The size of elk herds in Eastern Oregon has become a controversial
issue. Trade-offs exist between the numbers of elk and domestic
livestock on a given area of land, and also between elk and commercial
timber harvesting policies. Disputes arise from differing views as
to proper use of the natural resource base, specifically, public
forested and grazing lands. Economic comparisons between elk and
alternative uses of the land are complicated by the non-market nature
of the elk resource, as this necessitates using a method to value the
resource which may not be familiar to many decision makers.
The objectives of this thesis were: (1) to analyze the demand
for antlerless elk tags in eastern Oregon and to use the analysis to
examine alternative pricing policies for allocating these antlerless
tags, (2) to evaluate alternative elk management strategies from an
economic perspective, and (3) to optimize societal benefits from the
land base over time.
Objective (1) was met by using the travel cost method. Results
indicate that state hunting revenues would rise substantially if tag
prices were increased so as to equilibrate quantities demanded and
supplied. Objective (2) was met by using a computer simulation model
to ascertain the impacts of harvesting and management policies upon
the herd's stability and productivity. The results, placing emphasis
on the antlerless animals, indicate that a slight reduction in current
herd levels is economically desirable. This result is caused in part
by the decreasing returns to scale from the elk herd as measured by
total harvest per 1000 summer adult elk. Limitations of these conclusions
with respect to bull elk demand are documented.
Finally, objective (3) is met by formulating the dynamic relationships
between elk, domestic livestock, and timber as a system of
dynamic Lagrangian multipliers. This allows optimal inter-temporal
allocation of resources by discounting future returns from these resources
and equating marginal benefits of present and future use. The
decision rules are examined, and economic implications of the multipliers
are discussed. Although a theoretical model, some data is discussed,
as are directions for future research. / Graduation date: 1983
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/26733 |
| Date | 27 October 1982 |
| Creators | Sandrey, Ronald Albert |
| Contributors | Schisseur, Wilson E. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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