When
SPEAKER: Bonnie Colby, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona
DATE: Wednesday, February 25, 2015
TIME: 3:00-4:00 pm
LOCATION: Marley Building, Room 230
ABSTRACT:
Natural resource economists have developed a variety of methods to estimate economic values for changes in habitat quality, for natural areas used for recreation and for water dedicated to support stream flows, lakes and wetlands. Hedonic pricing, travel cost and contingent valuation, net returns methods, market prices and regional impact analysis have all been used in southern Arizona to provide economic information for policy debate about resource protection and restoring water flows for natural areas. This seminar reviews findings from economic valuation studies conducted in the southwestern U.S. and poses several questions: a) how can the policy applicability of such studies be enhanced, b) how can economic studies be better integrated with ecological indicators, and c) are there new opportunities to use remote sensing and other spatial data in economic valuation studies? All three questions suggest there are benefits to further collaboration between economists and scientists in wildlife and conservation biology, watershed and rangeland management, ecology and remote sensing.