ABSTRACT:
This article reviews issues confronting policy makers when evaluating economic benefits and costs when converting land from agricultural production to a “bioreserve” to protect and/or restore endangered ecosystems (e.g., wetlands, cypress swamps/bottom land hardwoods) while providing a flow of recreational and wildlife/ecological services. Using IMPLAN, a regional input-output model, the overall economic gains and losses from this land-use change are assessed. The results show that while a large proportion of the total economic benefits are experienced by resource suppliers outside the core region containing the bioreserve, total economic activity is expected to increase as a result of the land-use shift from agricultural production to environmental preservation.
Footnotes
Roger J. Beck is associate professor and Steven E. Kraft is professor in the Department of Agribusiness Economics, and John H. Burde is professor in the Department of Forestry, at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Research supported by a grant from the Nature Conservancy.
- Copyright 1999 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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