Measuring the value of public hunting land using a hedonic approach

Acquisition of public land is critical for wildlife conservation and can impact local tax bases and property values. Those impacts reflect the capitalized value of benefits (e.g., recreational opportunities) and costs (e.g., nuisance wildlife) of living near protected areas. We employed the hedonic price framework to determine how proximity and adjacency to public hunting land in North Carolina were capitalized into housing prices. We modeled sale price as the composite value of structural, neighborhood, and environmental characteristics. Proximity to public hunting land had positive effects on sale price in some locations, whereas adjacency had negative effects in some locations. These relationships were dependent on the sociocultural context of the public hunting land, including proximity to other forms of public land. This research may help facilitate negotiations among stakeholders impacted by protected areas, including land dedicated to wildlife-based recreation.