Are Residents Willing to Pay for their Community Forests? Results of a Contingent Valuation Survey in Missouri, USA

Are Residents Willing to Pay for their Community Forests? Results of a Contingent Valuation Survey in Missouri, USA

Publicly owned trees have important environmental and amenity values contributing to the quality of urban life. Community officials charged with managing this resource face a lack of funding and underestimate the value that residents place on street trees. A survey of residents in 44 Missouri, USA,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland) Scotland), 2006-08, Vol.43 (9), p.1537-1547
Main Authors: Treiman, Thomas, Gartner, Justine
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Case studies
Community
Community forestry
Community power
Economic value
Forest management
Forests
Funding
Income taxes
Missouri
Public lands
Quality of life
Residential areas
Resource management
Retirement communities
Street trees
Suburbs
Trees
U.S.A
Urban areas
Urban forestry
Urban life
Urban studies
Valuation
Willingness-to-pay
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Publicly owned trees have important environmental and amenity values contributing to the quality of urban life. Community officials charged with managing this resource face a lack of funding and underestimate the value that residents place on street trees. A survey of residents in 44 Missouri, USA, communities included a contingent valuation method item designed to estimate how residents' willingness-to-pay for improved tree care and maintenance varied with community size and location. Residents in communities with a population of 50 000 or more, in the St Louis and Kansas City suburbs, and in St Louis and Kansas City show strong support for a ballot issue establishing a tree fund supported by a tax of between $14 and $16 per household per year. The results of this survey, together with recent surveys of community forestry officials and street tree inventories, are used to make recommendations to state agencies charged with managing community forests.
ISSN:0042-0980
1360-063X