Workshop

Please Note: All Workshop Materials Will Be Available Online After the Workshop at http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/science_and_economics/conservation_economics/index.php

Title of Session: Introduction to the Wildlife Habitat Benefits Estimation Toolkit

Organizer:
Timm Kroeger, Ph.D., Natural Resources Economist, Defenders of Wildlife

Session Goals:
Participants will learn about an easy-to-use toolkit composed of spreadsheet-based valuation models, databases and tables that allows users to generate estimates of the economic value of benefits associated with wildlife and habitat conservation.

Speakers:
Dr. John Loomis, Professor, Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University
Dr. Frank Casey, Director, Conservation Economics Program, Defenders of Wildlife

Summary:
The Wildlife Habitat Benefits Estimation Toolkit, developed in collaboration between economists at Defenders of Wildlife and Colorado State University under a grant from NCSE’s Wildlife Habitat Policy Research Program, is an easy-to-use set of spreadsheet-based valuation models, tables and databases directed at land use and wildlife planners and others interested in estimating the economic benefits associated with wildlife and habitat conservation in specific geographic regions. The toolkit comprises models that generate estimates of 1) Open space property value premiums: the share of residential property prices in an area of interest that is attributable to the presence of a nearby open space, or the increase/decrease in property prices that would result from an increase/decrease in open space in the area; 2) Net economic benefits per activity day for participation in wildlife-associated recreation activities (fishing, hunting, wildlife-watching); 3) Visitation numbers for wildlife-associated recreation for an existing wildlife refuge or state game management area, or changes in visitation from the expansion/reduction of the acreage on such lands, as well as state-wide visitation numbers for other conservation acreage that provides for wildlife-associated recreation activities; 4) Annual values for ecosystem services provided by terrestrial and aquatic habitat or wetlands. All of these models were derived through meta-analyses of the available literature, and can be “fitted” to a particular area of interest to the user by setting their variables to match the local context of interest. The toolkit also includes a set of tables that provide average values per activity day for a variety of wildlife-associated recreation activities, by game or fish type and geographic region, as well as comprehensive databases (together comprising several hundred studies) that provide information on individual studies in the literature and allow the user to search for a study that is similar to their local context. Thus, the toolkit provides users three options for estimating the economic value of wildlife or habitat, using either estimation models, tabular values or individual study findings. The toolkit also directs users to information on trip and equipment expenditures and economic impact modeling for wildlife-associated recreation activities.
  The workshop will provide participants with an introduction to and overview of the toolkit and associated user manuals, discuss the most relevant uses of the toolkit in land use and habitat conservation planning, and present several sample applications. Participants will be provided CDs containing the complete toolkit (incl. user manuals, technical reports, spreadsheet-based models, value tables and databases) to take with them.