Selling the 'great outdoors' generates ag dollars

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

June 27, 2002 -- Used to be, ranch and farm lands were paid for through the production of livestock and crops; but as land in Texas continues to change hands, landowners continue to look beyond the traditional ways for the land to pay for itself.

One way is leasing land for hunting, fishing and/or birding.

"Hunters pay the bill for wildlife management in this country. That's an important fact, because many of the decisions that landowners make are based on economics," said Dr. Billy Higginbotham, Extension wildlife and fisheries specialist, speaking to a group at the LCRA Cooper Farm.

Higginbotham said from the time of Native Indians through the early history of the United States settlers, hunters made up 99 percent of the country's existence.

The Indians were the first "wildlife managers" in the country, and burned some areas for a number of reasons, including creating wildlife habitat. Once the "white man" started moving to the United States, they had a great impact on wildlife, the specialist cited.

For instance, in the Pre-Colombian days, the white-tailed deer population had been established at about 30 million, but by 1900, it had diminished to around one-half million.

"There was an awakening that occurred in the late 1800s. People began to realize that wildlife wasn't an unlimited resource. That if some efforts weren't made from a conservation standpoint, citizens might not have any wildlife left," said Higginbotham.

He said early settlers, including many farmers and ranchers, formed sportsmen's groups and were, actually, the model for the first conservationists.

Today, along with conserving natural resources on producers' private land, wildlife habitats are becoming a new source of income for landowners through nature tourism - hunting, fishing, hiking and birding.

Also, as the population becomes more urban, groups have established "special seasons," such as bow hunting, black-power and spring turkey, to mention a few.

"In Texas, $3.2 billion are added to our economy every year through hunting. Wildlife is held in the public domain. Sixty-six percent of wildlife habitat in the United States is on private land, and 80 percent of the wildlife is found on this 66 percent (of land)," said Higginbotham.

He added that while a large majority (72 percent) of Texans believe in the right/privilege to hunt, the reasons were to furnish food, for population control and for predator control. The majority were against hunting for trophies, profit or recreation.

"As the population (of Americans) increases, our percentage of hunters in that population is slowly but steadily decreasing. That's not true just on a national level, but it's true in Texas as well," added Higginbotham.

As "urbanites" continue to escape the larger cities, looking for "back to nature" activities, rural landowners have more choices for land use. Studies show land leases have gone up in price over the years for private property hunts, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) has made it easier to hunt on public land, too.

Higginbotham said the majority of hunters do so because of family and/or friends, and want the meat rather than the trophies. He said hunters have become more "apologetic" in describing their hunting, such as "harvest and take," rather than the "kill and shoot" used in years past.

He was critical of using the word "sport" in front of hunting, since it can open a real can of worms concerning the ethics of hunting. Also, he said hunting should never be done "because the animals will die anyway or starve." These are not good reasons, according to Higginbotham.

In closing remarks, he profiled Texas hunters: 98 percent male; 94 percent Anglo; 42-years-old; and 68 percent urban dwellers. Only 5.6 percent of Texans hunt, but that equals a little over one million people.

"We're awfully white; we're getting awfully old: we're awfully male; and, we're awfully urban and getting further and further and further away from land ownership, from the standpoint of (the land) being passed down (to the next family generation)," he said.

"I would suggest that the decisions made by landowners in this room will, ultimately, dictate the future of wildlife."