Survey Design and Data Collection
A case study of visibility in the Great Gulf Wilderness in New Hampshire was undertaken
during the winter, spring and summer, 1999, and during summer of 2000. Visibility at the study
area, which is about one quarter mile northeast of the Mt. Washington summit, is commonly
impaired by regional haze that is largely a product of fossil fuel energy production (Hill, et al.,
2000).
Four surveys were used to measure the value of visibility in the Great Gulf Wilderness
region. The first survey (WTA) was administered onsite by a trained interviewer who used a
personal computer (laptop) to present respondents with computer modeled images derived from
the WinHaze Visual Air Quality Program. This program allowed us to hold weather conditions
constant (cloud cover) while changing visibility only. The second survey was identical in all
respects except that it was administered offsite to individuals residing in the Northampton/
Amherst area in Western Massachusetts (about a 3 to 4 hour drive from the study site). The
third survey (WTA) was conducted by mail and involved a random sample of 500 New England
residents. The fourth survey (WTP) was conducted by mail of a random sample of 500 residents
of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
The first section of the surveys asked respondents to rate several pictures according to
the amount of haze in each. Each picture was a view taken from Camp Dodge, directly across
from the Great Gulf Wilderness that had been altered by WinHaze to simulate different levels of
atmospheric pollution, all else held constant (cloud cover, etc). Respondents to the personal
survey were asked to rate 15 pictures while mail survey respondents rated 4 pictures.
The CVM question was then presented. Following an introductory statement about
electricity deregulation and air quality in the White Mountains (see appendix), each respondent