Contribution of Land Conservation and Freshwater Resources to Residential Property Values in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough

摘要

Growing interest in quantifying values of ecosystem services has generated numerous studiesud-- attempting to measure the contribution of neighborhood environmental amenities to urban andud-- suburban property values. Proximity to freshwater resources -- lakes and streams -- has also figuredud-- prominently in many of these studies.ud-- Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough, analogous to a county under state law, is a large andud-- rapidly urbanizing local government jurisdiction adjacent to Anchorage, the state’s largestud-- metropolitan area. As the population of the borough grows, and more land becomes subdivided andud-- developed, an important question arises regarding the contribution of remaining undeveloped landud-- and natural amenities to the economy of the borough. Visitors who are attracted to the scenery andud-- recreation opportunities of the borough capture some of that value, and contribute to the boroughud-- economy through local purchases of goods and services. Private owners of borough real estate, whoud-- are willing to pay more for property located close to natural areas and recreation sites, alsoud-- appropriate a portion of the value, however. This study focuses on this latter component of value ofud-- ecosystem services. It provides estimates of the enhanced value of private residential property andud-- undeveloped land in the Mat-Su borough created by local protected open space and outdoorud-- recreation opportunities.ud-- After briefly describing the Mat-Su Borough region, we summarize the valuation methods and the dataud-- available for the study. Then we present statistical results, followed by a discussion of the implicationsud-- of the findings for valuing ecosystem services in the Borough. We conclude with suggestions forud-- future research to improve the estimates.