Economic Impacts of Parks, Rivers, Trails and Greenways

people using carefully designed and administered surveys, and is hence often referred to asthe “stated preference” method. However, concerns over this method stem from the factthat distortions may arise because the questions are only hypothetical and there are no realfinancial consequences to respondents, and because there may be biases introduced ifrespondents have incentives to achieve a certain outcome (Smith, 1997).Daubert and Young (1981) performed one of the first evaluations of recreationalvalues of instream flow in 1978 to 1979 on the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado.Respondents were asked to provide willingness-to-pay information corresponding toflow levels presented in a series of photographs. Photographs were supplemented byhydrologic and fish catch information for each of the flow levels pictured. Bidcurves were then estimated corresponding to flow levels and socioeconomiccharacteristics. Results showed that average willingness-to-pay for fishing peaked at$30.35 per angler day at a flow level of 500 cfs. Lower or higher flows weresignificantly less valuable.The unit day value, travel cost, and contingent valuation methods continue to be tested andrefined. They provide alternatives to assess values of recreation resources via hypotheticalmarket transactions. As stated before, they do have limitations because they arehypothetical valuation methods. For example, a study involving Arctic grayling andYellowstone cutthroat trout compared results from contingent valuation against actualdonations people made to protect these species. Results showed that the CVM values mayoverstate actual cash willingness to pay, but not by that much (Loomis, 1996).Finally, the benefit transfer method to estimate economic values by transferring availabledata from studies that were done in another location. This can be done when it is tooexpensive or there is not enough time available to perform a tailored valuation study. Thebenefit transfer method can be used quickly to make general estimates of recreationalvalues, but it may not be accurate unless both sites have very similar characteristics. Thus,it may be difficult to locate appropriate studies that have been recently undertaken, and unitvalue estimates can become outdated quickly.3.7.3 Preservation ValuesAnalysis of economic benefits can also be used to determine the values which people placeon resources, even if they do not use them. Sometimes called passive-use values, they canalso be quantified through willingness-to-pay for the “passive” uses of wilderness orprotected resources. These non-users may value the resource for several reasons. Thedifferent types of preservation values and their definitions are:option value- Knowing there is guaranteed opportunity for future access to theresourceexistence value- Knowing that a resource has been preserved in perpetuity, even ifno recreational use is contemplatedbequest value- Knowing that future generations will have the opportunity to enjoy123