We evaluate how land use change and the value ecosystem services affect the decision to invest in public land acquisitions. Our application is for the state of Minnesota, and we consider the acquisitions by Department of Natural Resources over the last two decades. We calculate a return on...

The kind of open space benefit, recreation, or amenity, in our spatial city model determines in part how open space influences residential development. Our model also determines the exact total social benefits of open-space policies by summing together the change in household welfare and...

An individual's rate of time preference is an important consideration for individuals deciding whether to support a public good since the benefits of a public good often come in the future. Our study finds individual discount rates from a contingent valuation method (CVM) question where the time...

The gain from dividing parks into smaller pieces to reduce travel costs is weighed against the loss in services the parks provide since they are smaller. The optimal number of parks is dependent on whether travel costs are concentrated in parts of the town.

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), a phloem-feeding beetle native to Asia, was discovered near Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario in 2002. As of March 2009, isolated populations of emerald ash borer (EAB) have been detected in nine additional states and Quebec. EAB is a...

The benefits of large patches of tree canopy are estimated by applying a hedonic price model to the sale of single-family residential properties in Portland, Oregon. The first-stage analysis provides evidence of diminishing returns from increasing tree canopy past a certain level. The...