An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Workshop: Valuation of Ecological Benefits: Improving the Science Behind Policy Decisions (2005)

Paper Number: EE-0489

Document Date: 02/01/2005

Author(s):  Alpha-Gamma Technologies, Inc.

Subject Area(s):

Economic Analysis, Benefit-Cost Analysis, Ecological Benefits, Stated Preference Surveys, Ecosystem Valuation

Keywords: Economic Analysis, Benefit-Cost Analysis, Ecological Benefits, Stated Preference Surveys, Ecosystem Valuation

Summary: 

The purpose of the Environmental Policy and Economics Workshop Series is to hold in-depth workshops on timely topics that will further the use of economics as a tool for environmental decision making. Both NSF/EPA grant recipients and researchers (from EPA, fellow Federal agencies, academia, and others) will be invited to attend and discuss their on-going research. Topics will be chosen based on relevance to current EPA issues and, more broadly, to issues of concern to the environmental economics community. These topics include exploration of innovations in economic research methods as well as how research will further environmental policy making and future environmental economic studies.

This two-day workshop co-sponsored by EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics and National Center for Environmental Research highlighted results from EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants and other projects related to methods, models and empirical estimates to improve the valuation of ecological endpoints at risk from environmental harm. Investigators presented research on ecosystem valuation, including methodological improvements as well as ways to incorporate non-monetizable or non-quantifiable ecological information into environmental policy decisions. Topics include research examining the benefits of improved coastal water quality, the value of improved fresh water quality, advances in the stated preference valuation method, balancing conservation and urban growth, and valuing wildlife health and biodiversity. The workshop featured a keynote address by Geoffrey Heal of Columbia University in addition to opening remarks by Mike Shapiro, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water.

Introduction

Introductory Remarks: Mike Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, USEPA

Session I: Selected Ecological Valuation Activities at EPA

  • Draft Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan, Nicole Owens, U.S. EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics
  • Valuing Ecological Protection: A Tangle, a Web, or a Fabric?, Angela Nugent, Science Advisory Board Staff Office
  • Valuing Ecosystem Services Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making,  Mark Gibson, National Academy of Sciences
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session I

Session II: Cleaning Our Coastal Waters: Examinations of the Benefits of Improved Water Quality

  • The Value of Improvements to California’s Coastal Waters: Results from a Stated-Preference Survey, Nicole Owens and Nathalie B. Simon, U.S. EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics
  • The Recreational Benefits of Improvements in New England's Water Quality: A Regional RUM Analysis, Erik C. Helm, U.S. EPA, Office of Water; George R. Parsons, University of Delaware; Tim Bondelid, RTI International
  • Valuing Water Quality Changes Using a Bioeconomic Model of a Coastal Recreational Fishery, Matt Massey and Steve Newbold, U.S. EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics; Brad Gentner, National Marine Fisheries Service
  • Discussant, Bob Leeworthy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Discussant, Nancy Bockstael, University of Maryland
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session II

Session III, Part 1: Keeping Water Fresh: The Value of Improved Fresh Water Quality

  • Recreation Demand Using Physical Measures of Water Quality, Kevin J. Egan, Joseph A. Herriges, Catherine L. Kling, and John A. Downing, Iowa State University
  • Choice Margins and the Measurement of Ecological Benefits: The Case of Urban Watersheds, V. Kerry Smith, Daniel J. Phaneuf, and Raymond B. Palmquist, North Carolina State University
  • Discussant, John Powers, U.S. EPA, Office of Water
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session III, Part 1

Session III, Part 2: Keeping Water Fresh: The Value of Improved Fresh Water Quality

  • Valuation of Natural Resource Improvements in the Adirondacks, Spencer Banzhaf, Dallas Burtraw, David Evans, and Alan Krupnick, Resources for the Future
  • The Value of Regional Water Quality Improvements, W. Kip Viscusi, Harvard University; Joel Huber, and Jason Bell, Duke University
  • A Consistent Framework for Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Services Using Discrete Choice Methods, J. Walter Milon, David Scrogin, and John F. Weishampel, University of Central Florida
  • Discussant, Kevin J. Boyle, University of Maine
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session III, Part 2

Session IV: Tales of Otters, Eagles, and Owls: Valuing Wildlife Health and Biodiversity

  • Contingent Valuation for Ecological and Noncancer Effects Within an Integrated Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment Model, James Hammitt, and Katherine von Stackelberg, Harvard University
  • Joint Determination in a General Equilibrium Ecology/Economy Model, David Finnoff, and John Tschirhart, University of Wyoming
  • Integrated Modeling and Ecological Valuation, David S. Brookshire, and Janie Chermak, University of New Mexico; Juliet Stromberg, Arizona State University; Arriana Brand, Colorado State University; David Goodrich, Arizona Research Service; Thomas Maddock III, and Steven Stewart, University of Arizona
  • Discussant, R. David Simpson, U.S EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics
  • Discussant, Juha Siikamäki, Resources for the Future
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session IV

Session V: Conservation and Urban Growth: Finding the Balance

  • Applying Economic and Ecological Principles to Identify Conservation Reserves for Vernal Pools with Residential Development, Dana Marie Bauer, Yong Jiang, Stephen K. Swallow, Peter Paton and Dennis Skidds, University of Rhode Island
  • Spatial Analysis of Private Land Conservation Behavior, Amy W. Ando, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Heidi Albers, Oregon State University
  • Pixels in Place of Parcels: Modeling Urban Growth Using Information Derived From Satellite Imagery, Rich Iovanna, U.S. EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics; Colin Vance, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Transportation Research
  • Discussant, Sabrina Lovell, U.S. EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics
  • Discussant, Andrew J. Plantinga, Oregon State University
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session V

Session VI: Methodological Advances in Stated Preference Valuation

  • Embedding in the Stated-Preference Methods, Michael Hanemann, University of California - Berkeley; Jeff Lazo, National Center for Atmospheric Research
  • Experimental Tests of Provisions Rules in Conjoint Analysis for Environmental Valuation, Laura Taylor, Georgia State University; Kevin Boyle, University of Maine; Mark Morrison, Charles Sturt University
  • Internet-Based Stated Choice Experiments in Ecosystem Mitigation: Methods to Control Decision Heuristics and Biases, John P. Hoehn, Frank Lupi, Michael D. Kaplowitz, Michigan State University
  • Discussant, Joseph Cooper, USDA, Economic Research Service
  • Discussant, Thomas H. Stevens, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Summary of Q&A Discussion Following Session VI

This workshop is part of the Environmental Policy and Economics Workshop Series.

You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.
  • Valuation of Ecological Benefits: Improving the Science Behind Policy Decisions (PDF)(631 pp, 12 MB, 02/01/2005, EE-0489)
    Two-day workshop co-sponsored by EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics and National Center for Environmental Research highlighted results from EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants and other projects related to methods, models and empirical estimates to improve the valuation of ecological endpoints at risk from environmental harm. Topics include the benefits of improved coastal water quality, the value of improved fresh water quality and advances in stated preference methods