Economic Benefits Provided by Natural Lands: Case Study of California’s Mojave Desert Timm Kroeger and Paula Manalo Defenders of Wildlife Economic Benefits Provided by Natural Lands: Case Study of California’s Mojave Desert This report can be found online at http://www.defenders.org/publications/mojave_economics Authors: Timm Kroeger, Ph.D., and Paula Manalo, Conservation Economics Program Defenders of Wildlife is a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. National Headquarters Defenders of Wildlife 1130 17th St. NW Washington, DC 20036 USA Tel.: (202) 682-9400; website www.defenders.org © Defenders of Wildlife July 2007 Table of contents page List of abbreviations..............................................................................................................................i List of Tables.........................................................................................................................................ii List of Figures.......................................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................iv Executive summary...............................................................................................................................1 I. Introduction...................................................................................................................................4 Ecosystems and economic value.........................................................................................4 Quantification of economic value.......................................................................................5 Benefits transfer...........................................................................................................................9 Approaches to benefits transfer.............................................................................................10 Economic value of lands in the Mojave Desert.............................................................11 1) Direct use values...................................................................................................................11 2) Indirect use values.................................................................................................................13 3) Passive use values and option value........................................................................................16 What exactly is it that we are measuring? Defining the boundaries of the analysis.........................................................................................................................17 II. Study area selection.................................................................................................................19 Study area characteristics....................................................................................................21 Land ownership composition......................................................................................................22 Population.................................................................................................................................22 Economy...................................................................................................................................24 Vegetation.................................................................................................................................24 Endangered, threatened and rare species.....................................................................................26 Uses of the lands in the Mojave bioregion.....................................................................28 Recreation.................................................................................................................................28 Passive recreation.......................................................................................................................29 Housing, renewable energy, agriculture, film................................................................................31 Educational and scientific uses...................................................................................................31 Other direct uses of the Mojave...................................................................................................32 Indirect and passive uses............................................................................................................32 III. Estimation of the economic values generated by the lands in the Mojave bioregion..................................................................................................................................33 1. Direct use values of the Mojave.....................................................................................33 Recreation.............................................................................................................................33 Recreation visitor expenditures in the Mojave.......................................................................34 Multiplier effects of recreational expenditures........................................................................42 Consumer surplus of recreationists.......................................................................................46 Pass-through “passive” recreation value of roadside scenic beauty..........................................50 i Total recreation value of the Mojave.....................................................................................52 Real estate value premiums of natural amenities.....................................................57 Military use of the Mojave...............................................................................................68 Film industry in the Mojave............................................................................................71 Other direct uses of the Mojave.....................................................................................73 Option value of the Mojave Desert...............................................................................74 2. Indirect use values of the Mojave..................................................................................76 Human health benefits of erosion control by Mojave wildlands.......................................77 Benefits of human uses of Mojave water........................................................................79 The value of Mojave water......................................................................................82 3. Non-use values of the Mojave........................................................................................85 IV. Conclusion................................................................................................................................87 Literature cited.................................................................................................................................92 Appendix A. Agricultural uses of the Mojave.........................................................................................103 B. Renewable energy industry in the Mojave.....................................................................106 Multiplier effects of operation and maintenance of renewable power plants....................108 Future development of renewable energy in the Mojave.................................................109 ii List of abbreviations AADT Average annual daily traffic ACEC Area of Critical Environmental Concern ATV All-terrain vehicle BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis BLM Bureau of Land Management BT Benefit transfer CARB California Air Resources Board CDP Census designated place CEC California Energy Commission CERES California Environmental Resources Evaluation System CS Consumer surplus DOD Department of Defense DTNA Desert Tortoise Natural Area DVNP Death Valley National Park FWS Fish and Wildlife Service FY Fiscal year JTNP Joshua Tree National Park kWh Kilowatt hour L.A. Los Angeles MNP Mojave National Preserve MWh Megawatt hour MWe Megawatt electricity output (installed capacity) NPS National Park Service OHV Off-highway vehicle O&M Operation and maintenance PC Production cost PM Particulate matter PS Producer surplus RCD Resource Conservation District RIMS II Regional Input-Output Modeling System RPS Renewable Portfolio Standard SEGS Solar Electric Generating System TEV Total economic value USGS United States Geological Survey WTA Willingness to accept WTP Willingness to pay iii List of Tables Table ES-1: Benefits of selected human uses of the Mojave desert in 2003...............................3 Table 1: Value categories and their associated benefits in the Mojave bioregion.....................11 Table 2: Functions, and goods and services provided by dryland ecosystems and likely to be provided by systems in California’s Mojave Bioregion.........................................15 Table 3: Land ownership composition in the Mojave..................................................................22 Table 4: Population in the Mojave bioregion and its proximity..................................................23 Table 5: Endangered, threatened, and rare species in the Mojave bioregion............................27 Table 6: Visitation of specific