Valuing ancient forest ecosystems: An analysis of backcountry hiking in Jasper National Park

Jeffrey E. Englin; Jered M. McDonald; Klaus Moeltner

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.05.022

Valuing ancient forest ecosystems: An analysis of backcountry hiking in Jasper National Park

Jeffrey E. Englin, Jered M. McDonald, Klaus Moeltner

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines backcountry visitors' preferences for truly ancient forest ecosystems. We find that visitors consider ancient forests a distinctly different ecosystem than mature, but younger forests dominated by the same tree types, and that the recreational value of forests continues to grow for several hundred years following a crown fire. By employing a random coefficients model of utility the analysis is able to provide measures of the variability in preferences for forest ecosystems across the population of users. The model also shows that site choice probabilities and welfare effects associated with ancient woodlands are sensitive to the mix of dominating tree types, and exhibit substantial fluctuation over trails.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	665-678
Number of pages	14
Journal	Ecological Economics
Volume	57
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.05.022
State	Published - Jun 1 2006
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Ancient forests
Backpacking
Forest attributes
Random coefficients
Random utility models

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Science(all)
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.05.022

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abstract = "This study examines backcountry visitors' preferences for truly ancient forest ecosystems. We find that visitors consider ancient forests a distinctly different ecosystem than mature, but younger forests dominated by the same tree types, and that the recreational value of forests continues to grow for several hundred years following a crown fire. By employing a random coefficients model of utility the analysis is able to provide measures of the variability in preferences for forest ecosystems across the population of users. The model also shows that site choice probabilities and welfare effects associated with ancient woodlands are sensitive to the mix of dominating tree types, and exhibit substantial fluctuation over trails.",

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AB - This study examines backcountry visitors' preferences for truly ancient forest ecosystems. We find that visitors consider ancient forests a distinctly different ecosystem than mature, but younger forests dominated by the same tree types, and that the recreational value of forests continues to grow for several hundred years following a crown fire. By employing a random coefficients model of utility the analysis is able to provide measures of the variability in preferences for forest ecosystems across the population of users. The model also shows that site choice probabilities and welfare effects associated with ancient woodlands are sensitive to the mix of dominating tree types, and exhibit substantial fluctuation over trails.

KW - Ancient forests

KW - Backpacking

KW - Forest attributes

KW - Random coefficients

KW - Random utility models

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Valuing ancient forest ecosystems: An analysis of backcountry hiking in Jasper National Park

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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