The name is absent

Gleason and Schaaf 1986). Also, the Kentucky Na-
ture Preserves Commission manages a nature pre-
serve within the coalfield that is habitat for the
swamp rabbit (a threatened species), great blue
heron, red-shouldered hawk, and marsh hawk
(Mitsch et al. 1983). Due to past mining in the
coalfield, however, outdoor recreational quality has
been degraded. For example, in 1981 fishery re-
sources were designated “poor” by the Kentucky
Department of Natural Resources and Environ-
mental Protection. This designation was primarily
attributed to acid drainage from surface coal mining.

Sampling, Survey Design, and Data

A recent research effort to value wetlands faced
with potential surface coal mining in the western
Kentucky coalfield gathered recreation participation
data which included households in the three-county
region, the rest of Kentucky, and households adja-
cent to Kentucky (Blomquist and Whitehead 1991).
The sample was stratified and drawn by the Univer-
sity of Kentucky Survey Research Center using a
random digit dialing procedure during Spring 1990.
Households in the three-county-recreation region
were oversampled. The sample contained the data
from 730 households who completed a phone inter-
view; 641 of these (69 percent) gave their names and
addresses for inclusion in the mail survey. Mail
survey procedures followed the Dillman (1978) To-
tal Design Method with a postcard follow-up and
two follow-up mailings of the survey instrument.
The response rate was 67 percent of the sample and
76 percent of the 641 mailed survey instruments. A
short description, means, and standard deviations of
variables for the 477 complete observations avail-
able for the logistic regression analysis are presented
in Table I.⁴ The trip cost variable was measured
consistent with the travel cost recreation demand
literature, including travel and time costs.⁵

The Participation Decision

Of the survey participants, 14.2 percent traveled to
the wetland area to participate in outdoor recreation
during the 12 months prior to the survey (Table 2).
Recreationists reported each activity in which they
participated on these visits. The dominant activity

Table 1. Summary of Data from Mail Survey^a

Table 2. On-Site Activities of Resource Users^a

Variable Participants Proportion

-percent -

“Sample size = 68.

was fishing with 71 percent participation. Forty-one
percent hunted, 40 percent observed nature, 6 per-
cent photographed nature, and 13 percent partici-
pated in some other activity. Consumptive fish and
wildlife uses of the wetland area were dominant.
However, consumptive and nonconsumptive uses of
nature were joint activities as found by Hay and
McConnell (1984).

The dependent variable in the logit analysis was
participation in any recreational activity because
activities in the wetland area were Oftenjointly cho-
sen (Table 3). Recreation participation was speci-
fied to depend on trip cost and membership in
environmental and conservation organizations as
well as socioeconomic variables. The hourly wage
rate was a measure of income. The natural log trans-
formation of trip cost was employed because it out-
performed the linear travel cost functional form in
predicting the correct number of recreation partici-

⁴The small percentage of item nonresponse in the data was controlled with data imputation methods (Little and Rubin 1989).
Income and conservation organization nonresponses were replaced with values obtained from a regression imputation method. All
other missing variables were replaced by the sample mean.

⁵Trip cost = {$.20* (round trip distance) + [ (.33) * (hourly wage rate) * (round trip distance) ] / 40] where $.20 is the travel
cost per mile, .33 is used to value travel time at 1/3 the wage rate, and 40 is average miles per hour. For this expolratory study,
distance to the resource site was measured linearly on a state map which will underestimate driving distance. Therefore, a high
estimate of travel costs per mile was chosen. If this valuation method is used for policy purposes, road mileage should be computed
and included in the travel cost estimate.

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