The majority of Oahu residents surveyed want to keep at least half of the vacated sugarcane lands in open space. Oahu residents were willing to pay more than $21 million, or an average of $81 per household, to keep these lands in open-space uses

Cox, Linda J.

Ferguson, Carol

Vieth, Gary R.

ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Soon, no sugarcane will be grown on Oahu. About15,000 acres of former sugarcane land in central Oahuand on the North Shore will be open for other uses.People have strong feelings about how this land shouldbe used. This fact sheet reports results of a survey ofOahu residents’ feelings about the scenic value of openspace and how they would like the former sugarcanelands to be used in the future.280 people completed the survey. They were askedhow they felt about the importance of keeping formersugarcane lands in open space. They were also askedhow much it would be worth to them to keep this spaceopen; in other words, howmuch money they would bewilling to give up each yearif that would ensure thatformer sugarcane landsstayed open space.They were shown pho-tos illustrating one or moreuses of lands. Agriculturaluses in the photos includedsugarcane, pineapple, small-scale and large-scale veg-etable farming, corn fields,hay fields, and pasture forgrazing. Nonagriculturaluses shown in the photos in-cluded unused (fallow) land,parks, and golf courses. They were asked which of theseopen-space uses they liked best, next best, and so on.Finally, we asked about their household size, wherethey live, and their income, age, work, and interests.The Importance of Open Space81 percent of those surveyed feel that keeping openspace is important or very important. The rest, 19 per-cent, feel it is somewhat or not important.Survey participants who belong to an environmen-tal organization, such as The Nature Conservancy, feelmore strongly than others that keeping lands in openspace is important. Older people also put more impor-tance on keeping open space.Nearly all the people surveyed feel that at least halfof the lands going out of sugarcane should be kept asopen space. Compared to other people, those who livenear the sugarcane lands think that more land should bekept as open space.The Value of Open SpaceOn average, the people surveyed are willing to pay $81per household per year to keep all the sugarcane land inopen space. Half of the people would give more than $25per household per year, andhalf would give less. 25 percentof those surveyed would give$100 or more per year.14 percent wouldn’t payanything to keep open space.Of these people, 58 percentthink that the governmentshould pay for open space withthe tax dollars now collected.The number of house-holds on Oahu in 1990 was265,304. If each householdwere willing to give $81,then the open-space value toOahu residents of all the sug-arcane lands would be morethan $21 million. This does not include the value of thisopen space to other residents of the state and to visitors.Household income level affects how much peopleare willing to pay to keep former sugarcane lands in openspace. We calculated that for every dollar more of house-hold income, willingness to pay for open space increasedby six cents per person. If someone in the householdbelongs to an environmental organization, then the house-hold is willing to pay almost $40 more than if no onebelongs to one. Although the older people surveyed tendto feel that open space is important, they are not willingto pay to keep sugarcane lands in open space.CentralOahuNorthShore15,000 acres that will no longer grow sugarcaneCooperative Extension Service CTAHR Fact SheetEconomic Fact Sheet no. 21November 1995What Is Oahu’s Open Space Worth?Gary Vieth, Linda J. Cox, and Carol FergusonDepartment of Agricultural and Resource EconomicsOpen Space ImportanFavorite Land UsThe importance of keepingland in open spaceThe amount of sugarcane land thatshould be kept in open spacePreferred uses forsugarcane landsvery   58%somewhat   15%important   23%not  4%all53%half to all43%less than half 4%sugar/pineapple12%developm nt6%otheragric.47%trees13%open (nonagricultural) 22%Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Charles W. Laughlin,Director and Dean, Cooperative Extension Service, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. AnEqual Opportunity / Affirmative Action Institution providing programs and services to the people of Hawaii without regard to race, sex, age, religion, color, nationalorigin, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and court record, sexual orientation, or veteran status.Preferred Uses of Open SpaceNot all survey participants like thesame open-space uses, but we foundsome general patterns in their likes anddislikes:• Agricultural uses are liked better thannonagricultural uses.• Two uses together are liked better thansingle uses.• Golf courses are not liked.• Sugarcane and pineapple, the mostfamiliar agricultural uses on Oahu, are not liked moreor less, on average, than other agricultural uses. Butpeople living in central Oahu or on the North Shorelike sugarcane and pineapple better.The most preferred land use of 72 percent of thosesurveyed is either agriculture or trees. Although forestsor tree plantings were not shown in the photos, 13 per-cent said this was their favorite use. Sugar and pine-apple are common now, but only 12 percent said thiswas their favorite land use. Only 6 percent said theyliked development that takes lands out of open space.Summary and ConclusionsOahu residents do not entirely agree on how formersugarcane lands should be used. But if the 280 peoplewe surveyed truly represent the feelings of all the peopleliving on Oahu, then some general conclusions aboutOahu’s open space can be made based on their answers.The majority of Oahu residents want to keep at leasthalf of the sugarcane lands in open space. Oahu resi-dents are willing to pay more than $21 million, or anaverage of $81 per household, to keepthese lands in open-space uses. Thevalue of this open space will likely goup in the future as incomes and envi-ronmental interests of Oahu residentsincrease. Also, as Oahu gets morecrowded, open space is expected to bevalued more.The $81 that Oahu households arewilling to pay for open space is muchmore than people are willing to pay onthe Mainland and in Canada. According to other stud-ies, households there would pay between $1.80 and$13.50 per year to keep the same amount of land (15,000acres) in open space. The higher values in those studiescame from more developed areas, while the lower val-ues came from rural areas.Hawaii’s environmental groups, such as The Na-ture Conservancy and the Sierra Club, have found thathouseholds giving them money give an average of about$35 per year, but those donations also bring member-ship benefits. In contrast, the people we surveyed arewilling to pay just to ensure that they can continue toexperience views of open space.Keeping open space on Oahu is important to peopleliving here. We surveyed the feelings of Oahu residents,but people from the neighbor islands and visitors couldhave different views. These will need to be consideredin open-space planning.Our survey asked only about the scenic value ofopen space. Peoples’ feelings about the needs for hous-ing and jobs are also important in making land-usedecisions.CTAHR Fact Sheet EC–21 What Is Oahu’s Open Space Worth? CTAHR — November 1995

What Is Oahu's Open Space Worth?

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What Is Oahu's Open Space Worth?

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