Regional Economic Impacts of Florida's Agricultural and Natural Resource Industries

The state of Florida has large industries producing fruits and vegetables, sugar, livestock, dairy and meat products, seafood, ornamental plants, forest products, phosphate rock, and an array of associated industries that provide supporting inputs and services, and conduct processing and manufacturing. There are distinct differences in the regional distribution of Florida's agricultural and natural resource industries. Economic characteristics and impacts were evaluated for the state of Florida and for eight separate regions of Florida. Each region is comprised of a core metropolitan area and a number of surrounding counties, as defined by the US Commerce Department, Bureau of Economic Analysis, based on employee commuting patterns and other factors. The Implan input-output analysis and social accounting software and associated databases for Florida counties were used to create economic models for each region and to estimate the total economic impacts of over 100 industry sectors in agriculture, natural resource and associated value-added manufacturing. Statewide economic impacts in the year 2000, expressed in year 2002 dollars, included industry output (sales) of $35.2 billion (Bn), with sales to markets outside the state (export shipments) of$19.4Bn, personal and business net income (value added) of $14.8Bn, and employment of 338,253 persons. The value added represented 3.1 percent of Florida's gross regional product. When the multiplier effects of export final demand on interindustry purchases and employee household spending are considered, the total economic impacts were estimated at$62.0Bn in output, $31.0Bn in value added, and 648,550 jobs. Regionally, total value added impacts of the agriculture and natural resource industries were greatest in the Orlando area ($4.31Bn), followed by Miami-Ft. Lauderdale ($3.61Bn), Tampa-St. Petersburg- Clearwater ($2.20Bn), Jacksonville ($1.47Bn), Sarasota-Bradenton ($1.10Bn), Tallahassee ($782 million), Ft. Myers-Cape Coral ($701 million), and Pensacola ($597 million). The largest industry groups in terms of total value added impacts were fruits and vegetables ($2.9Bn), environmental horticulture ($2.8Bn), forest products ($2.0Bn), agricultural inputs and services ($1.4Bn), and other food and fiber manufacturing ($1.7Bn), with lesser impacts for dairy products, field crops, livestock and meat products, mining, seafood products, sugar and confectionary products, and tobacco products. The total value added impact was $1,929 per capita, and the total employment impact was 40 jobs per 1000 residents. Economic impacts per capita and share of gross regional product indicated that the agriculture and natural resource industries were relatively more important in the Sarasota-Bradenton, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee regions than for the state as a whole.Florida, agriculture and natural resource industries, economic impact, functional economic region, output, value added, employment, input-output models, multiplier, Implan, Agribusiness, Public Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Public Preferences and Values for Rural Land Preservation in Florida

This study develops a method to evaluate the influence of local geography on respondents values for land conservation programs. The study employs a choice experiment to evaluate alternative conservation plans. Results indicate that residents local landscapes do matter to the estimated values for such conservation programs. Our results also provide information about the divergence of political and economic jurisdictions for land conservation programs in Florida.Land Economics/Use,

The Economic Impact of the Green Industry in the United States

This study estimates the economic impacts of the U.S. environmental horticulture industry (also known as the Green Industry) to be $147.8 billion in output, 1,964,339 jobs,$95.1 billion in value added, $64.3 billion in labor income, and$6.9 billion in indirect business taxes, with these values expressed in 2004 dollars.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Values Associated with the Apalachicola Bay Marine

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Economic Analysis of Working Waterfronts in the United States

Waterfront communities in the United States, whether rural or urban, recreational or industrialized, have been subject to economic, technological, ecological, and demographic changes that challenge their continued existence or development. The purpose of this study is to document the current status, contribution to regional economies, and future prospects of U.S. coastal communities in order help promote their long‐term economic prosperity. A review of the relevant literature on economic valuation of waterfront and ocean‐related economic activities found that previous studies usually evaluated only one particular economic sector or specific region. The present study attempts to provide a comprehensive evaluation of all ocean‐related economic activity for all coastal regions of the United States

Agricultural and Natural Resources Awareness Programming: Barriers and Benefits as Perceived by County Extension Agents

The study described here assessed Extension agents\u27 perceived barriers and benefits concerning a new Florida agricultural and natural resources awareness initiative and Web site. A total of 186 agents responded to a statewide Web-based needs assessment, for an overall response rate of 58%. Results highlighted several barriers to communicating about agriculture and natural resources, including (a) a lack of interest, knowledge, and awareness among the general public, government, clientele, and media, (b) a lack of agent access to resources/contacts, and (c) inconsistent/ineffective message delivery methods. Concerning the Web site, most respondents wanted information to be presented via fact sheets, economic facts, and downloadable brochures

Species Richness, Distribution, and Relative Abundance of Freshwater Mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) of the Buffalo National River, Arkansas

The Buffalo River in north-central Arkansas is approximately 246 km long and flows through the Boston Mountains and Springfield and Salem Plateaus to the White River near Buffalo City. The Buffalo River is America’s first National River with the National Park Service owning 11% of land in the watershed. The objectives of this project were to survey the entire perennially wet length of river, search for mussels of conservation concern, and document the freshwater mussel assemblages. During 2004 and 2005, 235 km of the river were qualitatively and quantitatively surveyed. We documented 64 mussel assemblages. Time constrained qualitatively sampled assemblages (n=41) resulted in a mean richness of 7.8 with a range of 2 to 12 species. Quantitatively sampled mussel assemblages (n=23) had a mean richness of 9.5, ranging from 4 to 16 species and a mean density of 6.9 individuals/m2 , ranging from 1.3 to 25.6 individuals/m2 . Detrended correspondence analysis revealed 4 distinct community types dominated by: 1) Ptychobranchus occidentalis (Conrad 1836), 2) Villosa iris (Lea 1829), 3) Cyclonaias tuberculata (Rafinesque 1820), and 4) Actinonaias ligamentina (Lamarck 1819) that represented approximate species gradients along the river’s length. Previous surveys collectively recorded a total of 26 species for the river, however; only 23 species were identified in this survey with no federally listed threatened or endangered species found. The Buffalo National River has a moderately diverse and abundant native freshwater mussel fauna. Seventy-eight percent of the current species are considered to be of conservation concern (S1-S3). Consequently, the Buffalo National River may prove to be an important refuge for a declining mussel resource

Temperature Dependence of Radiation Induced Conductivity in Insulators

We report on measurements of Radiation Induced Conductivity (RIC) of thin film Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) samples. RIC occurs when incident ionizing radiation deposits energy in a material and excites electrons into conduction states. RIC is calculated as the difference in sample conductivity under an incident flux and “dark current” conductivity under no incident radiation. The primary focus of this study is the temperature dependence of the steady state RIC over a wide range of absorbed dose rates, from cryogenic temperatures to well above room temperature. The measured RIC values are compared to theoretical predictions of dose rate and temperature dependence based on photoconductivity models developed for localized trap states in disordered semiconductors. We also investigated the variation of RIC as a function of material, applied electric field, and incident beam energy parameters

Search for Fractional Charges Produced in Heavy-Ion Collisions at 1.9 GeV/nucleon

An experiment was performed to capture fractionally charged particles produced in heavy-ion collisions and to concentrate them in samples suitable for analysis by various techniques. Two of the samples so produced have been searched, with use of an automated version of Millikan\u27s oil-drop apparatus. The beam was 56Fe at 1.9 GeV/nucleon, incident on a lead target. Less than one fractional charge per 1.0× 104 Fe-Pb collisions was found to be produced, and, with further assumptions, less than one per 2.0× 106 collisions