Valuation of National Park System Visitation: The Efficient Use of Count Data Models, Meta-Analysis, and Secondary Visitor Survey Data

Abstract

The National Park Service (NPS) currently manages a large and diverse system of park units nationwide which received an estimated 279 million recreational visits in 2011. This article uses park visitor data collected by the NPS Visitor Services Project to estimate a consistent set of count data travel cost models of park visitor willingness to pay (WTP). Models were estimated using 58 different park unit survey datasets. WTP estimates for these 58 park surveys were used within a meta-regression analysis model to predict average and total WTP for NPS recreational visitation system-wide. Estimated WTP per NPS visit in 2011 averaged $102 system-wide, and ranged across park units from $67 to $288. Total 2011 visitor WTP for the NPS system is estimated at $28.5 billion with a 95% confidence interval of $19.7-$43.1 billion. The estimation of a meta-regression model using consistently collected data and identical specification of visitor WTP models greatly reduces problems common to meta-regression models, including sample selection bias, primary data heterogeneity, and heteroskedasticity, as well as some aspects of panel effects. The article provides the first estimate of total annual NPS visitor WTP within the literature directly based on NPS visitor survey data.

Total Economic Valuation of the National Park Service Lands and Programs: Results of a Survey of the American Public

“…We conclude that the estimated value of $62 billion for National Parks is highly credible given that Neher, et al (2013) estimated the recreation use value alone for the National Parks at $28.5 billion. It makes sense that total economic value-which includes recreation use values and passive or non-use values-would be significantly larger.…”

“…3 Previous analysis of NPS visitation data using a travel demand method found a median value of $108 per day (Neher, et al 2013). Two other studies also used the travel demand method.…”

The Individual Travel Cost Method with Consumer-Specific Values of Travel Time Savings

“…We acknowledge this as a possible limitation of our study. 20 Many applied researchers are rather conservative in their assumptions about how much the opportunity cost of time might add to the value of a visited site and preferred to use the lower bounds of the wage rate (Neher et al 2013). For example, Hynes et al (2009) suggested that it would be useful to determine individual opportunity costs of travel time to avoid a potential bias related to assuming an excessively high wage fraction as a reference.…”

Economic Valuation of Conservation of Inholdings in Protected Areas for the Institution of Payments for Ecosystem Services

“…Haefele et al [22] found that the lands, waters, historic sites, and programs of the US National Park System are worth at a minimum $92 billion by using the CE. To estimate more specific economic values of natural resources, Neher et al [25] assessed the recreation use value for the US National Parks at $28.5 billion. A body of research has focused on estimating the use or non-use values of individual parks and natural resources (e.g., Turner and Wilmarth [26], Heberling and Templeton [27], Duffield [28], Douglass and Harpman [29]).…”