Paper Number: 2008-07

Document Date: 08/2008

Author(s): Christopher C. Moore and Thomas P. Holmes

Subject Area(s): Economic Damages/Benefits; Forests; Benefit-Cost Analysis

Keywords: invasive species; hemlock woolly adelgid; ecosystem valuation; forest preservation

Abstract: The hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive insect that is infesting and destroying hemlock forests in the northeastern United States. Mitigation efforts are taking place on public lands throughout the affected area. This study examines one such effort in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Economic benefits from hemlock ecosystem services are estimated using contingent valuation and are shown to outweigh the costs of mitigation. The estimated benefit function is also used in an optimization routine to examine the current allocation of conservation resources. Results show that a reallocation of mitigation effort would result in large gains in net economic benefit.

This paper is part of the Environmental Economics Working Paper Series.

• Valuing Forest Protection Programs to Maximize Economic Benefit (PDF)(27 pp, 706 K, 08/2008)