Orion Whitetails
New Member
Everyone knows the negatives of land leasing, they have been batted back and forth on this website for years. But very few people are aware (or wish to consider) all of the many different benefits. Therefore, this post is a highlight of the major benefits...
(1) Iowa has lost 30% of its upland habitat during just the last 15 years. Think about this for just a minute. Fully one-third of the habitat available in 1992 for raising pheasants & deer has disappeared from the landscape due mostly to urbanization & development.
People wonder why we don't have as many pheasants as we used to? Duh, we have a lot less habitat!
Land that is leased for hunting rights obviously provides an additional source of income. In many cases this additional income may make the difference between being able to make a living from the land or having to sell. Nobody can deny that leasing has resulted in more farmers being able to stay on the farm. Therefore, leasing has helped to stem the tide of habitat loss.
(2) Leasing is better for the resource. Hunters that lease land develop a much closer tie to that land that is leased. It is almost as though they are another landowner. As a result, they take much better care of the land and even make investments to improve it because they have a vested interest in the land and they will be the one's to benefit from their investment in the future.
As a result of the above, leasing results in a reduction of habitat loss & an improvement of existing habitat. And most important, the farmer/landowner finally gets paid for what he has been giving away for free all of these years.
Please answer the following question honestly...
If you are a landowner & you are now all of a sudden getting paid for hunting rights are you more or less likely to (1) leave end rows of corn or soybeans unharvested; (2) refrain from grazing cattle in the timber; (3) refrain from sodbusting highly erodible pasture ground, etc, etc, etc.
Mickey W. Hellickson
(1) Iowa has lost 30% of its upland habitat during just the last 15 years. Think about this for just a minute. Fully one-third of the habitat available in 1992 for raising pheasants & deer has disappeared from the landscape due mostly to urbanization & development.
People wonder why we don't have as many pheasants as we used to? Duh, we have a lot less habitat!
Land that is leased for hunting rights obviously provides an additional source of income. In many cases this additional income may make the difference between being able to make a living from the land or having to sell. Nobody can deny that leasing has resulted in more farmers being able to stay on the farm. Therefore, leasing has helped to stem the tide of habitat loss.
(2) Leasing is better for the resource. Hunters that lease land develop a much closer tie to that land that is leased. It is almost as though they are another landowner. As a result, they take much better care of the land and even make investments to improve it because they have a vested interest in the land and they will be the one's to benefit from their investment in the future.
As a result of the above, leasing results in a reduction of habitat loss & an improvement of existing habitat. And most important, the farmer/landowner finally gets paid for what he has been giving away for free all of these years.
Please answer the following question honestly...
If you are a landowner & you are now all of a sudden getting paid for hunting rights are you more or less likely to (1) leave end rows of corn or soybeans unharvested; (2) refrain from grazing cattle in the timber; (3) refrain from sodbusting highly erodible pasture ground, etc, etc, etc.
Mickey W. Hellickson
