Economic Value of Angling on the Colorado River at Lees Ferry: Using Secondary Data to Estimate the Influence of Seasonality

Abstract

Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) on the Colorado River in northern Arizona provides water storage, flood control, and power system benefits to approximately 40 million people who rely on water and energy resources in the Colorado River basin. Downstream resources (e.g., angling, whitewater floating) in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GCNRA) and Grand Canyon National Park are impacted by the operation of GCD. The GCD Adaptive Management Program was established in 1997 to monitor and research the effects of dam operations on the downstream environment. We utilized secondary survey data and an individual observation travel cost model to estimate the net economic benefit of angling in GCNRA for each season and each type of angler. As expected, the demand for angling decreased with increasing travel cost; the annual value of angling at Lees Ferry totaled US$2.7 million at 2014 visitation levels. Demand for angling was also affected by season, with per‐trip values of $210 in the summer, $237 in the spring, $261 in the fall, and $399 in the winter. This information provides insight into the ways in which anglers are potentially impacted by seasonal GCD operations and adaptive management experiments aimed at improving downstream resource conditions.Received October 7, 2015; accepted June 13, 2016 Published online September 30, 2016

An Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Targeted Supplemental Stocking Using a Multistate Capture–Recapture Model

“…2010; Bair et al. 2016). Hence, the declines in angler catch rates were of concern to both managers and stakeholders (Rogowski and Boyer 2020).…”

“…2010; Bair et al. 2016; Figure 1). Specifically, Lees Ferry supports a population of nonnative, naturalized Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (RBT) that has historically grown to large sizes and occupied this section of the Colorado River in high densities (Korman et al.…”

“…Lees Ferry is an economically important, nationally recognized tailwater RBT fishery with an annual economic contribution of $2.7 million; additionally, it is highly accessible relative to other reaches and has a minimal cost to entry for anglers (Korman et al 2010;Bair et al 2016). Hence, the declines in angler catch rates were of concern to both managers and stakeholders (Rogowski and Boyer 2020).…”

“…Lees Ferry is located on a section of the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam where the release of cold water from Lake Powell supports a nationally recognized tailwater trout fishery with an annual economic contribution of US$2.7 million (Korman et al 2010;Bair et al 2016; Figure 1). Specifically, Lees Ferry supports a population of nonnative, naturalized Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (RBT) that has historically grown to large sizes and occupied this section of the Colorado River in high densities (Korman et al 2012(Korman et al , 2016Rogowski and Boyer 2020).…”

“…Lees Ferry provides the only day-use boat access to the free-flowing sections of the Colorado River in the area. Historically, this fishery was supported by stocking efforts and was stocked with RBT from 1964 to 1998, but stocking ceased when it was determined that the fishery was primarily supported by natural reproduction and catch rates were at least 1 fish/ h (Bair et al 2016;Rogowski and Boyer 2020). Stocking remained a potential management action but did not occur again until 526 fish were stocked in 2018.…”