Report Summary 



benefits to landowners other than money and a single resident 

 sportsman license or non-resident big game combination license. 



Longer Term Contracts 



Under the current annual contract the department does not know 

 from one year to the next how much it is going to have to pay 

 landowners. This makes budgeting difficult. The department should 

 develop a system where contracts can be established for terms of 

 more than one year. 



Compensation for 

 Landowners in Aggregate 

 Block Management Areas 



Landowners in aggregate (multi-landowner) Block Management 

 Areas (BMAs) are not compensated in the same way as those in 

 single BMAs. Every landowner in an aggregate BMA receives the 

 basic enrollment fee of $250 but the impact payments do not reflect 

 actual hunter days. Landowners in aggregate BMAs must divide the 

 number of hunter days among all the landowners. Aggregate BMAs 

 help the department manage hunters, wildlife and habitat. Survey 

 results showed the majority of respondents wanted a compensation 

 system that encourages landowners to enroll in an aggregate BMA. 

 The department should develop a compensation system that rewards 

 landowners for enrolling in an aggregate Block Management Area. 



Documentation of 

 Enrollment and 

 Re-enrollment of 

 Landowners 



When the program enlarged in 1996, the first landowners enrolled 

 were ones already in the program. In 1998, a department committee 

 developed a regional enrollment process and criteria. Some regions 

 developed forms for the 1998 enrollment and re-enrollment which 

 followed enrollment criteria developed by the department 

 committee. However, only one region actually used the forms to 

 determine who should be re-enrolled or if they should be enrolled 

 for the first time. Other regions did not use either the re-enrollment 

 or new enrollment forms. Currently, the enrollment and re- 

 enrollment process does not ensure participation criteria is followed 

 due to lack of documentation for the process followed in most 

 regions. We recommend the department ensure Block Management 

 Coordinators justify and document the enrollment of new landowners 

 or the re-enrollment of current landowners in the Block Management 

 Program. 



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