Farmer attitudes and preferences regarding a hypothetical lease hunting policy in Saskatchewan

ABSTRACT

Lease hunting, as a market-based policy instrument, can introduce monetary incentives to farmers to provide wildlife habitat. This article investigated farmer attitudes toward the introduction of a hypothetical lease hunting policy within a jurisdiction where there is significant demand for recreational hunting on private land but lease hunting is currently not legal. Farmers were evenly split between supporting and failing to support the introduction of lease hunting and indicated that liability and control of access were important lease contract characteristics. A probit model indicated farmer support was influenced by the quantity of land they rented, their experience with previous hunter access and their perceptions of the size of resident wildlife populations. A tobit model showed how farmer perceptions on the quantity of wildlife and the quantity of rented land influenced the magnitude of the monetary payment they would be willing to accept to permit hunter access to their land.

KEYWORDS:

• Lease hunting
• recreational hunting
• agriculture
• wildlife policy