas age, education, and ATVs being allowed were found to have a negative effect. New insights regarding the economic value of WMA access can provide stakeholders with information on public interest and can help managers to better serve the public while ensuring conservation for the future.