Wildlife conservation around protected areas is critical and costly, yet its beneficiaries—particularly protected area visitors who enjoy viewing wide‐ranging wildlife—rarely contribute towards landscape‐scale conservation. We characterize the importance of wildlife viewing in two U.S. protected areas: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We surveyed park visitors ( N = 991) and used the travel cost method to test whether changes in the viewing experience would justify support for visitor‐funded conservation. We find that benefits from wildlife viewing are substantial and dependent on protecting wide‐ranging species and maintaining their abundance. Large carnivores, particularly grizzly bears, are especially important to wildlife viewers, who are willing to pay more to visit the parks by about 50%. Additionally, we gauged support for three conservation fundraising mechanisms within parks: a mandatory fee, a voluntary fund, and a tax on goods and services. Overall, we find that species population declines could have a greater effect on visitation than that from imposing conservation costs onto visitors, which visitors largely support regardless of income or politics. Our results demonstrate tradeoffs between maintaining visitor experience quality and protected area visitation, with a potential win‐win for conservation beneficiaries to contribute towards action at a scale necessary for biodiversity protection.

Wildfires necessitate complex and costly management decisions on the nation’s public lands. Suppressing wildfires is an important strategy for protecting resources and human well-being, yet it often comes at a significant cost, raising the question of whether such efforts are worth it. This article evaluates 18 historic wildfires to determine whether suppression efforts were an efficient use of public funds. This article assesses the costs and losses from the actual fires with suppression efforts, focusing on impacts on infrastructure, lands, and people. Using novel wildfire simulation modeling, this article then assesses the losses that would have been expected to occur in the absence of these suppression efforts. The results of this ex-post benefit–cost analysis suggest a net benefit of $333 million from suppression efforts. This analysis addresses recent calls for more comprehensive accounting of the costs and benefits of suppression activities and provides critical information for future wildfire management on federal lands.

Wildlife species generate significant economic value through recreational opportunities, ecosystem services, and their existence and preservation for future generations. Policymaker decisions about fish and wildlife conservation, population management, hunting and fishing limits, and damage assessments all rely to some extent on nonmarket valuation estimates of the species in question. Focusing on individual species, we present a comprehensive review of the nonmarket valuation literature from 1990 to 2023. We quantify studies by species and synthesize the characteristics of these species. We examine why certain species or uses have been the historical focus. Finally, we offer some insights into gaps in our knowledge and directions for future research. While the wildlife valuation literature is extensive, we question the scope of coverage and speculate on the reasons for such heavy coverage of some species and limited coverage of others. Charisma, endemism, and rarity play a large role, as do species with large use values.

This article explores the limitations of two commonly used nonparametric approaches: the Turnbull estimator and the Kristr & ouml;m estimator. Fat tails and flat tails in the distribution of bid responses can result in a large divergence in willingness- to- pay estimates across different estimation methods. Since it is extremely rare to capture the tail of the distribution, we highlight the merit of an alternative approach using 120 datasets drawn from the literature. We calculate four nonparametric estimates of willingness to pay for each dataset. Meta- analysis is used to help determine when the Turnbull and Kristr & ouml;m estimators diverge. (JEL Q28, Q51)

This paper focuses on the ecosystem service benefits to homeowners from living in close proximity to three National Parks. Knowing these ecosystem service benefits is of policy and management relevance as expansion of existing Parks and protected areas along ecosystem boundaries often requires acquisition of undeveloped private land or other multiple use public lands, something that local officials may oppose. While the effects on house prices from urban parks, and two other types of U.S. Federal lands have been studied, the effect of lands in the U.S. National Park System on house prices had not been studied at the time of this research. To fill this information gap, hedonic price models were estimated to calculate the effect on residential house prices of proximity to three National Parks (NPs). After controlling for other characteristics of the house, neighborhood, and several other types of open space (e.g., National Forests, County Parks), we estimate house sale prices were on average 9.8% higher for houses within 2 km of National Park boundaries. This house price premium represents the value of the ecosystem services received by homeowners from living in close to these NPs. Quantifiable information on local ecosystem service benefits may ameliorate some concerns by local governments about converting private land or other agencies' multiple use lands in order to expand NPs or protected areas to better reflect ecosystem boundaries rather than historical, and often arbitrary boundaries. In addition, quantifiable information on enhancement of property values may broaden stakeholder groups to include the real estate industry. Thus, our results may support agencies in better achieving their objectives of managing NPs as ecological units.

Wildlife viewing is a popular recreation activity in parks and protected areas around the world, yet information on the nonmarket value that visitors derive from viewing specific species, and how that value is affected by small-scale population changes, is lacking. We devised an approach to fill the gap. First, we applied the travel cost method to obtain the value of a wildlife viewing trip. Next, we estimated a value per animal sighting, which we aggregated by the number of visitors who experienced and valued a sighting. Finally, we incorporated the probability of viewing an animal to determine an individual animal's contribution to sighting value, which varies by species type, visibility, and seasonality. We examined bear viewing in Yellowstone National Park. For grizzly and black bears, respectively, per-sighting values are $16 and $14, aggregate annual sighting values are $6.9 and $9.7 million, and annual per-bear viewing values are $46,000 and $15,000.

IntroductionA fundamental component of ecotourism is resource conservation. Oftentimes, that resource is wildlife. Within the wildlife-centric ecotourism experience, tourists' encounters are most often with individual animals, or a small subset of the population (i.e., not the species as a whole). However, most conservation efforts are focused at the species level. This article explores the relationship between tourists' ability to identify individual animals and conservation outcomes.MethodsData were obtained from 3,853 online surveys from viewers of the Katmai National Park and Preserve webcams (bearcams).ResultsThe majority of respondents (70%) indicated they could identify individual bears. Respondents who could identify individual bears had significantly higher scores for conservation outcomes (i.e., awareness, behavioral intention, and emotional connection). Furthermore, identifying an individual bear as a favorite yielded significantly higher scores for emotional connectivity and support for conservation programs.DiscussionThus, the ability to identify individual animals, when viewing wildlife, can improve conservation outcomes. Practitioners could consider incorporating strategies to improve tourists' identification skills as a method to cultivating conservation outcomes.

Recreation values are necessary to inform a variety of planning and management decisions affecting national parks and other public lands. Standard visitor surveys often collect data that can facilitate estimation of such values through either revealed or stated preference approaches. However, several issues can arise when using such data, such as selection of the appropriate per mile rate to apply in travel cost models, limited variation in the number of trips taken to the site in the past year, and limitations in response formats for contingent valuation questions. To explore these issues, we use visitor survey data from Glacier National Park to estimate consumer surplus for a park visit, comparing mean estimates and percentile confidence intervals from several approaches. Exploring convergent validity across these approaches provides some support for the exclusion of depreciation costs when selecting a per mile travel cost rate and caution in using alternative dependent variable specifications in travel cost models.

We develop a new theory of the wildlife-viewing value of particularly "charismatic" individuals in a population. In contrast to the existing recreation literature, which typically treats all individuals as interchangeable, we allow for heterogeneous charisma within a population, and ask how this heterogeneity affects each individual's marginal value. We find that more charismatic individuals confer higher value than their nondescript peers, populations with heterogeneous charisma are more valuable than homogeneous populations, and populations with more heterogeneous charisma raise the value of their most charismatic individuals. These results suggest that traditional approaches to wildlife-viewing valuation are inappropriate when specific individuals within the population are singled out as being more charismatic by wildlife viewers. We apply the model to bear viewing in Katmai National Park, Alaska (site of the famous Fat Bear competition). We find that the most charismatic individual ("Otis") is more than an order of magnitude more valuable than the median bear. These results have implications for government agencies assigning damage values when individuals within a population are poached or accidentally killed.

The vast majority of the wildlife valuation literature focuses on entire populations or substantial changes in those populations (e.g., 25% or more). The policy questions that motivated these existing studies differ considerably from the question of values for individual animals. Compensation for poaching incidents or accidental death of individual animals, as well as analyses of regulatory actions affecting a small number of animals, require economic value estimates for individual animals that are almost entirely missing from the economics literature. In the absence of value estimates for individual animals, wildlife managers are forced to rely on proxy measures that have little to no basis in economic valuation. This study presents one of the first applications of contingent valuation focused on the total economic value of an individual animal. In contrast to the existing literature on preservation values, this involves a unique study design to focus the scenario on animals at the individual level. Our valuation study takes place in the novel setting of "virtual tourists" who watch live animal webcams and interact and connect with the good in question. Results suggest that preservation values for individual animals can be quite high. The range of preservation values for one brown bear is estimated at $70-$140 per person based on a parametric spike model and non-parametric Turnbull and Kristrom estimators. The valuation approach illustrated in this article can be useful for collecting compensation for incidents of poaching, destruction of habitat, or evaluating the costs and benefits of regulations.

Estimating the economic benefits of reduced health damages due to improvements in environmental quality continues to challenge economists. We review welfare measures associated with reduced wildfire smoke exposure, and a unique dataset from California's Station Fire of 2009 allows for a comparison of cost of illness (COI) estimates with willingness to pay (WTP) measures. The WTP for one less symptom day is estimated to be $87 and $95, using the defensive behavior and contingent valuation methods, respectively. These WTP estimates are not statistically different but do differ from a $3 traditional daily COI estimate and $17 comprehensive daily COI estimate.

Proximity to public lands is well established within the literature as having a positive effect on nearby house prices. However, little research exists examining the impact of proximity to national parks. We use a hedonic property model with matching methods to estimate the value of proximity to Saguaro National Park West and Tucson Mountain Park. We find positive impacts of proximity to each park, with a larger aggregate effect from proximity to Saguaro National Park West. Our results provide useful insight into the potential impacts of changes in land use designation on nearby house prices.

This study contributes to the existing literature on valuing visitation to an important cultural heritage site. Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Hawaii remembers and honors those that served the United States in the Pacific battles of World War II. Although historic and cultural monuments and memorials comprise a substantial portion of the U.S. National Park System, there is little research into the economic benefits such sites provide to visitors. These benefits are a critical component of planning and management decisions based on an economic efficiency criterion. This study contributes to the literature by quantifying the economic value derived from visitation to Pearl Harbor National Memorial, home of the USS Arizona Memorial. Using data from a recent visitor survey, we explore the motivations for visiting the site and how such motivations may influence these values. These findings have significant implications, demonstrating a substantial return on the public's investment in a unique historic site and recent investments in maintaining the site for safety and an enhanced visitor experience. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

There are an estimated 16,000 nature related remote web cameras that provide users around the world with an opportunity to view wildlife. Because there is no monetary price to view the webcams, we utilise variations in the viewers' opportunity cost of time to estimate consumer surplus. We apply this model to a large sample (n = 2649) of the more than 10 million viewers of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve brown bear webcams. The resulting consumer surplus is around $11 per hour of viewing. When applied to the 2.42 million viewer hours, this yields a benefit of $27 million annually. Since there are limits on the number of visitors as well as high costs of visiting this remote site, the aggregate webcam viewing value is more than twice the aggregate on-site viewing value. With minimal survey data required to apply this model, we believe it has broad applicability to other nature-related webcams around the world.

Recreational hunting in the United States has traditional and cultural importance, and generates substantial economic benefits to individual hunters themselves. This paper conducts a meta-analysis of existing nonmarket valuation estimates for hunting in the United States to explore sources and implications of variation and uncertainty in these estimates. A multi-level meta-regression model is estimated to forecast point estimates for different hunting contexts, as well as to construct bounds of uncertainty around these estimates. The results and discussion provide insight to practitioners who need to conduct or understand benefit transfer, as well as those particularly interested in the value of hunting in the U.S.

Remote and unique destinations present difficulties when attempting to construct traditional travel cost models to value recreation demand. The biggest limitation comes from the lack of variation in the dependent variable, defined as the number of trips taken over a set time frame. There are various approaches that can be used for overcoming limitations of the traditional travel cost model in the context of remote destinations. This study applies an adaptation of the standard model to estimate recreation benefits of bear viewing at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, which represents a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many visitors. Results demonstrate that visitors to this park's Brooks Camp area are willing to pay an average of US$287 per day of bear viewing. Implications of these findings for valuing recreation at other remote destinations are discussed.

First posted November 23, 2016 For additional information, contact: Center Director, USGS Fort Collins Science Center 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. CBox 25046, MS-939Fort Collins, CO 80526-8118http://www.fort.usgs.gov/ This report summarizes the results of a series of field-based case studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to (1) evaluate the use of nonmarket values in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) planning and project assessments, (2) update existing technical resources for measuring those values, and (3) provide guidance to field staff on the use of nonmarket values. Four BLM pilot sites participated in this effort: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado, Red Cliffs and Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Areas in Utah, BLM’s Taos Field Office in New Mexico, and BLM's Tuscarora Field Office in Nevada. The focus of the case studies was on practical applications of nonmarket valuation. USGS worked directly with BLM field staff at the pilot sites to demonstrate the process of considering nonmarket values in BLM decisionmaking and document the questions, challenges, and opportunities that arise when tying economic language to projects.As part of this effort, a Web-based toolkit, available at https://my.usgs.gov/benefit-transfer/, was updated and expanded to help facilitate benefit transfers (that is, the use of existing economic data to quantify nonmarket values) and qualitative discussions of nonmarket values. A total of 53 new or overlooked nonmarket valuation studies comprising 494 nonmarket value estimates for various recreational activities and the preservation of threatened, endangered, and rare species were added to existing databases within this Benefit Transfer Toolkit. In addition, four meta-regression functions focused on hunting, wildlife viewing, fishing, and trail use recreation were developed and added to the Benefit Transfer Toolkit.Results of this effort demonstrate that there are two main roles for nonmarket valuation in BLM planning. The first is to improve the decisionmaking process by contributing to a more comprehensive comparison of economic benefits and cost when evaluating resource tradeoffs for National Environmental Policy Act analyses. The second is to use economic language and information on economic values, either qualitative or quantitative, to improve the ability to communicate the economic significance of the resources provided by BLM-managed lands. Findings also indicate that the use of existing economic data to quantify nonmarket values (that is, benefit transfer) poses unique challenges because of the scarcity of both resource data and existing valuation studies focused on resources and sites managed by BLM. This highlights the need for improvements in the collection of resource data at BLM sites, especially visitor use data, as well as an opportunity for BLM’s Socioeconomics Program to strategically identify priority areas, in terms of both resources and geographic locations, where primary valuation studies could be conducted and the results used for future benefit transfers. Finally, whereas qualitative discussions of nonmarket values do not facilitate the comparison of monetized values, they can provide a manageable next step forward in providing more comprehensive information on nonmarket values for BLM plans and project assessments.

Data from Earth observation systems are used extensively in managing and monitoring natural resources, natural hazards, and the impacts of climate change, but the value of such data can be difficult to estimate, particularly when it is available at no cost. Assessing the socioeconomic and scientific value of these data provides a better understanding of the existing and emerging research, science, and applications related to this information and contributes to the decision-making process regarding current and future Earth observation systems. Recent USGS research on Landsat data has advanced the literature in this area by using a variety of methods to estimate value. The results of a 2012 survey of Landsat users, a 2013 requirements assessment, and a 2013 case studies of applications of Landsat imagery are discussed.