Christos Siderelis

Outdoor recreation net benefits of rail-trails.

Net economic values were estimated with the individual travel cost method for user samples from three rail-trails in geographically diverse regions of the U.S. Estimates of rail-trail demands were ...

A BOATING CHOICE MODEL FOR THE VALUATION OF LAKE ACCESS

Most policies that bear on the management of lakes for public boating have regional use implications, with the lake attributes and individual preferences for boating activities determining the quantity of trips (Bockstael, McConnell & Strand, 1991). Managing authorities work to control boating access to lakes and to comply with a variety of internal and federal regulations compelling them to provide water-based recreation to individuals living in areas surrounding the lakes. For example, managing authorities produce operating plans on a periodic basis for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as evidence of their compliance with the regions boating needs. Plans incorporate present and future boating use patterns and address the impact of changes in public and private lake access for existing lake conditions and long-range lake developments. Attempts, then, to value the benefits to boaters from lake management policies should have a regional scope and be based on managements understanding of the underlying preferences of boaters and the availability of alternative boating sites (Peterson, Stynes, Rosenthal & Dwyer, 1985). Yet, most studies of lake boating are site specific relying on data from on-site surveys of users.Conceptual and empirical issues associated with the development of methodologies that are applicable to water-based recreation demand and benefits are discussed by Smith (1989); Fletcher, Adamowicz and Tomasi (1990); Bockstael, McConnell and Strand (1991); and in the proceedings on recreation choice behavior (Stankey and McCool, 1985). An assumption common to the analysis of recreation demand and corresponding welfare benefits is that, when making choices, an individual is maximizing the utility (value) derived from pursuing a particular choice.(1) Unfortunately, with indirect approaches for measuring the demand for lake boating, we can never comprehend all the factors underlying choice decisions and describe comprehensively the sequence of decisions (Smith, 1989). Rather, we are organizing what we hypothesize to be the determinants and constraints of individual decisions to participate in lake boating (Smith).This article reports results from the applications of a discrete choice method to alternative choice processes that individuals go through and the factors that are considered when making boating decisions in the context of multiple lakes. The discrete choice or random utility model for studying outdoor recreation demand is described by Bockstael, McConnell, and Strand (1991). Using a random household-based sample of registered boat owners living in the region surrounding the Catawba River Basin in North Carolina, we test our assumptions about the sequences of boating choice decisions that are made by individuals. We begin with a boating activity and destination lake choice problem, and conclude with a more complex choice problem that includes boating activities, an intervening choice of boat launching facilities, and finally destination lakes.Estimations from discrete choice equations produce probabilistic outcomes for boating demands that are useful to managers in determining the amount of boating trips to each lake in a region and in calculating estimates of welfare benefits per boating occasion to each lake. Our welfare estimates are conditioned on a boater wanting to gain access to a lake and if, hypothetically, that boater were to be denied access to the lake per boating choice occasion (Bockstael, McConnell & Strand, 1991). Given the denial of access to a closed substitute lake, the measure of compensating variation, which is calculated from discrete choice models, is interpreted as the welfare estimate of lake access or the amount of compensation per choice occasion an individual in our sample would need if one of the lakes were not made available for a period of time.Modeling Boating ChoiceConsider a simple choice problem of lake boating and three lakes (d). …

Ecological Settings and State Economies as Factor Inputs in the Provision of Outdoor Recreation

State parks play a substantial role in the provision of outdoor recreation opportunities within the United States. Park operators must make crucial decisions in how they allocate capital expenditures, labor, and parkland to maintain recreation opportunities. Their decisions are influenced, in part, by the ecological characteristics of their state’s park system as well as the vitality of their state’s economy. In this research, we incorporate the characteristics of states’ ecosystems and their local economies into a formal production analysis of the states’ park systems from the years 1986 to 2011. Our analysis revealed all three factors of production were positive and inelastic. Expenditures on labor had the largest effect on both park utilization and operational expenditures. Our analysis also found a large degree of variability in the effects of ecological characteristics on both utilization and operating expenditures. Parkland utilization and operational expenditures were more elastic in areas such as Oceania and Mediterranean California relative to other ecological regions. These findings lead us to conclude that state park operators will experience variable levels of difficulty in both accommodating increasing demands for recreation from state parks and maintaining the existing quality of outdoor recreation provided within their system.

Trip Response Modeling of Rock Climbers' Reactions to Proposed Regulations

Study results contribute to the recreation benefits literature for the sport of rock climbing. Also, reported is an application of a hybrid or trip response modeling approach. Respondent reactions (intended behavior) to regulatory changes in management plans at Crowders Mountain State Park, North Carolina, are assessed. The proposed regulations address (a) the quality of rock climbing conditions, (b) variations in climbing areas to accommodate the different skill levels, (c) limiting the number and size of groups, (d) rationing of rock climbing at certain areas, involving either area modifications, restrictions or closures, and (e) requiring users to attend education programs and perform park service projects. Intended changes in annual climbing participation, attributable to the proposed regulations, are displayed along with losses in recreation benefits. Our point estimate of consumer surplus is

A Mixed Logit Model of Visitors' National Park Choices

125 per trip, which compares favorably with other reported estimates. Finally, an on-site climbing choice model is estimated and the resulting distributions of demanded state park trips among the seven climbing areas resulting from four regulatory change are evaluated.

Recreation demand and the influence of site preference variables.

The purposes of this study were twofold. The first estimated a mixed logit model of South Korean National Park choices to determine how park size and miles of trail affected the choice patterns of visitors to the 18 parks in the system. The second applied the resulting choice model to simulate how the distribution of visits would change in response to two hypothetical but possible scenarios. One scenario involved the hypothetical changes in the miles of park trails and the other related to an increase in future visits to the 18 national parks. Motivating this study, in part, was the anticipated increase in national park visitation due to 2002 legislation converting the Republic of South Koreas six-day work week to five days and thereby reducing time constraints for vast numbers of potential visitors. The article illustrates the value of mixed logit modeling to understanding how management changes may affect visitation.