An Analysis of Participation in Nonconsumptive Wildlife Recreation

One of the roles of recreation economics in public policy is to demonstrate the magnitude and economic value of outdoor activities which do not register their importance through market transactions. In pursuing this research, economists can now argue the economic value of harvesting wildlife stocks for recreation purposes; for example, salmon fishing (Brown et al. 1965), duck hunting (Hammack and Brown 1974), and deer hunting (Gum and Martin 1975). There has been relative neglect of the nonconsumptive uses of wildlife such as bird-watching, wildlife watching, and wildlife photography. The impact of public policy on wildlife abundance and nonconsumptive wildlife recreation is determined by the responsiveness of users to changes in publicly controlled natural resources, such as habitat and stocks of wildlife. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of the nature and quantity of nonconsumptive wildlife recreation.