Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) area managers and administrators have noted a lack of usable information about horse trails and horseback riders on MDC lands. Managers need to know what horseback riders want and what they would accept regarding trail development and maintenance, facility needs, and conflict management with other types of users. Managers also need more information on who the riders are, how often they recreate, and what they require for a quality recreational experience.
In project: Horse Trails on Public Land
Many kinds of users compete for Missouri’s public trails and managers are challenged to balance human users’ needs with those of wildlife. To improve our knowledge of Missourian’s equestrians, their preferences, and habits, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) conducted a scientific survey of over 5,000 randomly selected horse owners in Missouri between February and June, 2008. The response rate (after removing invalid addresses) was 48.1% (2,286/4,750).
Survey Results
In project: Horse Trails on Public Land
What would life be like if Missouri had no forests? Besides being a lot less pleasant, scenic and enjoyable for us and the plants and animals that rely on Missouri’s forests, Missouri’s wallets would take a big hit! Working with data collected by the Federal government, other branches of state government and the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) own foresters, MDC undertakes periodic assessments of the economic impact of the forest products industry on the state as a whole.
Economic impact analysis (EIA) examines the effect of a policy, program, project, activity or event on the economy of a given area. The area can range from a neighborhood to the entire globe. Economic impact is usually measured in terms of changes in economic growth (output or value added) and associated changes in jobs (employment) and income (wages). The analysis typically measures or estimates the level of economic activity occurring at a given time with the activity occurring, and calculating the difference from what would otherwise be expected if the activity did not occur (which is referred to as the counterfactual case). This analysis can be done either before or after the fact (ex ante or ex post). The term economic impact can be applied to analysis of the economic contribution of a given activity or industry to the existing local economy.
In project: Forest Economics in Missouri
The MDC Deer Program uses surveys such as this one to gauge public opinion regarding deer numbers and management strategies and as indicators of deer population trends in each county. We greatly appreciate the responses we receive which help make our surveys an effective management tool!
The Archery Deer Hunting Survey asks questions about perceived changes in the deer population (number of big bucks and total deer compared to the past 5 years), opinions about deer population size and trends in the county most hunted, and specific days that are hunted and number of deer that were killed each day of the archery season. Data on specific days hunted and number of deer killed are important both for a “trips-per-kill” estimate and to better understand when hunters are spending time afield. “Trips-per-kill” often influences hunter satisfaction and is also an important indicator of deer population trends.
The sampling pool for this survey is any hunter that receives an archery deer hunting permit during a given deer season. Following the 2016 deer season, we sent 35,000 surveys to archery hunters (about 7% of our total deer hunters or 18% of our archery deer hunters).
In project: Missouri's Deer Hunters