Property Rights for Managing Chronic Wasting Disease

• Author / Creator

  Durocher, Geoffrey L

• Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal prion disease that spreads among members of the deer family (Cervidae). As new cases of CWD are being reported in several Canadian provinces, states within the USA and countries in Europe this thesis had two main goals. The first was to attempt to understand how different stakeholders might be affected by both the disease and the available management options. The second goal is to investigate stakeholder preferences towards such management options.The thesis begins with an exploration of the literature surrounding property rights and wildlife management in order to better understand how changes to property rights have been used to fix problems in wildlife management in the past. In Chapter 3 property rights frameworks are developed for the general public and hunters in Alberta. These frameworks are defined at a level specific enough that it allows for the characterization and comparison of alternative CWD management approaches based upon how they impact the characteristics of property rights. In Chapter 4 a paired comparison survey method is used to present the aforementioned CWD management approaches to stakeholders across Canada. The paired comparison method allows for the collection of stakeholder-specific preference information for each management action.The analysis of property rights with the frameworks described in Chapter 3 suggest that regardless of the action taken against CWD there will be effects on the property rights of stakeholders such as the general public, hunters and landowners and these effects can be pinpointed to specific characteristics of property rights. The results of the analysis of stakeholder preferences in Chapter 4 suggests that stakeholders may not like many of the available options for CWD, but they may prefer that the government take some type of action rather than let the disease run its course. The results also suggest that there may be some level of heterogeneity in preferences for CWD management between groups of stakeholders.In summary, this thesis presents both a qualitative analysis of how cervid stakeholders may be affected by CWD and its management as well as a quantitative analysis of preferences towards CWD management actions. Although they are adapted from other property rights literature, the property rights frameworks created here are distinct from the rest of the property rights literature in their focus on wildlife and public good properties. The results of the preference analysis can tell policymakers which management actions may be favoured by the general public and thus may increase the success of such management.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Wildlife Disease Management
  • Paired Comparisons
  • Property Rights
  • Stakeholder Preferences
  • Chronic Wasting Disease

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-j1cw-1957

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.