Monetizing benefits under alternative river recreation use allocation systems

Abstract

An optimal capacity, when the binding use constraint is ecological damage, and monetization of recreational benefits, under alternative means of rationing that capacity, were conceptually and empirically developed. The model was developed by first estimating the demand to float Westwater Canyon, derived from a modified travel cost model. Recreational benefits of $6,500 under a hypothetical capacity of 50 trips, when pricing was used to allocate the permits, and a range of benefits from as low as $880 to an expected value of $3,690, if a lottery system is used, were estimated using this model. The monetization of the efficiency losses associated with more equitable allocation systems allows managers to be more objective in making the equity‐efficiency trade‐offs involved in picking a recreation use allocation system.