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Recognition of the benefits to society supported by estuary ecosystem functions and services, and threats to these benefits posed by human activities, has led to various public programs to restore and protect estuaries at the federal, state, and local levels. As available budgets shrink, program administrators and public elected officials struggle to allocate limited restoration and protection funds to the highest priority areas. Economic benefit and cost information can provide useful inputs into this decision-making process by quantifying estuary restoration and protection benefits and costs in commensurate terms. In this paper, a combined actual and intended travel behavior model is described that can be applied to estimate the recreational fishing benefits of estuary restoration and protection. The model was estimated for recreational fishing in the Lower Atchafalaya River Basin estuary along the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, USA coast. Changes in freshwater flows into this estuary may affect redfish and speckled trout game fish populations. The model indicates that changes in catch rates of these two species would have a relatively minor affect on annual fishing trips per angler. However, because total effects may be large when effects per angler are aggregated across total anglers, resource management agencies should consider these changes in recreation benefits when evaluating projects that influence the ecology of coastal estuaries, fish populations, and catch rates. Moreover, in other coastal areas or situations, the responsiveness of angling trips to changes in catch rates may vary because of differences in user populations, environmental conditions, fish populations, and fishing experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the values immigrant groups or U.S.-born racial and ethnic minorities attribute to wilderness. However, the views of these groups are important to wilderness preservation because of increasing diversity along ethnic, cultural, and racial lines in the United States. We examine the proposition that wilderness is a social construction (valued primarily by U.S.-born Whites) by comparing wilderness values for immigrants and U.S.-born minority respondents to Whites. Results from 10 wilderness value items show immigrants are significantly less likely to indicate on-site use value. Among U.S.-born racial/ethnic groups, Black respondents were least likely to indicate values associated with visitation and off-site use but as likely as Whites to indicate a value for continued existence of wilderness. U.S.-born Asians and Latinos were also less likely than Whites to indicate values relating to wilderness on-site use. Implications of findings for wilderness as social construction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors develop a contingent trip model to estimate the recreation demand for and value of a potential rail-trail site in north-east Georgia. The contingent trip model is an alternative to travel cost modelling useful for ex ante evaluation of proposed recreation resources or management alternatives. The authors estimate the empirical demand for trips using a negative binomial regression specification. Their findings indicate a per-trip consumer surplus ranging from US$18.46 to US$29.23 and a price elasticity of -0.68. In aggregate, they estimate that the rail-trail would receive approximately 416 213 recreation visits per year by area households and account for a total consumer surplus in excess of US$7.5 million. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to present the model and method developed for the aggregate, national outdoor recreation and wilderness demand and supply assessment required by the Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974. RPA requires aggregate analysis of current and possible future equilibria that could result from different demand and supply futures. Price change was used as the principle indicator of changes in demand relative to changes in supply for individual recreation activities. Demand functions and reduced‐form consumption functions were estimated for 38 activities, 10 of which are presented here. This approach provided prediction models, indices of future consumption and price trends, and average community demand under various supply conditions. The underlying model is based on household production theory viewed as an appropriate basis for aggregate economic analysis. Adjusted R2s for the demand and consumption models ranged between 0.32 and 0.71. Predicted consumption and price changes ranged between 7 and 78% and ‐5 and +8% (in real terms), respectively. These ranges reflect likely consumption and price trends to the year 2010, depending on whether future supply of recreation opportunities decreases, remains constant, grows moderately, or grows rapidly. Results show that equilibrium trip consumption and prices can be estimated nationwide and that these results are quite sensitive to recreation opportunity (supply) growth rates. The methods developed for this analysis should prove useful in other ongoing comprehensive planning and assessment efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A laboratory‐type experiment was conducted to examine potential information overload causes and solutions. It was found that both information quantity and information complexity are potential causes of information overload. The experiment results also suggested that information overload problems may be reduced through carefully designed information display patterns. When designing survey questionnaires, attention must be given to potential causes of information overload. Methods of presenting information that ameliorate information overload must also be considered. As demonstrated in this study, survey designs can be tested in controlled, laboratory‐type experiments. The results of these experiments can then be used to improve the design of field survey questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The demand for wildlife viewing sites is assessed using a trip response model. This model uses anticipated trips to estimate a demand function for proposed designated wildelife viewing sites. The estimated function suggests that the market area for wildlife viewing sites is relatively local. Potential site visitors would be willing to pay an average of about $58 per trip. The results suggest that there is significant demand for nonconsumptive wildlife viewing opportunities in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) is now an established source of radiation in the terahertz region, with flux capabilities many orders of magnitude higher than conventional SR sources. Accordingly, CSR is playing an ever-increasing role in the field of Far-IR spectroscopy at synchrotron facilities around the world. However, with the improvement in spectroscopic resolution, the incident CSR spectra from several facilities are displaying intensity profiles that appear to be modulated by periodic peaks or deep indentations, while theory predicts a featureless distribution. After eliminating the usual suspects, like multiple reflections from windows, etc., one looks for a deeper explanation, such as the role played by the radiation impedance. This impedance is largely defined by the vacuum chamber in the region of the bend magnets, but probably with some effects from the straight sections as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]