Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1996

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Major Professor

J. Mark Fly

Committee Members

R.W. Dimmick, A.M. Saxton

Abstract

Many species of wildlife have been associated with agricultural land uses. Modem changes in farming practices have reduced the quantity and quality of habitat available to wildlife near farms. At the same time, rural land development has proceeded at a steady pace, resulting in an additional loss of wildlife habitat. As over 90% of the state of Tennessee is privately owned, most wildlife habitat exists on private lands.

The Upland Game Bird Habitat Program (UGBHP), a cost-share program offered by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), was initiated in 1987 in an effort to work with private landusers in mediating the effects of changing land uses on small game. The program provided financial support for plantings and other wildlife habitat improvement activities. This research evaluated the human dimensions of the UGBHP, analyzing participant characteristics, behaviors, perceptions, and attitudes relative to the UGBHP, as well as the relationships between these variables.

The evaluation of the program was conducted using a four-wave mail survey, as recommended by Dillman (1978). Questionnaires were mailed to all 435 UGBHP cooperators. The final survey response rate was 64.4%. Descriptive statistics were used to organize the data and relationships among variables were analyzed using either Fisher's Exact test, the chi-square test, or the Mantel-Haenzel chi-square test (p≤0.05).

The respondents tended to be landowners (80%), part-time farmers (53%) or nonfarmers (32%), and Caucasian (97%). The majority of respondents had at least some college education (75%) and a household income of $50,000 or more (55%). The most common cost-share practices chosen >vere plantings of reseeding annuals (72%), shrub lespedeza (52%), and grass-legume mixtures (46%). Ninety percent of respondents allowed hunting, with access provided most often for the respondent (81%), family (77%), and/or friends (72%). A few respondents had more permissive hunting policies, allowing hunting by anyone who asked (14%) or by anyone at all (1%). The individual(s) who were allowed hunting access differed by to the respondent's relationship to the land.

Most respondents were satisfied with the UGBHP enrollment process. The average time lapsed between contacting TWRA and the biologist's visit was 25 days; 77% of all respondents were satisfied with this time lapse. Sixty-one percent of respondents received the cost-share payment within 30 days; only 15% of those who did not were dissatisfied with the time lapsed before receiving the payment.

Generally, respondents were satisfied with the written habitat management plan (88%) and were willing to recommend the program to other people (96%). Respondent willingness to recommend the program varied according to satisfaction with the time lapsed for the biologist's visit, the cost-share rate, the written habitat management plan, and also according to several evaluations of the biologist. The majority of respondents either 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that the cost-share payment rate was fair (73.1%), the biologist was knowledgeable about wildlife habitat (87%), recommendations were made to suit the respondent's interest (83%), and recommendations were made for both game and non-game species (72%).

The top five species respondents expected to benefit from enrollment in the UGBHP were bobwhite, deer, cottontail, turkey, and mourning dove. Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed believed that wildlife populations overall increased as a result of the practices implemented. Most respondents reported increased knowledge about managing habitat for wildlife (94%) and implemented additional management practices at their own expense (84%). The implementation of additional management practices varied according to overall program satisfaction, the increase in knowledge about wildlife habitat, participation in other cost-share programs, and the respondent's agricultural status.

Although most respondents appeared satisfied with the UGBHP, the open-ended comments revealed several areas for possible improvement, including more frequent follow-up contacts with the biologist, better clarification of the terms of the UGBHP agreement, better supply and delivery of seeds and seedlings, and the need for distribution of information about the current status of the northern bobwhite.

The survey results indicated that for some respondents, technical assistance may be at least as important as financial incentives. Also, while the original target audience of full-time farmers may not have been reached, the enrolled group of landusers were very interested in habitat improvements for wildlife. Consequently, the program appeared to be successful in terms of increasing wildlife habitat on private lands.

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