Preservation or Use: A Contingent Valuation Study of Wilderness Designation in Utah

Evidence of strong opposition to wilderness proposals in Utah suggested that the nonmarket value ofretaining those areas in multiple-use management might be significant. A contingent value analysis of both supporters and opponents of the two major proposals for wilderness designation in Utah indicated that there existed significant nonmarket willingness to pay on the part of opponents, and that standard contingent valuation practice, which does not explicitly consider these values, could lead to a misestimation of aggregate willingness to pay