The economic value of viewing migratory shorebirds on the Delaware Bay: An application of the single site travel cost model using on-site data

Abstract

We estimated a count data model of recreation demand using data from an on-site survey of recreational birders who had visited southern Delaware during the month–long annual horseshoe crab/shorebird spring migration in 2008. We analyzed daytrips only. Our estimates from the models ranged from $32 to$142/trip/household or about $131 to$582/season/household (2008$). The variation was due to differences in the value of time. The average household size was 1.66. We found that the valuation results were sensitive to the inclusion of covariates in the model. Our results are useful for damage assessments and benefit–cost analyses where birdwatching is affected