(33) Expanding income potential from wildlife and fisheries recreation on Ames Plantation

Bruce Leopold, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS Allan Houston, University of Tennessee, Grand Junction, TN, and Shelton Whittington, Ames Plantation, Grand Junction, TN

Session: Poster Session

Expenditures by hunters, anglers, and wildlife enthusiasts represent an important segment of potential income to rural economies from natural resource-related activity. Research conducted at Mississippi State University found non-industrial private landowners in Mississippi could diversify incomes derived from their properties by developing fee hunting enterprises. In 1998, revenues collected from fee hunting on Mississippi private lands ranged from US$2,964 to $5,254 on average per landowner or $3.04 to $5.78 per acre while net revenues averaged from $1,539 to $3,244 per landowner or $1.58 to $3.86 per acre. Nationally these expenditures are echoed in direct sales from wildlife-associated recreation, which grew to $108 billion in 2001. Additionally, educational examples showing how to establish natural resource enterprises (i.e., hunting, angling, and wildlife watching) on working, privately owned farms and timber operations are few.

A landowner demonstration project was established at Ames Plantation to illustrate the revenue potential for farm level wildlife enterprises. Beginning in 2005, Ames Plantation intensified its fee hunting, angling, and shooting sports enterprises to supplement and diversify incomes taken from existing agricultural and forestry operations. These enterprise examples portray how existing farms are able to combine wildlife and fisheries recreation with their main sources of generating income, agriculture and forestry. By incorporating hunting options for bobwhite quail Colinus virginianus, waterfowl, morning dove Zenaida macroura, increasing recreational shooting sports, and developing recreational fishing impoundments, wildlife associated income increased from $25,000 to $205,500. This represents a two-year income increase of $9.69/ac or 700% increase in income collected on plantation property engaged in recreational enterprises. Contributing factors for Ames’ success involved initiation of a quality white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus management program and unbundling hunting opportunities for eastern wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo. Importantly, these enterprises were established without measured negative impacts to the existing cattle, row-crop, corn silage, or silvicultural production on the plantation.

Adam Tullos
Mississippi State University
North Mississippi Research and Extension Center
P.O. Box 1690
Verona, MS, 38879, USA
Phone: 662-566-2201
Fax: 662-566-2257
adamt@ext.msstate.edu

Daryl Jones
Mississippi State University
Box 9690
Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA
Phone: (662) 325-5769
Fax: (662) 325-8726
djones@CFR.msstate.edu