Willingness-to-Pay for Wetland Restoration in Tampa Bay, Florida: Is it Really about Restoring Wetlands?

Contingent valuation is widely used to measure the economic value, or willingness-to-pay for environmental goods and services such as wetlands. This study tests if a willingness-to-pay measure obtained from a contingent valuation survey about restoring wetlands truly represents the economic value of wetland restoration. Results indicate that a substantial portion of the willingness-to-pay measure is not necessarily about wetland restoration. Wetland managers can use information presented in this study in their decision-making processes. Also, practitioners who use contingent valuation can easily adopt the survey instrument used in this study and apply it to a variety of environmental goods and services.