Valuing preferences for deer management in Marylan

Hunting, deer sightings, deer-auto collisions, and browsing damage to crops and landscaping are among the benefits and costs of having a large deer population. With a flourishing deer population in Maryland people have increased benefits from deer but the costs associated with deer are rapidly increasing also. To find a balance between the benefits and costs of deer requires population management but society appears to be unable to reach a consensus on deer management. The objective of this dissertation is to value preferences for deer management in Maryland. The aim is to understand why consensus on deer management is difficult to achieve.;A contingent valuation survey was undertaken to collect the data necessary to answer these questions. The primary issue in deer management is the method used to achieve population change rather than the level of population change. There are several management methods available. Instead of asking about preferences for preferred methods of management the survey focused on three management methods which allowed data on the full extent of preferences for these management methods to be collected because information on opposition to the management programs is also revealed.;With respect to the appropriate treatment of respondents indifferent to deer management I argue that the way in which these respondents are identified in the survey requires that indifference should be modeled. This approach leads to estimating a zone of indifference and has a significant effect on the overall welfare estimates.;The model estimates show that people in favor of each deer management program have large gains from implementation of the programs while people opposed to the management programs have large losses. This result shows why deer management is such a divisive issue. The model distinguishes between the preferences of hunters, animal rights advocates and others. Respondent's beliefs on the ethics of killing deer were found to be very important. People opposed to killing deer favor the use of birth control for deer management compared to sharp shooting but people who believe it is ethical to kill have no significant preference in favor of either method of management.