Incremental Investment Value of Wild Turkey Management on the South Carolina Piedmont

Optimal timber production and healthy wild turkey populations can be jointly achieved by balancing cutting cycles, habitat types, and food sources. Expected financial returns from wild turkey management and the habitat required to maintain those returns are estimated. A geographical information system (GIS) is used to illustrate the methodology necessary to distinguish various levels of potential quality turkey habitat, including broad forest conditions across ownerships, like early successional habitat, pine hardwood mixtures, and forest openings, that intermix and combine to form superior wild turkey habitat. A financial analysis framework that considers key financial variables is applied across management regimes to determine net present values, land expectation values, and equivalent annual incomes. Incremental hunting lease revenue from wild turkey hunting leases is shown to impact investment return. The financial framework allows managers to perform sensitivity analyses of costs and revenues to better evaluate management alternatives.