Paper Number: EE-0505

Document Date: 06/25/2007

Author(s):  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Subject Area(s):

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

Keywords: Economic Analysis, Benefit-Cost Analysis, Ecological Benefits, Stated Preference Surveys, Aquatic Ecosystem Valuation, Benefits Transfer, Invasive Species

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.

EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) and National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) sponsored a two-day workshop to discuss research being conducted on ecological valuation. The workshop consisted of a series of presentations and discussions by researchers from the NCER Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant program, NCEE, other EPA offices, and universities.  There were presentations on the estimation of values for ecological goods and services such as water quality, wetlands, riparian habitat, and aquatic resources. Other presentations discussed improved methods for benefit transfer and invasive species.

Introductory Remarks

Rick Linthurst, National Program Director for Ecology, EPA, Office of Research and Development

Session I: Benefits Transfer

• Benefits Transfer of a Third Kind: An Examination of Structural Benefits Transfer, George Van Houtven, Subhrendu Pattanayak, Sumeet Patil, and Brooks Depro, Research Triangle Institute
• The Stability of Values for Ecosystem Services: Tools for Evaluating the Potential for Benefits Transfers, John Hoehn, Michael Kaplowitz, and Frank Lupi, Michigan State University
• Meta-Regression and Benefit Transfer: Data Space, Model Space and the Quest for ‘Optimal Scope’, Klaus Moeltner, University of Nevada, Reno, and Randall Rosenberger, Oregon State University
• Discussant: Matt Massey, EPA, NCEE
• Discussant: Kevin Boyle, Virginia Tech University
• Questions and Discussion

Session II: Wetlands and Coastal Resources

• A Combined Conjoint-Travel Cost Demand Model for Measuring the Impact of Erosion and Erosion Control Programs on Beach Recreation, Ju-Chin Huang, University of New Hampshire; George Parsons, University of Delaware; Min Qiang Zhao, The Ohio State University; and P. Joan Poor, St. Mary’s College of Maryland
• A Consistent Framework for Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Services Using Discrete Choice Methods, David Scrogin, Walter Milon, and John Weishampel, University of Central Florida
• Linking Recreation Demand and Willingness To Pay With the Inclusive Value: Valuation of Saginaw Bay Coastal Marsh, John Whitehead and Pete Groothuis, Appalachian State University
• Discussant: Jamal Kadri, EPA, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
• Discussant: John Horowitz, University of Maryland
• Questions and Discussion

Session III: Invasive Species

• Models of Spatial and Intertemporal Invasive Species Management, Brooks Kaiser, Gettysburg College, and Kimberly Burnett, University of Hawaii at Manoa
• Policies for the Game of Global Marine Invasive Species Pollution, Linda Fernandez, University of California at Riverside
• Discussant: Marilyn Katz, EPA, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
• Discussant: Lars Olsen, University of Maryland
• Questions and Discussion

Session IV: Valuation of Ecological Effects

• Integrated Modeling and Ecological Valuation: Applications in the Semi Arid Southwest, David Brookshire, University of New Mexico, Arriana Brand, Jennifer Thacher, Mark Dixon,Julie Stromberg, Kevin Lansey, David Goodrich, Molly McIntosh, Jake Gradny, Steve Stewart, Craig Broadbent and German Izon
• Contingent Valuation Surveys to Monetize the Benefits of Risk Reductions Across Ecological and Developmental Endpoints, Katherine von Stackelberg and James Hammitt, Harvard School of Public Health
• Valuing the Ecological Effects of Acidification: Mapping the Extent of Market and Extent of Resource in the Southern Appalachians, Shalini Vajjhala, Anne Mische John, and David Evans, Resources for the Future
• Discussant: Joel Corona, EPA, Office of Water
• Discussant: David Simpson, Johns Hopkins University
• Questions and Discussion

Session V: Water Resources

• Valuing Water Quality as a Function of Physical Measures, Kevin Egan, Joe Herriges, John Downing, and Katherine Cling, Iowa State University
• Cost-Effective Provision of Ecosystem Services from Riparian Buffer Zones, Jo Albers, Oregon State University; David Simpson, Johns Hopkins University; and Steve Newbold, NCEE
• Development of Bioindicator-Based Stated Preference Valuation for Aquatic Resources, Robert Johnston, Eric Shultz, Kathleen Segerson, Jessica Kukielka, Deepak Joglekar, University of Connecticut; and Elena Y. Besedin, Abt Associates
• Comparing Management Options and Valuing Environmental Improvements in a Recreational Fishery, Steve Newbold and Matt Massey, NCEE
• Discussant: Julie Hewitt, EPA, Office of Water
• Discussant: George Parsons, University of Delaware
• Questions and Discussions
• Final Remarks

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

• Valuation for Environmental Policy: Ecological Benefits (2007) (PDF)(614 pp, 5 MB, 06/25/2007, EE-0505)
  EPA's National Center for Environmental Research and National Center for Environmental Economics - workshop had a series of presentations and discussions by researchers from the NCER Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant program, NCEE, other EPA offices, and universities. There were presentations on the estimation of values for ecological goods and services such as water quality, wetlands, riparian habitat, and aquatic resources, improved methods for benefit transfer and invasive species.