Economics and Salmon Habitat Conservation: Welcome to the Data-Poor Real World

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 presentation, Plummer will 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.