PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Tu Nguyen AU - David M. Kling AU - Steven J. Dundas AU - Sally D. Hacker AU - Daniel K. Lew AU - Peter Ruggiero AU - Katherine Roy TI - Quality over Quantity: Nonmarket Values of Restoring Coastal Dunes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest AID - 10.3368/le.040721-0036R DP - 2023 Feb 01 TA - Land Economics PG - 63--79 VI - 99 IP - 1 4099 - http://le.uwpress.org/content/99/1/63.short 4100 - http://le.uwpress.org/content/99/1/63.full SO - Land Econ2023 Feb 01; 99 AB - We design a choice experiment to examine public preferences for coastal dune ecosystem restoration in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Dunes are a public good whose natural state is now rare. Respondents are asked to choose among hypothetical projects that vary by project size, restoration quality, recreation access, flooding risk, and cost. Restoration quality is defined as closeness to the natural ecosystem. We find that increasing restoration quality results in significantly higher welfare gains than increasing the size of restoration area. Maintaining recreation access is preferred, and programs with recreation restrictions yield positive willingness to pay only if accompanied by the highest restoration quality.