| Providing a quality, valuable hunting lease can be a costly investment. Landowners who have invested in forest land may be operating at a loss or not making the desired return due to many factors. Few studies have considered these factors, so most landowners have operated at less than optimum efficiency. This study was conducted to provide critical analysis of costs and inputs needed for a profitable hunting lease operation. Costs in this study were divided between amenities and management activities. Amenities were defined as those items that enhance the hunter's comfort, such as a campsite or camp house. Management activities were defined as those items contributing to the security or habitat improvement of the hunting lease. Common hunting lease amenities and management activities were determined and costs were identified. Costs then were projected and discounted over the course of a 30-year pine plantation rotation to determine net present value, soil expectation value and soil rent. Discount rates of 2.5, 7.5 and 12.5% were chosen to reflect common investment opportunities. Tract sizes of 100, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 acres were chosen to reflect a wide range of hunting lease sizes and to determine if economies of scale existed. Site index classes of 50, 70, and 90 feet (base age 25 years) were chosen to represent normal range of sites found in East Texas. Total cost of activities or amenities included opportunity cost where activities or amenities required forest land removed from production. Results indicated economies of scale do exist across almost every management activity and amenity. Opportunity cost analysis indicated that economies of scale also exist for opportunity costs. The end result provides a financial tool that allows the landowner to select management activities, amenities and desired rate of return in a menu style format to estimate the cost of providing a forested hunting lease. The cost then would be passed on to the leasing hunter, increasing profitability to the landowner. The methodologies used in this project easily could be adapted to other geographic regions, with non-timber principal use such as grazing. |
