PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kent D. Messer
AU  - Maik Kecinski
AU  - Zhou Liu
AU  - Mary A. Korch
AU  - Thomas Bounds
TI  - Military Readiness and Environmental Protection through Cost-effective Land Conservation
AID  - 10.3368/le.92.3.433
DP  - 2016 Aug 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 433--449
VI  - 92
IP  - 3
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/92/3/433.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/92/3/433.full
SO  - Land Econ2016 Aug 01; 92
AB  - Harboring a high density of threatened and endangered species on its bases leaves the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) with a critical responsibility: establishing sound environmental policies while also continuing training and ensuring military readiness. This dual objective is the goal of the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program, a large conservation fund for military installations that is mandated to be cost-effective. Analyzing a unique DoD data set, we show that use of optimization models generates a 21% increase in military readiness and environmental protection or achieves the same benefits as benefit targeting at a cost saving of 37%. (JEL Q57, Q58)