Leslie Richardson

The economics of roadside bear viewing

Viewing bears along roadside habitats is a popular recreational activity in certain national parks throughout the United States. However, safely managing visitors during traffic jams that result from this activity often requires the use of limited park resources. Using unique visitor survey data, this study quantifies economic values associated with roadside bear viewing in Yellowstone National Park, monetary values that could be used to determine whether this continued use of park resources is warranted on economic grounds. Based on visitor expenditure data and results of a contingent visitation question, it is estimated that summer Park visitation would decrease if bears were no longer allowed to stay along roadside habitats, resulting in a loss of 155 jobs in the local economy. Results from a nonmarket valuation survey question indicate that on average, visitors to Yellowstone National Park are willing to pay around

Valuing Morbidity from Wildfire Smoke Exposure: A Comparison of Revealed and Stated Preference Techniques

41 more in Park entrance fees to ensure that bears are allowed to remain along roads within the Park. Generalizing this value to the relevant population of visitors indicates that the economic benefits of allowing this wildlife viewing opportunity to continue could outweigh the costs of using additional resources to effectively manage these traffic jams.

Valuing Geospatial Information: Using the Contingent Valuation Method to Estimate the Economic Benefits of Landsat Satellite Imagery

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

The Value of Earth Observations: Methods and Findings on the Value of Landsat Imagery

87 and

The total economic value of threatened, endangered and rare species: An updated meta-analysis

95, using the defensive behavior and contingent valuation methods, respectively. These WTP estimates are not statistically different but do differ from a

The role of benefit transfer in ecosystem service valuation

3 traditional daily COI estimate and

The hidden cost of wildfires: Economic valuation of health effects of wildfire smoke exposure in Southern California

17 comprehensive daily COI estimate. (JEL Q51, Q53)

A Benefit Transfer Toolkit for Fish, Wildlife, Wetlands, and Open Space

Abstract While the U.S. government does not charge for downloading Landsat images, the images have value to users. This paper demonstrates a method that can value Landsat and other imagery to users. A survey of downloaders of Landsat images found: (a) established US users have a mean value of

Assessing the value of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in Everglades restoration: An ecosystem service approach

912 USD per scene; (b) new US users and users returning when imagery became free have a mean value of

Users, uses, and value of Landsat satellite imagery: results from the 2012 survey of users

367 USD per scene. Total US user benefits for the 2.38 million scenes downloaded is