Where’s the meat? Exploring the value of changes in game management and governance to British Columbia resident hunters

Hunting is an important activity for many BC residents, providing both food and recreational pleasures. It also serves to transfer funds from the more populous to the less populous regions of the province. Many of the most sought game species in BC are in decline, with an increasing share of hunts becoming limited entry (LEH). We use a choice experiment with LEH moose hunt applicants to explore how hunters value increasing the harvestable surplus, changing the probability of being drawn, changing governance, and increasing the share of license fees dedicated to game management. Using predicted mean willingness to pay estimated for each participating hunter, we find that as described, the changes have on average positive value. Trading between LEH draw probability and odds of harvesting is predicted to leave some participating hunters worse off. Combining changes can generate substantial value for participating hunters, and suggests that increased license fees would be acceptable if these desired changes can be achieved. Where such changes also result in more hunting trips, it is expected to generate increased economic activity in the less populous parts of the province. Management Implications There are several management implications that follow from our research. • For many hunters, engaging in hunting has value beyond harvesting game. Our results demonstrate that as currently managed, moose hunters in limited entry hunts in British Columbia would prefer to be given the opportunity to hunt more often, accepting a lower probability of harvesting a moose. The hunting managers can manipulate this tradeoff by placing more restrictions on the hunt that reduce the probability of a successful hunt, and increase the number of hunters able to go hunting. Based on the results, doing so would increase hunter wellbeing in British Columbia. While our empirical results are specific to moose, as more game species are managed through limited entry hunts, wildlife managers should consider the overall wellbeing of hunters as well as the sustainability of the managed species. There are various ways to allocate the sustainable harvest among hunters, some of which generate more welfare than others. • Specific to Canada, we demonstrate that moving to a game management approach more like that in many US states would be preferred to the present governance approach by many hunters. Quantitatively, our results suggest that if game management is moved to an arms length body of wildlife ecology and hunting experts, along with dedication of revenues collected from hunters to game management activities, British Columbia resident hunters would be willing to pay license fees similar to those presently being paid by hunters in nearby US states. This result does come with a caution. The willingness to pay for changes in management and in aspects of the hunting experience is increasing in income. This implies that such changes are worth more to people with higher incomes. Given that all hunters pay the same license fees, implementing a higher license fee would be regressive. • We use results from another survey of hunters to demonstrate the role that hunting in British Columbia plays as a mechanism for redistribution from urban to rural areas. This implies that policy changes that provide more resources for game management, which one hopes would increase the number of harvestable animals, would also serve to increase this redistribution from urban to rural areas. Such changes are therefore accomplishing more that simply improving the wellbeing of resident hunters.