Targeting waterfowl habitat restoration in the Prairie Pothole Region: A spatial analysis of marginal benefits and costs

Abstract

Federal, state, and local government conservation program operators and policy-makers may wish to maximize benefits relative to costs, but have few economic measures to draw upon. The objective of this research is to estimate the costs of restoring and preserving prairie pothole wetlands and the value of their duck hunting benefits. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) lies in the north-central plains of the United States and produces 50% to 80% of all North American ducks. The ducks fly all major US flyways; hence they benefit hunters across the country. Historical data are used to estimate a wetland cost function that generates county-level estimates of the cost of restoring and preserving wetlands. Data availability limited the number of model variables so that coefficients are likely to be bias. Nonetheless, the model demonstrates predictive capability with an adjusted R² of 0.74. To estimate benefits, we first developed geographic information system (GIS) models—one for each of five species—that predict the numbers of ducks produced by a new wetland by 1 km² (0.4 mi²) grid point. Findings of previous research provide a quantitative link between changes in duck numbers and changes in hunting quality. We then use benefits transfer to value changes in hunting quality. Results reveal benefit-cost ratios ranging from near-zero to over nine.