Economics and salmon habitat conservation: Welcome to the data-poor real world
24 Oct 2006
Download the slide presentation for this talk (10.42 MB)
Abstract
Benefit-cost analysis is as natural to economists as breathing—which
sometimes gets us into trouble when we try to ply our trade in a data vacuum.
In the data-poor real world, the practice of benefit-cost analysis often
becomes one of using professional judgment to "divine" benefits
and costs; in the area of conservation actions, this problem is particularly
acute because economic data on the benefits of such actions are so sparse.
In this talk, I describe a case study of how to conduct benefit-cost analysis
in the data poor world of salmon habitat conservation. The case study is
based on the process created by NOAA Fisheries to support the designation
of critical habitat for 12 evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) listed
as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Supplemental reading
About the speaker
Born and raised in Seattle, Mark Plummer earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies (1976) and Ph.D. in Economics (1982) at the University of Washington. In 2002, he joined the NOAA Fisheries as an economist at the NW Fisheries Science Center. At the center, he has helped develop a socioeconomics program focusing on salmon recovery planning and other protected resource issues. His work involves assessing the cost-effectiveness of salmon recovery actions, and developing methods to assess the value of salmon conservation with a focus on measuring ecosystem services enhanced through conservation.