Recreationist willingness to pay for aquatic invasive species management

Abstract

We estimated willingness to pay for local aquatic invasive species lake management in the form of a daily lake access fee by conducting summer lake surveys in Minnesota, USA. Similar pairs of lakes with differing infestations of zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, and starry stonewort, Nitellopsis obtuse, were used as study sites to infer how being at an infested lake vs. being at an uninfested lake and different local species would impact responses. We also examined recreationists' visit motivation, and aquatic invasive species perceived risk, knowledge, and awareness of problem. We estimated mean willingness to pay about nine to ten dollars per day, which did not differ significantly by lake. Additionally, perceived risk, awareness of problem, and visit motivation were significant in predicting willingness to pay, which could have important ramifications for aquatic invasive species management.