Mueller, Julie (2012) Estimating Flagstaff residents willingness to pay for forest restoration in the Lake Mary and Upper Rio de Flag Watersheds: A pilot study: Working paper series--12-06. Working Paper. NAU W.A. Franke College of Business.
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Abstract
We estimate Flagstaff residents' willingness to pay (WTP) to provide monitoring and maintenance for forest restoration. The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) plans to restore all of the ponderosa pine forests in the Lake Mary watershed and 11,500 acres in the Rio de Flag watershed. The Lake Mary and Upper Rio de Flag watersheds provide the municipal water supply for the City of Flagstaff, Arizona. Forest restoration reduces the probability of catastrophic wildfire and flooding, and protects the quantity and quality of water in a protected watershed. While start-up funding is available for 4FRI, funding sources for future monitoring and maintenance remain uncertain. We present results from a Contingent Valuation survey estimating the value of forest restoration for a specific set of potential beneficiaries - Flagstaff residents. Based on a pilot study of approximately 100 respondents, we find monthly willingness to pay for forest restoration to range from $1.78 to $9.72 per household per month. With approximately 20,000 single-family residences in the City of Flagstaff, our estimates show potential annual net benefits ranging from $331,000 to $1.9M. Our pilot study presents significant statistical evidence that positive net benefits exist from forest restoration in Flagstaff, Arizona, indicating that a potential payments system for residential water users to provide funding for forest restoration may be a viable policy option for the City of Flagstaff.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Working Paper) |
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| Publisher’s Statement: | Copyright, where appropriate, is held by the author. |
| ID number or DOI: | 12-06 |
| Keywords: | Working paper, forest restoration, willingness to pay, ecosystem services |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HJ Public Finance |
| NAU Depositing Author Academic Status: | Faculty/Staff |
| Department/Unit: | The W.A. Franke College of Business |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Oct 2015 21:41 |
| URI: | http://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/1469 |
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