12 CIRCULAR 63 6, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



measured and expressed in monetary terms, but intangible values are 

 too elusive to be measured easily or expressed in monetary terms. 

 Indirect values usually include both tangible and intangible values, 

 so are difficult of measurement. The value of the commodities and 

 the volume of business of the industries and commerce stimulated 

 by the commodities must also be differentiated. 



Origin and Shifts in Game and Wild-Fur Values 



Tangible value is apparently about the only value game and fur 

 had to the Indians and the pioneer settlers. It was usually plentiful, 

 nature provided the supply without cost, and getting it cost only 

 the use of crude, often home-made, weapons and the energy to stalk 

 and capture the bird or mammal. This was work to these people, but 

 each person could take possession of all the game or fur he wanted. 

 As it was plentiful and he used it only for food, clothing, or shelter, 

 no monetary value was assigned to it. 



As the country was settled the use and value of game and wild fur 

 shifted. First they were objects of sustenance of great value to the 

 individual possessing them but of no monetary value in commerce. 

 Next they became objects of commerce having great value. Lastly 

 game has become an object of no commercial value but of increasingly 

 great esthetic and recreational value with apparently limitless direct 

 and indirect values. Wild fur remains an object of limited commercial 

 value. The second phase in this shift together with the accompany- 

 ing change in land use inevitably resulted in the present position of 

 wildlife in our economic and social system. 



Wildlife values as well as the uses have changed vastly since the 

 early years. Wildlife is relatively scarce, Maintenance of a supply 

 costs enormous sums. And the equipment and travel necessary to 

 hunt and fish are expensive to the individual. To get wild fur is 

 still work but the supply is small and the take is limited to a very 

 few species. Another modern but nonconsumptive use of wildlife is 

 the casual pursuit of wildlife by those who enjoy photographing it 

 and those who get esthetic and recreational enjoyment out of merely 

 seeing and hearing wild creatures. This use seems to have great 

 possibilities and is rapidly increasing. 



Value of Wildlife to the Individual User 



Modern hunters place a high value on wildlife mainly because of 

 the intangible value they receive from the sport and recreation it 

 offers; they assign only a relatively small tangible value to game prod- 

 ucts for food or clothing. Data from hunter reports show an average 

 meat value of $2 per hunter reporting in upland-game States and $14 

 per hunter reporting in States having both big game and upland game, 

 with waterfowl included in both cases. The value of the meat taken by 

 big-game hunters ranges from nothing to $75 per hunter reporting. 



The intangible cost of wildlife to the modern hunter is the energy 

 expended in pursuing game; the tangible costs are the license fees, 

 taxes, and contributions to conservation organizations which help to 

 maintain the game supply and the money spent for travel, supplies, 

 equipment, services, and related items. 



