Economic Value of Outdoor Recreation Activities in Iowa Daniel Otto, Kristin Tylka, and Susan Erickson Department of Economics Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Center for Agricultural and Rural Development College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Iowa State University Commissioned by the Nature Conservancy with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation http://www.ddcf.org/ i Acknowledgements Daniel Otto is a professor in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University, Kristin Tylka is an undergraduate research assistant in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University and Susan Erickson is a program coordinator at Iowa State University. Numerous individuals assisted in the preparation of this report. The authors particularly appreciate the assistance received from Dennis Parker, Tom Hazelton and Mark Langgin, who in turn leveraged the support of many others for acquiring information in a timely manner. The authors also appreciate the professional editorial and production assistance from Sandra Oberbroeckling who helped make this document presentable. If you have questions or comments regarding this report, please contact: Daniel Otto E-mail:
[email protected] Telephone: 515-294-6147 ii Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................3 How Iowa Compares with