Public hunting access brings more birds, hunters and dollars to rural communities

By Casey Sill
(Title photo credit: Aaron Black-Schmidt)

You sometimes hear doom and gloom surrounding smalltown America.

Young people are leaving for the city, main streets are disappearing, so on and so on.

That may be true in places. But the attention it gets is hyperbolic. All across the country, the cadence of rural American voices remains predictably optimistic — and the culture that binds those voices continues to thrive.

A key part of that culture is access to the outdoors and to wildlife habitat, the symbolic benefits of which are equaled by the economic benefits. Every year, rural communities across the U.S. attract thousands of recreational visitors, and hunters make up a vital component of those travelers.

Every bird hunter that visits places like Aberdeen, South Dakota or Ogallala, Nebraska buys gas — and shells, steak dinners, motel rooms, dog food, coffee, coolers, and Little Debbies to stash in their vest pockets. Each pair of boots on the ground is a win for the community, and helps strengthen the foundation of their economy.

Maintaining that culture and attracting new hunters each year requires public access, and lots of it. Without ample land to loose their dogs upon, bird hunters will either stay home or find somewhere else to spend their money. The math is simple:

Pheasants Forever is also known as The Habitat Organization for a reason. Our number one mission has been, and always will be, the protection and improvement of upland bird habitat.

But that work reverberates far beyond the bird itself. In top upland states across the country, access initiatives are providing a vital boost to rural economies, while simultaneously protecting top notch pheasant and quail habitat.

Aberdeen, South Dakota is ground zero for showcasing the intersection between public access and local economies. This is not breaking news. The town has been a poster child for public access for years. But it bears repeating that the Aberdeen Pheasant Coalition (APC) has been an inspiration for numerous subsequent access programs both within South Dakota and beyond.

The APC provides farmers, ranchers and landowners a per-acre incentive to enroll their land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the South Dakota Walk In Access Program (VPA-HIP). Through this model, the coalition has opened more than 4,000 acres of private land to public access in and around Aberdeen, creating countless new opportunities for both residents and visiting hunters.

The economic benefits of VPA-HIP are striking. A 2021 study by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies showed that for every dollar invested in South Dakota’s VPA-HIP program, $12 was returned to local economies — for a total of $8.29 million in direct economic activity as a result of public access.

“It’s a win-win for everyone,” says Casey Weismantel, the executive director of the Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “You’re partnering with the landowner to give them that extra monetary incentive, you’re creating more hunt-able acres, and you’re producing more pheasants. More habitat means more pheasants, means more hunters, means more economic impact to the community.”

Terry and Cathryn “Pete” Larson have owned The Hitch’n Post Western Store in Aberdeen for more than 40 years, and have seen the impact of public access firsthand. The business doesn’t cater solely to outdoors folks and hunters, but it has still seen a noticeable bump in traffic as access around Aberdeen has expanded.

“We ran off what our numbers were in October for the last five years, and it just blew me away,” Terry Larson says. “I couldn’t believe the increase in our business in October from 2019 till today. I can’t say for certain, but I’m sure a lot of it can be attributed to more hunters coming here to hunt public lands.”

Larson has been in Aberdeen since he enrolled in Northern State College in the Fall of 1963. In the 61 years since, he’s seen the boom and bust of both pheasant numbers and local economics. In the end it seems, both are tied to habitat.

“There’s a lot of habitat out there because of the coalition,” he says. “We provide handouts at the store showing where the APC access areas are. I took a look at the map the other day, and it’s amazing to see all the areas people can just drive up to and hunt.”

That access brings in hunters, and hunters bring dollars for the community and its economy.

To the south, Nebraska has seen even better economic numbers based on the same Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 2021 data. The state reported a 20-to-1 return on VPA-HIP dollars invested, and more than $16 million in total spending that year.

With data that convincing, coupled with the success of the APC, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have expanded that model to a nationwide scale with the Public Access to Habitat (PATH) initiative. In a massive effort to concentrate on VPA-HIP enrollment, PATH has created nearly 40,000 acres of new public access on private lands across South Dakota and Nebraska in the last year alone — with more states to follow in the years to come.

Nestled just beyond the northeast corner of Colorado, Ogallala, Nebraska has become the centerpiece of PATH in the Cornhusker state. Their version of the initiative, the Nebraska Community Access Program (NCAP), has exploded around Ogalalla in the last year, bringing with it the promise of more birds and more hunters.

The NCAP has created more than 17,000 acres of brand-new public access as of this writing, with properties that cater to pheasants, quail and prairie grouse — as well as big game species like pronghorn.

Long before NCAP came to southwestern Nebraska, Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse in Paxton was a staple of the area. Opened in 1933, Ole’s began as a bare-bones watering hole to quench the post-prohibition thirst of Nebraska farmers and ranchers. The business evolved over the years, until it was eventually purchased by Paxton native Tim Holzfaster in 1988.

A Pheasants Forever Life Member and former outfitter, Holzfaster understands the relationship between accessible habitat and local economics better than most. Outdoorsmen and women flock to Ole’s every fall, and Holzfaster understands that more room to roam means healthier habitat and happier hunters.

“It’s pretty obvious, the more people you have out driving around, the more opportunities I have to sell them a hamburger,” he says. “And a motel has an opportunity to rent them a room. It all works hand in hand.”

The economic impact from public access builds subtly, according to Holzfaster. But over time it can make a big difference.

“I don’t know if people recognize the significance that accumulates over the season,” he says. “If you have four buddies out here hunting, they’ve each spent three nights at a motel, had dinner, a bottle of wine, breakfast — I don’t know what that economic impact is in totality, but over the course of a year it adds up.”

The benefits of access, and the quality of habitat in southwestern Nebraska, extend far beyond the bottom line for Holzfaster. He’s connected to the culture of rural Nebraska, so much of which is rooted in the outdoors. The community cherishes wildlife, habitat and access — all of which help them thrive.

“When you’re born and raised in a smaller community, you have a pride of ownership,” he says. “It’s just bred into you. When you have out-of-town guests, and in particular hunting guests, they see that. They recognize the dedication. And the common thread through all of it is the outdoors.”

Casey Sill is Senior Public Relations Specialist at Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at csill@pheasantsforever.org.