Marisa J. Mazzotta

Valuing Estuarine Resource Services Using Economic and Ecological Models: The Peconic Estuary System Study

This article summarizes four integrated economic studies undertaken to contribute to resource preservation and restoration decisions for the Peconic Estuary System of Suffolk County, NY. Completed as part of the National Estuary Program, the studies apply distinct resource valuation methods to a wide range of resource issues. The principal goals of this article are to highlight different methodologies that may be used to assess nonmarket economic values in a coastal management context, and characterize differences in the results that one may expect from each approach. We also emphasize potential relationships among values estimated by different nonmarket methodologies, and comment on the implications of these relationships for the interpretation and use of economic value estimates.

Combining Economic and Ecological Indicators to Prioritize Salt Marsh Restoration Actions

Restoration of damaged or degraded ecosystems often represents an important component of environmental management (National Research Council). However, funds are typically insufficient to restore all candidate sites. This paper summarizes an ecological-economic model designed to assist managers in prioritizing salt marsh restoration actions. The model integrates information concerning both the production (supply) and value (demand) of wetland habitat functions. Although the project focuses on salt marshes in Narragansett Bay (RI), the approach is more generally applicable to assessing habitat restoration actions. Ecological production relationships determine links between salt marsh attributes and associated habitat functions. Although there is an extensive ecological literature on these relationships, considerable judgment is needed to interpret the literature in order to quantify how restoration actions would contribute to habitat for a range of species (e.g., Burdick et al., Able and Hagan, Wigand et al.). For this reason, we developed a survey of wetlands professionals to identify a consensus of expert opinion on production relationships among physical marsh attributes and particular habitat or ecological functions. While habitat functions are determined by ecological (physical) relationships, social values for these functions are determined by

Liability for oil spill damages: Issues, methods, and examples

Liability is an important incentive‐based instrument for preventing oil spills and provides a sustainable approach for restoring coastal resources injured by spills. However, the use of liability for environmental damages raises many challenges, including quantification of money measures of damages. In this article, case studies are used to illustrate the issues, methods, and challenges associated with assessing a range of damages, from those that can be measured relatively easily using market information to more “esoteric,”; and much more difficult, cases involving non‐market‐valued losses. Also discussed are issues raised by the new national and international regulatory focus on restoration and by the simplified, compensatory formula used by some states.

RESTORATION AND NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

ABSTRACT To date, the focus of damage assessment has tended to be either on economic valuation of lost services in monetary terms or on scientific studies of resource restoration. This paper suggests an alternative approach that integrates legal concepts based on the public trust doctrine, economic methods of determining compensation, and scientific approaches to restoration. The approach is based on a definition of restoration as a remedy for oil spill damages which identifies alternative restoration actions that provide resource services that are “equally desirable” to society as those lost due to the spill. The least costly of these alternatives is then selected as the cost-effective means of making the public whole.