visitors who participated in wildlife viewing at Yellowstone National
Park in May through September of 2009. This is likely a
conservative estimate due to the fact that it is based on a lower
bound estimate of willingness-to-pay and assumes that the population
of visitors who did not participate in wildlife viewing would
not be willing to pay any additional costs for Park staff during bear
jams. However, it may not be reasonable to assume that visitors
would be willing to pay this increased entrance fee in future years
due to substitution in recreation activities that could occur over
time. For instance, if roadside bear viewing were no longer allowed,
some visitors may eventually substitute to other wildlife viewing
opportunities, such as viewing wolves instead of bears. If that is the
case, this estimate may be viewed as an upper bound on foregone
annual economic benefits if roadside bears were no longer allowed
to occupy roadside habitat in Yellowstone.