CIIAJI KK 4: UNVIRONMKNTAI. CONSKQUENCES 



Table 31. Estimated livestock losses (confirmed and probable) and the economic value of livestock and 

 domestic animal losses in the year 2015 for Alternative 1 (No Action). 



" Average value of all sheep and lambs and all cattle, 2001 Montana Agricultural Statistics. 



*" Historically, Defenders of Wildlife compensation payments for other domestic animals (guarding dogs, 



horses, or llamas) was 8. 1 3% of the total payments for cattle and sheep. 



Regional Economic Activity . From a statewide perspective, economic theory suggests that nonresident 

 hunter expenditures impact the Montana economy by bringing additional dollar expenditures into the 

 state. Increasing or decreasing levels of resident hunting and hunting-related expenditures will not impact 

 the overall state economy. This is because as residents, these hunters will likely spend the money they 

 did not spend hunting in some other sector of Montana's economy. In other words, changes in hunter 

 opportunity and participation are not anticipated to affect the proportion of income that consumers 

 statewide spend on average for all goods and services combined. 



While changes in resident hunter spending patterns within Montana will not substantially impact total 

 statewide economic activity, these changes may impact certain geographic areas and businesses. For 

 example, if big game populations in a popular area were to decline due to wolf predation or some other 

 cause, resident hunters might shift their effort to other areas. This shift could negatively impact the local 

 economy in the area experiencing the loss of hunters and positively impact the areas gaining hunters. 

 While the statewide net impact could be near zero, there could be changes in local communities. Given 

 the current uncertainty about the degree, scale, or areas in which wolf restoration has significantly 

 impacted big game populations and hunter effort to date, it is difficult to estimate the likelihood or extent 

 of these types of regional impacts. 



Each year, nonresidents spend significant amounts of time and money hunting big game within the state 

 (Chapter 2). The state's economy could be impacted by a reduction in nonresident hunting if 

 management led to a decline in nonresident hunter opportunity. However, nonresident hunter opportunity 

 is almost entirely driven by policy decisions rather than environmental factors. For example, nonresident 

 elk licenses are capped at 17,0()(). Due to significant excess demand by nonresidents for elk hunting in 

 Montana, the maximum number of nonresident licenses has been sold since at least 1990. State policy 

 also guides the number of deer licenses, antlerless elk permits and moose permits available to 

 nonresidents. FWP does not anticipate reducing nonresident big game iiunting opportunity under this 

 alternative. 



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