Economic Assessment of Bristol Bay Area National Wildlife Refuges: Alaska Peninsula, Becharof, Izembek, Togiak

Abstract

This report presents an economic assessment of the National Wildlife Refuges in Southwestern Alaska. Those refuges cover millions of acres on the Alaska Peninsula and along the north coast of Bristol Bay (Map S-1). They include large wilderness areas; spawning grounds for the rich Bristol Bay commercial salmon runs; staging areas for huge flocks of migrating waterfowl; and some of the world’s best brown bear habitat. Several thousand Alaska Natives and other rural Alaskans also live in communities on or near the refuges and rely on fish, wildlife, and plants from the refuges. The Institute of Social and Economic Research contracted with Industrial Economics, Incorporated to perform this economic assessment for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It includes measures of both economic significance and net economic value. Both are useful for policy analysis, but they measure economic activity differently. Economic significance analysis measures the role of the refuges in the regional and statewide economies. Net economic value analysis measures the overall value of the refuges to Alaska, but also to the U.S. as a whole.