1. Valuation of Recreation Infrastructure in Southern Windsor County
Brandon Nye
Sunpreet Singh
Connor Turner
This report was written by undergraduate students at Dartmouth College under the direction of professors in the Rockefeller Center. Policy Research Shop (PRS) students produce non-partisan policy analyses and present their findings in a non-advocacy manner. The PRS is fully endowed by the Dartmouth Class of 1964 through a class gift in celebration of its 50th Anniversary given to the Center. This endowment ensures that the Policy Research Shop will continue to produce high-quality, non-partisan policy research for policymakers in New Hampshire and Vermont.

3. Community Enhancement Environmental Benefits Economic Contributions
Study Design
Personal Value
Community Enhancement
Source: Adventure Time Pakistan
Source: Town of Windsor
Environmental Benefits
Economic Contributions
Source: World Wildlife Fund
Source: iStock/Getty Images

4. Community Enhancement
Hedonic Pricing Model – assumes improved scenery increases housing prices.
226 observations; Stata regression analysis
RESULTS (90% confidence interval):
Homes within two miles of Mt. Ascutney Park are associated with a 1.6% to 44.6% greater home value than homes two to five miles away.

5. Regression Analysis All Observations Lot Size < 5 acres
Sold in 2017
Observations
276 Homes
226 Homes
75 Homes
2-5 miles away
-.162
-.231*
-.279*
> 5 miles away
.196
-.0374
-.268

6. Spending Per Visitor Night Total Visitor Spending
Economic Activity
Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing 2015 benchmark report
Visitor Category
Visitor Nights
Spending Per Visitor Night
Total Visitor Spending
Commercial Occupancy
281,680
$117.81
$33,184,721
Second Homes
78,756
$65.63
$5,168,756
Campers
5,515
$32.73
$180,506
Private Homes
78,748
$47.00
$3,701,156
Day Trip
24,714
$73.91
$1,826,612
Total:
470,000
$44,000,000

7. Environmental Benefits
Value Transfer Analysis – using ecosystem benefit estimates (per acre) and applying them to a different target site.
5,710 acres make up Mount Ascutney, the Wildlife Management Area, and the West Windsor Town Forest
$1,200 of ecosystem benefits per acre of forest land
$6,800,000 total benefit estimate

8. Personal Value of Recreation
Direct benefits of use (i.e. Personal utility, mental/physical health benefits, etc)
Two valuation measures: Travel Cost Method and Opportunity Cost
Travel Cost Method = Travel time and fuel costs
Opportunity Cost = Time spent at the site
Valuation of Mt. Ascutney and trail usage

9. Travel Cost Contributions
Zone
Travel Cost Estimate
(Dollars)
# of Visitors
Travel Distance
(Miles)
Travel Time
(Mins.)
Distance Cost
Time Cost
Total cost/trip VT
$259,619
7,159
154
182
$83
$41
$125 NH
$240,138
2,759
142
242
$77
$55
$132
MA/CT
$441,457
2,324
233
276
$126
$63
$189 ME
$206,356
379
686
748
$373
$171
$544
Travel Cost Valuation
$1,100,00

10. Opportunity Cost and Total Personal Value
14,130 visitors to Mount Ascutney in 2016
Spent two hours on average at site
$13.74 is discounted average hourly wage rate in Vermont
$400,000 is opportunity cost value estimate
$1,500,000 is total estimate of personal value for Mount Ascutney

11. Cumulative Impact Valuation Category Value Added Community Enhancement
N/A
Economic Activity
(with Capture Rate and Multiplier)
$ ,000,000
$ ,000,000
Personal Enjoyment
$ ,500,000
Environmental Benefits
$ ,800,000
Total (including CR and Multiplier):
$ ,000,000
Total (without CR and Multiplier):
$ ,000,000