**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE RECENT EMERGENCE OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD) IN WHITE-TAILED DEER POPULATIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES HAS THREATENED THE REGION'S HUNTING ECONOMY. POLICY EFFORTS TO INVEST IN CWD CONTROL AND TO ENGAGE LANDOWNERS TO MANAGE CWD ON PRIVATE LAND (A COLLECTIVE PROBLEM) FACE MULTIPLE CHALLENGES AS WE CURRENTLY DO NOT KNOW: 1- HOW CWD OUTBREAKS INDUCE EXTERNALITY ON THE DEMAND AND VALUE OF HUNTING AS AN ECOSYSTEM SERVICE, 2- HOW RESULTING CHANGE IN HUNTING DEMAND IMPACTS THE HUNTING LEASE MARKET AND SEVERAL OTHER SECTORS OF THE REGIONAL ECONOMY, AND 3- WHAT INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE FACTORS DRIVE LANDOWNER BEHAVIOR REGARDING ADOPTING CWD BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ACROSS BOUNDARIES. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THIS CRITICAL NEED BY ECONOMICALLY MODELING THE EXTERNALITY OF CWD PREVALENCE IN STATED AS WELL AS REVEALED PREFERENCE METHODS OF NON-MARKET VALUATION AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC INPUT-OUTPUT MODELS OF HUNTING ECONOMY, AND BY APPLYING COLLECTIVE INTEREST THEORY TO UNDERSTAND LANDOWNER BEHAVIOR REGARDING CWD MANAGEMENT.