Input–output modeling, outdoor recreation, and the economic impacts of weeds
Nonindigenous invasive weed species can have substantial negative impacts on the
quantity and quality of outdoor recreational activities such as fishing, hunting, hik-
ing, wildlife viewing, and water-based recreation. Despite the significance of impacts
on recreation, very little research has been performed to estimate the corresponding
economic losses at spatial scales such as regions, states, and watersheds. This is true
primarily because in most jurisdictions the data necessary to estimate recreational
impacts are scarce and incomplete. Because of the challenges involved in measuring
recreational losses precisely, we illustrate a method that can provide indications of
the ranges in which the true economic losses likely lie. To reflect underlying uncer-
tainty in parameters such as the number of acres infested in a jurisdiction and the
rate at which wildlife-related recreation decreases as a function of increasing weed
infestation, we developed a range of estimates using lower, medium, and higher
scenario combinations of parameter and variable values. Our case study jurisdiction
is a western state (Nevada) in which nonindigenous weed infestations on public
lands have expanded rapidly in recent years. Under conservative assumptions, the
negative economic impacts stemming from the adverse influence of nonindigenous
weeds on wildlife-related recreation in Nevada likely range from $6 million to $12
million per year. Using the most conservative findings for annual recreation losses,
the predicted discounted stream of negative economic impacts over a future time
horizon of 5 yr ranges from about $30 million to $40 million in Nevada, depending
on actual future expansion rates of weeds.
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