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Preferences for public lands management under competing uses: The case of Yellowstone National Park
Mansfield, C., Phaneuf, DJ., Johnson, F., Yang, J.-C., & Beach, R. (2008). Preferences for public lands management under competing uses: The case of Yellowstone National Park. Land Economics, 84(2), 282-305. https://doi.org/10.3368/le.84.2.282
We examine snowmobile use conflict in Yellowstone National Park to assess the effect of different winter management policies on heterogeneous visitors’ welfare. Using a stated preference choice experiment we quantify welfare changes for snowmobile riders and non-riders under different snowmobile restrictions. A key determinant of welfare change is visitors’ willingness to trade-off reduced snowmobile access for improved ambient conditions in the park. Our findings support the notion that welfare losses to snowmobile riders could be offset by welfare gains to non-riders, but net benefits will depend on the number of riders and non-riders and the specifics of the policy. (JEL Q26, Q51)
