PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Liqing Li
AU  - Amy W Ando
TI  - Early Exposure to Nature and Willingness-To-Pay for It
AID  - 10.3368/le.99.4.070822-0054R
DP  - 2023 Apr 21
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 070822-0054R
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/04/13/le.99.4.070822-0054R.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/04/13/le.99.4.070822-0054R.full
AB  - Widespread global grassland destruction motivates restoration efforts. However, little research on public preferences exists to inform restoration decisions, and reduced exposure to nature, such as grasslands, could diminish public willingness-to-pay (WTP) for it. We conduct a choice experiment to estimate preferences over Tallgrass Prairie grassland restorations and quantify how those preferences are correlated with childhood experiences. We find that WTP for grassland restoration can be large, especially with recreational opportunities. Furthermore, people who participated in outdoor activities or grew up near grasslands during their childhood would place a higher value on grassland restoration than people who did not.