Social, Economic, and Institutional Aspects of Wildlife Enhancement in Irrigated Agriculture: A Study of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project

摘要

Declining wildlife populations have raised numerous questions concerning the future of public/private fish and wildlife and agricultural benefits created by irrigation development projects. Interrelationships of wildlife and irrigated agriculture were analyzed in terms of social impacts, economic trade-offs, and institutional ramifications. A secondary purpose of this study was to establish tradeoffs among resources committed to agriculture and/or wildlife production. The study was interdisciplinary in nature and involved analyses from social, economic, and political/institutional disciplines. The analytical framework was designed to provide evaluation of the socioeconomic interaction of recreationists and landowners involved in the production and use of wildlife in irrigated agriculture.