Rising values for the fisheries resource 
are also creating investment 
opportunities in the private sector. For 
example, aquaculture and commercial 
fish growing have become important 
businesses over the past decade. 
There are also cultural, societal, 
psychological, and physiological 
values associated with the fish and 
wildlife resource. These range from 
concerns of Native Americans for 
subsistence and religious values to the 
rest and relaxation resulting from 
experiences with fish and wildlife. 
Comparisons of future supplies and 
demands suggest that recreation 
centered on fish and wildlife in some 
areas may become crowded to the point 
where access to the resource will have 
to be limited. For example, in some 
places, lotteries are held to determine 
who gets the opportunity to hunt big 
game. Owners of large private parcels 
increasingly limit public access by 
charging user fees or restricting their 
properties to the use of members of 
hunting or fishing clubs. This is 
another situation where the market 
provides investment opportunities for 
resource owners, but at the margin, 
some people may be denied recreation 
opportunities because they cannot or do 
not choose to pay the access fee. Rising 
incomes will give consumers more 
options, however, for choosing among 
activities. 
Future pressures on wildlife and fish 
habitats are likely to be especially 
significant for some endangered and 
threatened species. Any extinction of 
species diminishes the Nation’s natural 
biological heritage and future options 
for study and genetic diversity. 
Opportunities—Management 
opportunities for increasing the 
quantity and/or quality of the resource 
relate in one way or another to habitat, 
50 
wildlife and fish populations, users, 
and planning. 
Opportunities for management of 
habitat include: 
—TImproving wildlife and fish habitats 
by increasing food supplies and 
suitable habitat cover, improving water 
quality, and increasing the size, 
diversity, and distribution of habitat 
areas (fig. 48). 
Figure 48—Seeding roadsides and leaving them 
unmowed over the summer can increase cover 
suitable for pheasant and other game birds. 
—Controlling land and water pollution, 
especially the use of pesticides, which 
can adversely affect wildlife and fish 
species. 
—Expanding wetlands nesting habitats 
through fee purchase of key tracts and 
easements in the United States and 
Canada, and preserving and enhancing 
migration and wintering habitats. 
—TIncreasing efforts to define, protect, 
improve, and augment critical habitats 
of endangered and threatened species 
and the important habitat of other 
species being adversely affected by 
changes in management or use. 
—Removing barriers to fish migration. 
Opportunities for direct management of 
wildlife and fish populations include: 
—Preventing habitat deterioration by 
control of fish and wildlife populations. 
—Reintroduction of species that have 
been displaced in areas where suitable 
habitats exist or are developed. 
—TIncreasing the numbers and 
capabilities of fish hatcheries. 
—Controlling or removing pest or 
competing species. 
Opportunities for user and people 
management include: 
—Increasing access to private lands by 
promoting activities that would assist 
landowners in establishing wildlife and 
fish-related businesses. 
—Increasing the use of management 
options that better distribute users to 
wildlife and fish populations. 
—Further educating the public about 
the role of wildlife and fish 
management and finding the means of 
financing It. 
Opportunities for planning include: 
—Increasing interagency coordination 
among the many agencies responsible 
for management of habitat, wildlife and 
fish populations, and hunting and 
fishing. 
—Integrating more fully wildlife and 
fish needs in the management of forest 
and range lands for other renewable 
resources, especially timber and range 
forage. 
—Continuing, through research, to 
improve the information base to 
manage the wildlife and fish resource 
effectively. 
Minerals 
Implications—The expected increases 
in demands for minerals can be met in 
