Distance effects in the demand for wildland recreational services: the case of national parks in the United States

Distance decay in spatial demand usually is taken as axiomatic. Thereare, however, a number of situations in which distance decay cannot betaken for granted. In recreational pursuits, for example, spatial interaction is often marked by a confounding distance effect in which nearby andmore distant destinations are equally attractive. The research reportedin this paper concerns an examination of the distance effect in the spatialdemand for a specific type of recreation: the use of national parks inthe USA. The paper contains a review of the related spatial demand literature, including the travel cost model used in calculating economic values of national parks and related places. A central-place-type model of parkuse is described and put into operation in the form of two linear spatialdemand models. One focuses on regional demand for park use and the otherfocuses on a national market. The initial model specifications are expandedin order to examine the drift of their distance parameters over two variables intended to quantify park quality: age and area. Empirical tests of themodels indicate distance decay in the demand for park use is pronouncedwhen distance is considered in the context of park quality.