Jeffrey Englin

A hedonic travel cost analysis for valuation of multiple components of site quality: The recreation value of forest management☆

Abstract One benefit of managing forests is that one can alter the qualities of sites. The value of changing site qualities, however, is generally not known. This paper develops a formal hedonic travel cost model which can be used to estimate the value of both marginal and non-marginal changes to sites. The approach accommodates multiple simultaneous changes in site characteristics. Estimating this model using a set of permits from wilderness areas leads to revealed preference estimates of the recreational value of clear-cuts, old-growth, and nine other wilderness attributes.

Optimal taxation: timber and externalities.

Abstract The paper presents a model of the relationship between timber taxation and externalities. Optimal pigouvian taxation formulas are derived within this framework for common taxes. A simulation model of Douglas fir is used to estimate the size and direction of these effects. The results show that taxation policy can have a marked impact on the production of externalities, depending on tree species and land productivity.

Environmental impacts of sequestering carbon through forestation

An issue that arises when considering the potential damages of climate change is whether it is possible to slow or stop human caused climate change. One suggestion to reduce the threat of global warming is to change our management of forests to offset carbon emissions. This study examines the impacts of such a policy on environmental amenities in existing Douglas-fir forests. In this analysis Douglas-fir forest management is modelled in a Faustmann framework, where the forest produces three goods: timber, carbon sequestration and amenities. Using this framework, the level of amenities under profit-maximizing and carbon-sequestration management regimes are compared. The change in the level of seven specific amenities is modelled. These amenities include trout, wildlife diversity, visual aesthetics, soil stability, deer populations, elk populations, and water yield. The study finds that the effect of a carbon sequestration policy will depend on the discount rate chosen. In most situations externalities vary less than plus or minus ten percent. However, those externalities that exhibit discontinuities in their relationship to forest age may vary a hundred percent or more depending on the discount rate used.

Measuring angling quality in count data models of recreational fishing

This paper develops a methodology for investigating different specifications of angling quality in recreational demand models. The methodology is used to compare three alternative specifications of the relationship between angling demand and site quality. The site quality alternatives include chemical concentrations, biological stress indices based on the chemicals, and catch per unit effort. The three alternatives are differentiated using a likelihood ratio non-nested testing procedure.

Estimating the amenity value of rainfall

The amenity value of two measures of rainfall are investigated in this study: long term average annual rainfall and the variation in rainfall within the year. Estimates of the economic value of rainfall and variation in rainfall are found using the hedonic property value technique. The results indicate that rainfall is an attribute for which the distribution as well as the average annual level is important. Home buyers prefer less annual rainfall, but, holding annual rainfall constant, buyers will also pay more for greater seasonal variation in rainfall.

Backcountry hiking and optimal timber rotation.

This paper examines the effect of backcountry hiking on the optimal rotation periods of several species of trees. The paper begins by showing how theoretical models of timber rotation in the presence of externalities can be used to describe this situation. Following this, empirical rules for harvesting timber based on common forest data are computed for five species of trees. The paper proceeds by simulating the optimal social forest management regime when both timber and amenity values can substantially alter the rotation period of timber.

Conservation Voltage Reduction Potential In The Pacific Northwest

This paper summarizes a study performed by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) indicating that the region-wide implementation of conservation voltage reduction (CVR) would provide a significant level of electric energy conservation in the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) service area. This resource was estimated by developing supply curves showing the magnitude of energy savings as a function of CVR implementation cost. Energy savings were estimated for residential, commercial, agricultural irrigation, and industrial consumer classes. Using the convention of expressing energy conservation in average megawatts (AMW), the CVR conservation resource in the Pacific Northwest was estimated to be between 170 and 268 AMW at a cost of 5 cents/kWh. Estimates were also made for the contribution of major load sectors to the total CVR resource. Approximately 55% of the total was estimated to be available in the residential sector. Contributions by the other sectors considered were as follows: commercial, 29%; industrial, 14%; and agricultural irrigation, 3%. A large portion (142 to 230 AMW) of the conservation resource would be available at less than 1 cent/kWh. a median estimate of the regional CVR resource at 1 cent/kWh (179 AMW) exceeds the conservation potential (150 AMW) expected from possible implementation of major efficiency improvements onmorexa0» Pacific Northwest transmission and distribution systems. This paper also shows that CVR can be more effective than conventional demand-side management measures in reducing system peak load. 9 refs., 2 figs., 5 tabs.«xa0less

Wildfire and the Economic Value of Wilderness Recreation

The idea that wildfires play an integral role in maintaining healthy forests has begun to change the ways that scientists, managers, and the general public view fire policy and programs. New approaches to forest management that seek to integrate natural disturbances with the provision of goods and services valued by people impose a greater need for a full accounting of the economic effects of wildfire (as well as other disturbances). In addition to the effects that forest fires have on commodities and assets that are traded in markets, such as timber and residential structures, fires also affect the condition and value of public goods that are not traded in markets, such as outdoor recreational sites. Understanding the economic consequences of wildfires on the provision and value of public goods requires the use of non-market valuation methods (Champ et al. 2003). The goal of this chapter is to demonstrate how wildfires affect the demand for, and value of, Wilderness recreational sites, which is illustrated using the travel cost method. Wilderness areas provide the public with a special opportunity to observe the effects of wildfires on natural processes in fire-adapted ecosystems. Lightningcaused fires are sometimes allowed to bum in Wilderness areas (a prescribed natural fire) when conditions are deemed suitable. Management ignited prescribed fires are also used to reduce fuel loads and mimic natural processes (Geary and Stokes 1999). Although fire suppression activities are permitted in Wilderness areas, management of forest regeneration and succession after a wildfire (including timber salvage and tree planting) is not permitted. Consequently, Wilderness areas provide a natural laboratory where visitors can experience firsthand the ecological dynamics following the occurrence of wildfire. Since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, more than 100 million acres of wild lands have been included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Recent estimates suggest that roughly 15 million annual visits were made to

Public response to radon information in the Pacific northwest

Most work on the perception of risk from radon is based on studies of limited populations. This paper assesses data from a relatively far reaching program to evaluate what determinants affect public response. The Bonneville Power Administrations radon education, monitoring, and mitigation program has reached over 100,000 households in the Pacific Northwest. We review the responses these households have had to the program to assess its effectiveness in encouraging homeowners to monitor for radon and, where needed, to install mitigation. Program evaluations that touch on the radon information program suggest that homeowners read and understand a 25‐page booklet about indoor air quality. Portions of the program have a penetration rate of 42%, which is comparable to that of programs in regions with the highest radon exposures, though Pacific Northwest exposures are relatively low. We apply a logit regression model to Bonnevilles radon data base, which suggests that program participants respond to the progra...

Using a model and empirical data to analyze manufactured home conservation retrofits

Abstract Approximately 600 of the 3200 homes participating in the Hood River Conservation Project (HRCP) were manufactured (mobile) homes. The variation in their thermal characteristics before and after retrofit allowed us to estimate the energy savings associated with specific energy conservation measures (ECMs). We used the PRISM model and an adjustment procedure to provide estimates of heating energy consumption. The estimated relationship between the heating consumption and the estimated design load coefficient (UA) was used to determine the space-heating energy savings associated with individual ECMs. We then developed cost-estimating relationships for each component based on HRCP data and used the estimated costs with the energy savings estimates to determine the levelized costs of retrofit measures. Levelized costs less than 4 ¢/kWh were considered to be cost-effective. The results indicated that ceiling retrofits were the most cost-effective way to save energy. On an incremental basis and assuming 30-year remaining lifetimes, ceiling insulation up to R-5.4 (m2 °C)/W was cost-effective. On an average basis, levels up to R-6.8 (where physically possible) were cost-effective. Floor insulation retrofits to R-2.5 were nearly cost-effective. The levelized costs of window retrofits, however, were substantially beyond cost-effective levels. The assumed lifetime of the home critically affected the cost-effectiveness of the retrofits: a 10-year lifetime increased levelized costs by a factor of about 2.5 over costs for a 30-year lifetime.