8095

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8095
• Author: National Research Council.
• Title: Impacts of Emerging Agricultural Trends on Fish and Wildlife Habitat.
• USFW Year: 1982.
• USFW - Doc Type: Washington, D.C.
• Copyright Material: NO

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habitat improvements is determined by pushing such investments to the
level where the added benefits of improvement are equal to the added
costs of improvement. These costs of improvement include the outlays
for habitat improvement as well as the foregone net returns from
agricultural output or other competing uses. In the past there have
been at best only partial assessments of benefits and costs of
wildlife resource decisions, and the assessments can only be improved
with a more acceptable measure than we have at present.

VALUE OF WILDLIFE AND HABITATS

Consumptive values of wildlife are those associated with the
harvesting of wildlife resources. Consumptive values can be divided
into commercial and recreational values.
Commercial value is the direct income from the sale of wildlife
or wildlife products or from a business directly related to a wildlife
resource (for example, the fur trade and commercial fisheries). These
are explicit values that can be measured in dollars.
Recreational value refers to the enjoyment derived from
recreational activities such as sport hunting and sport fishing in
which wildlife resources are harvested. It should be noted that,
while the hunter or fisherman gains consumptive value from
"harvesting" a deer or fish, he or she also benefits from the
nonconsumptive values associated with the total recreational
experience. It should also be noted that whereas a few individual
creatures are removed from the population, strict regulations ensure
that adequate numbers remain to produce offspring. Thus, even though
harvested, the wildlife resource replenishes itself for the enjoyment
and USe of future beneficiaries.
Nonconsumptive values are those associated with activities that
do not preclude later use of the same resource. Nonconsumptive values
include recreational value, biological value, environmental quality
value, educational and philosophical values, and aesthetic value.
Recreational value is associated with the enjoyment gained from
many recreational activities involving wildlife and wildlife habitats,
such as birdwatching, hiking, camping, photography, and the
nonconsumptive benefits enjoyed by hunters and sport fishermen. It
relates to the "pleasure, adventure, and enhanced physical and mental
health from outdoor activities . . . (that people gain from) . . . the
pursuit or sometimes accidental enjoyment of wildlife and its habitat"
(Bailey 1981).
The biological value of wildlife and its habitats is derived from
their contribution to genetic research, their potential for providing
now unknown benefits in the future, and their crucial role within
their delicately balanced ecosystem.
The environmental quality value is the contribution made by
wildlife and wildlife habitats to the overall environmental quality or
health of the ecosystem. TO the environmentalist, the presence of
wildlife and its habitats is a valuable indicator of the overall
environmental quality. Wildlife resources are of educational value