Combining Economic and Ecological Indicators to Prioritize Salt Marsh Restoration Actions

While habitat functions are determined by ecological (physical) relationships, social values for these functions are determined by public preferences. Rhode Island residents' preferences for salt marsh functions were estimated through an application of stated preference (conjoint) analysis. The two models were designed to integrate production with values of wetland functions, thereby providing insights into the set of restoration actions that would offer the greatest potential for welfare improvement, given a fixed restoration budget. This paper discusses the design, implementation and estimation of the integrated model, and provides an example of how the model may be used to prioritize multiattribute restoration policies.