Management of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids is dependent upon landowner access to private property. When access is allowed, CWD management strategies such as targeted removal of cervids can decrease local prevalence. However, the decision to allow property access rests on the landowner’s acceptance of wildlife management actions. Our objective was to evaluate the willingness of landowners to allow access and quantify acceptable financial incentives for targeted removals on their property. We distributed a survey containing a discrete choice experiment (CE) to elicit landowners’ willingness to accept (WTA) payments. Landowners received eight choice questions, each with two targeted removal alternatives and an opt-out option (i.e., no management). The alternatives were composed of three attributes: removal restriction (sex/age of deer removed), implementing agency (state or federal agent), and payment per deer removed ($0-$150). The CE was distributed to landowners in 6 states across the USA with varying levels of CWD prevalence in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). We found that landowners require the highest payment for male deer removal conducted by a federal wildlife agent compared to a non sex/age specified removal by a state wildlife agent. We also found that landowners value no targeted removal management at $227 per deer (95% CI; $214.34-$240.16). Significant differences in landowners' WTA were observed based on hunting status, region, state-level CWD prevalence, and county-level prevalence. The results from this research will inform resource managers tasked with conducting targeted removals to manage CWD as new detections of the disease emerge.
