Income Potential

Outdoor recreation in Mississippi accounts for substantial economic impact to the state and income diversification for private landowners on their properties. How much money is brought into Mississippi with outdoor recreation related to hunting, fishing, bird watching, agritourism, bed & breakfasts accommodations in a given year? Before presenting these estimates, economic impact is derived from monies spent for any good or service purchased by considering the direct, indirect, and induced effects of dollars spent for the purchase.

For example, when you purchase an automobile at your local dealership, monies for the purchase price go to support the economic status of the dealership directly. With additional sales, more automobiles are ordered by the dealership. New vehicle orders stimulate construction of vehicles at the Mississippi factory with the use of additional raw materials and labor supplied by other suppliers and companies. These latter activities following your purchase result in indirect and induced economic impacts.

In other words, the spending for your new vehicle stimulates a series of expenditures with some effects being felt immediately and locally while others impact economic activity in Mississippi and beyond later in time. As these dollars move through the economy affecting different sectors, the overall effect of your car purchase is multiplied upward yielding an overall economic impact. So back to our original question: how much economic impact does outdoor recreation mean to Mississippi?

In a national survey conducted in 2006 by the US Department of the Interior to examine spending for hunting, angling, and wildlife watching in the US, expenditures by 304,000 residents and visitors to Mississippi for hunting totaled $520 million (stated in 2008 dollars). These expenditures accounted for $1.2 billion in economic impact to the state. Likewise, expenditures for fishing by 508,000 resident and nonresident anglers totaled $245 million, producing $690 million in economic impact. In terms of enjoying the opportunity to view wildlife in their natural settings in Mississippi, 246,000 individuals viewed wildlife during 2006 spending $176,000 million, accounting for $791 million in economic impact to the state. Overall economic impact to Mississippi from outdoor recreation totaled $2.7 million annually (2008 dollars). In addition to these estimates, outdoor outfitters, including hunting outfitters, agritourism farms, and Gulf Coast charter boat operators accounted for over $50 million in economic impact to Mississippi.

A large portion of these monies spent and the resulting positive impacts to local communities are associated with outdoor recreation occurring on private lands in the state, thereby enhancing family incomes of Mississippi landowners. As a final note, a 2008 MSU study found that outdoor recreation increased the financial value of private lands used for recreation by 52%.

Outdoor recreation benefits the economic wellbeing and sustainability of natural resources of Mississippi and of landowners in the state.