An aggregate travel cost approach to valuing forest recreation at managed sites

Travel cost models were estimated for camping trips to designated recreation areas in the Rocky-Clearwater Forest in Alberta during 1994. Trips were aggregated by postal code and resulting trip counts from each postal code were utilized in truncated Poisson and negative binomial regressions. The study involved the design of a camping fee collection permit which allowed a census of users rather than a sample to be utilized in the analysis. Per trip consumer surplus estimates resulting from the Poisson model revealed that aggregate nonmarket benefits provided by the Alberta Land and Forest Service forest recreation areas were about $750,000 in 1994. The study suggests that with little effort and some planning, fee collection permit systems can be used in concert with travel cost and geographic information systems to provide estimates of some nontimber values in Canada's forests.