Economic benefits of alternative fishery management programs

This dissertation discusses the theoretical consistency and practical application of three methods used to value economic efficiency benefits obtained from public land based outdoor recreation. The household production technique provides the most general model for valuing outdoor recreation. The travel cost and contingent valuation methods are special cases of this more general model where the individual cannot produce recreation quality.;The travel cost method is used to estimate the economic value of a fishing day and the value of changes in catch at both sites. The empirical results support the hypothesis that the travel cost and contingent valuation methods should yield statistically indistinguishable values for recreation at an existing site and for small changes in quality.;The contingent valuation method is used to estimate the value of a fishing day at two sites in Colorado, the Cache la Poudre River and Blue Mesa Reservoir. The contingent valuation method is also used to estimate changes in daily values and yearly participation resulting from several changes in the quality of fishing: (1) catch or size (both sites); (2) wild trout rather than hatchery trout (both sites); (3) catch or size with catch and release management (Poudre River); and (4) the preservation value of Colorado's native cutthroat trout (Poudre River). Three angler groups are distinguished by skill level at the Poudre River and the economic value of a fishing day and changes in the quality of fishing are compared by skill group. The empirical results show that the skill groups place different economic value on fishing and changes in the quality of fishing. The empirical results also show that when change in participation is not estimated the value of changes in the quality of fishing are reduced by at least 50%.