Recreation and Wildlife Enhancement Plan for the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation

Location: Montana

Summary: Cardno ENTRIX is leading the development of a comprehensive plan to enhance wildlife-related recreational opportunities, including wildlife viewing and hunting, on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. The project purpose is to estimate both the financial benefit to the Tribe of developing additional recreational opportunities on the Reservation as well as the economic benefit to hunters. The analysis includes designing and implementing a direct survey to provide data for estimating recreation market demand and participation rates for various wildlife viewing and hunting opportunities. The survey provides data for estimating recreation demand and participation rates, as well as information necessary to formulate a statistical model to evaluate economic benefits to hunters of additional hunting areas. Financial benefits estimated for the Reservation include enhanced user fees, increased revenue at existing tribal enterprises, and increased revenue at proposed recreation facilities. The analysis is also evaluating the potential financial benefits of selling wetland mitigation banking credits.