The Economic Contributions of Georgia’s Wildlife Management Areas in 2013: A statewide and county-level analysis For: Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division By: Southwick Associates, Inc. & Responsive Management August 2014 PO Box 6435 Fernandina Beach, FL 32035 Tel (904) 277-9765 Executive Summary The economy associated with outdoor recreation can be a powerful economic engine for communities across the nation, generating additional spending, supporting and creating jobs, and building future investments in open spaces and recreational areas. Wildlife Management Areas play an integral part in those outdoor recreational opportunities. Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division commissioned a study of the state’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) to estimate county-level and statewide activity and to determine the contribution that visitation activity makes to the state’s economy. It is important to note that this analysis is not reflective of total visitation, rather utilization by a target user group of sportsmen in 2013. Drawing from license sales records of hunters with WMA privileges and Georgia Outdoor Recreation Pass (GORP) holders and survey-based data, this report presents economic contributions based on retail spending in Georgia attributable to outdoor recreation at WMAs in the state. The study also quantifies the total economic contributions for each county. Findings show that direct retail spending by this targeted group of visitors to Georgia’s WMAs supports more than 3,700 jobs, generating labor income of $118 million dollars. An estimated $206 million is contributed to the state’s GDP and $60 million in tax revenue is generated. The direct expenditures made by these WMA visitors cycles through the local economy generating additional rounds of spending driven by businesses who provide supporting services and goods to WMA-related recreation. The indirect and induced (aka “multiplier”) effects spurred by the initial spending supports an additional 2,200 jobs, generating $98 million in labor income. These multiplier effects contribute $177 million to the state’s GPD and generate $38 million in tax revenue. And collectively, spending supports more than 5,900 full and part-time jobs, generating labor income of more than $217 million. More than $382 million is contributed to the state’s GDP and $98 million in state, local, and federal tax revenues is generated. Table E 1. Economic contributions associated with spending by target WMA visitor group Tax Revenues Jobs Labor Income State GDP State & local Federal Direct Effect 3,768 $118,541,809 $205,586,786 $29,435,894 $30,300,556 Multiplier Effect 2,188 $98,190,554 $177,272,053 $14,530,097 $23,473,863 Total Effect 5,955 $216,732,363 $382,858,840 $43,965,991 $53,774,419 ii Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 4 Participation ................................................................................................................................ 4 Spending ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Economic contributions ............................................................................................................... 5 Findings .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Activity ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Visitor spending......................................................................................................................... 11 Economic contributions ............................................................................................................. 16 Public Fishing Area activity ....................................................................................................... 21 WMA importance to outdoor recreation .................................................................................. 21 GORP and WMA license awareness and attitudes ................................................................... 24 Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Appendix A: Spending profiles by selected activities .............................................................. 29 Appendix B: Average days per participant for each activity .................................................... 33 Appendix C: Percent of expenditures spent Near Home vs. Near WMA for each item .......... 34 Appendix D: Methodology for estimating economic contributions ........................................ 35 Appendix E: Explanation of Economic Contribution ................................................................ 36 Appendix F: Economic contributions of WMA lands in Georgia: Phone survey outline .......... 38 iii List of tables Table 1. Size of target WMA user population and survey respondent group.......................... 2 Table 2. Survey respondent sample and WMA utilization rates by age category ................... 3 Table 3. Wildlife Management Area visitation by activity ........................................................ 7 Table 4. Hunting by Species in WMAs ........................................................................................ 8 Table 5. Estimated WMA visitation ............................................................................................. 8 Table 6. Estimated spending by selected WMA visitor group: statewide and by county ..... 12 Table 7. Economic contributions associated with Georgia’s WMAs ...................................... 16 Table 8 . Total economic contributions associated with spending by target visitor group: statewide and by county ........................................................................................ 17 Table 9. Public Fishing Area and Wildlife Management Area visitation by GORP holders .. 21 Table 10. Declines in participation in the event of complete WMA closure .......................... 23 Table 11. Satisfaction with selected characteristics of visitor experience at WMAs ............ 24 Table 12. Summary of WMA visitation related expenditures and economic contributions in Georgia .................................................................................................................... 27 Table 13. Total economic contributions associated with Georgia WMAs. ............................ 27 Table A 1. Boating recreation spending per participant per day ........................................... 29 Table A 2. Camping recreation spending per participant per day ......................................... 29 Table A 3. Fishing recreation spending per participant per day ............................................ 30 Table A 4. Hiking recreation spending per participant per day ............................................. 30 Table A 5. Hunting recreation spending per participant per day ........................................... 31 Table A 6. Picnic recreation spending per participant per day .............................................. 31 Table A 7. Target shooting spending per participant per day ................................................ 32 Table A 8. Wildlife watching spending per participant per day ............................................. 32 Table A 9. Average days per participant for each activity ...................................................... 33 Table A 10. Percent of expenditures spent near home vs. near WMA for each item ............ 34 List of Figures Figure 1. Change in recreational behavior if a particular WMA was no longer available .... 22 Figure 2. Change in recreational behavior if all WMAs were no longer available ................ 22 Figure 3. Change in spending if all WMAs were no longer available ..................................... 23 Figure 4. Awareness of the GORP to use selected WMAs ........................................................ 25 Figure 5. Opinion about requirement of GORP or WMA license for uses other than hunting on selected WMAs .................................................................................................. 25 Figure 6. Opinion about expanding GORP program to include additional WMA lands ........ 26 iv Introduction This study was undertaken to quantify the total economic contributions of recreational visits to Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) maintained by Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). The user group included in this study includes hunting license holders with WMA privileges or Georgia Outdoor Recreation Pass (GORP) holders. Statewide and county-level contributions associated with