One way to comprehend the value of Wyoming’s elk, deer and pronghorn is to relate it to the state’s permanent mineral trust fund.
The corpus of that account, which sits at over $13 billion, is fed by severance taxes on oil, gas and mineral extraction and its investment income funds an impressive share of Wyoming’s government.
“For wildlife, it’s very similar,” said Jake Hochard, a Knobloch associate professor and natural resource economist with the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. “The corpus is that [wildlife] biomass on the landscape. And the return is that we’re able to hunt every year, and we maintain and responsibly manage that value for the future.”
While the mineral trust fund is financial wealth that creates a financial return, the state’s ungulates are a form of “natural wealth” that create return in “ecosystem services,” Hochard said.
The collective value of that natural wealth for Wyoming’s three most common ungulate species — elk, mule deer and pronghorn — isn’t trivial. Together, the hundreds of thousands of wild ungulates dwelling across the Equality State’s 62 million acres are worth nearly $6 billion, according to the UW professor. That’s about the same overall market value as some well-known national businesses, like footwear and clothing companies Crocs and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Hochard stresses that his research is different from the more common type of economic impact studies that have been conducted, for example, on Wyoming’s hunting and fishing, and broader outdoor recreation industry. While those industries generate billions annually, the associated studies overlook the costs, which is a factor Hochard’s natural wealth estimate takes into account.
“Wildlife is managed,” Hochard said. “Game and Fish has a budget. That’s not free. Ungulates are hit by vehicles. We’re not just looking at revenue generated or economic impact.”
The $6 billion estimate accounts for overall value added to society and factors in those costs, now and in the years to come. He likened the state’s ungulate populations to a bridge used by vehicles. Both are valuable now, but they also generate value streams for decades into the future.
“So, if we invest in a migration corridor today,” Hochard said, “that’s going to create some additional value every year going forward.”
Hochard’s database of valuations for the state’s big three ungulate species is detailed enough that it produces estimates down to the herd level. And it also tracks how values change along with ungulate populations and other factors over time.
Wyoming’s mule deer and pronghorn numbers, for example, have fallen significantly in recent decades. Elk, though, are the most valuable species and wapiti populations have fared much better — they’re even at nuisance levels in some areas. As a result, overall ungulate values are growing.
“We’re seeing that the appreciation of value is pretty steady across the state,” Hochard said.
According to the most recent estimate, Wyoming’s elk are valued at $3.9 billion, mule deer at $1.2 billion and pronghorn at $916 million. So far, values have held up better than populations. Over a recent span that mule deer populations struggled and fell by more than half, values declined by only 6%.
In some cases, steady population declines aren’t abrupt enough to halt appreciation. The historically significant Jackson Elk Herd is one example: Over a recent roughly two-decade period, the crown jewel herd fell in population by 32%, but the value of the herd as an asset grew by 25%, from $104 million to $131 million.
Hochard plans to introduce his valuations on Wyoming elk, mule deer and pronghorn to a broad audience at the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses conference in Oklahoma City this December. If a peer-review process goes smoothly, he’ll also make a portal of his valuation data public around that time.
Much sooner, Hochard is sharing his research with the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. He’s scheduled to present at 3 p.m. Monday at the commission’s meeting in Evanston. Readers can tune in remotely via Zoom.
