The Economic Value of the Henry's Fork Fishery

Abstract

We used a simple travel-cost model of recreational demand to estimate recreational benefits of angling on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in the Island Park area of eastern Idaho. Using a sample of 356 anglers contacted in 1996, we determined angler expenditures and socioeconomic and site-quality characteristics and estimated the recreational value of the Henry's Fork fishery. Most respondents were male (81%), Idaho residents (69%) and wealthy. The average respondent traveled 720 miles one-way from his or her residence to get to Island Park at a cost of $766.45, spent $60.88 on-site daily, and planned to spend about 15 days fishing in Island Park during the summer. Trip and mean daily consumer-surplus estimates were $2,426.25 and $159.31, respectively. The total annual value of the recreational fishery between Island Park Dam and Hatchery Ford was $5,012,509. This amount represents benefits that anglers receive above and beyond all costs associated with their trips to the region.