Browsing by Subject "Resources economics"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Ecological and economic tradeoffs between herring fisheries and whale watching in New England
    (2014-04-24) Yan, Lingxiao
    The whale-watching industry is an important component of the New England regional economy with about one million tourism visitors. Humpback whales are the most popular whale-watching targets, whose primary activity in this area is feeding that mainly on herrings. Meanwhile, the value of herring fisheries is more than $20M annually and it is the major supply for canneries and lobster bait. According to the historical document, over-harvesting of herrings may cause the dramatic depletion of humpback whale stock. This research investigates the economic benefits and losses of the ban on the harvesting for herring in the New England area. I compare the revenue of herring fisheries and whale-watching under different herring harvest levels through integrated economic-ecological analysis. The marine ecosystem side will be modeled through EMAX food web. The socio-economical analysis focuses on the herring fisheries and whale watching market price and quantity. By comparing the two-sided benefits, this research evaluates if herring should be left in the marine ecosystem or harvested. The result indicated that the decrease of herring harvest would not cause dramatic increase of the whale stock,, at least in the short term. Accordingly, the decline of herring landing would not significantly or equally increases the revenue from the whale watching tourism. The result suggests that the current herring fisheries landing might not have a significant impact on the whale population.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Improving Federal Allocation of EQIP Funding
    (2013-04-25) Gilbert, Emily; Qin, Jianming; Liu, Jiemei; Neal, Ashley
    The motivation behind this report is to evaluate and respond to past and current decision pathways employed for determining state allocation of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program [EQIP] funding under the Natural Resource Conservation Service [NRCS]. We work to provide justifiable recommendations for how the allocation of EQIP dollars might be improved, especially as it pertains to improving equity among those states with the highest priority needs. The distribution mechanism of federal EQIP funding to each state has received significant criticism in the past. The criticism stems primarily from the usage of a weighted factor formula that has been thought to unfairly favor certain states over others. Beyond questions of equity, there have also been more fundamental concerns over the quality of data inputted into the funding formula. In this project, we worked with our client, a Program Analyst at the North Carolina NRCS office, to tailor our recommendations to the specific concerns of one state. Our client’s specific concern was that North Carolina has historically been positioned lower in the national ranking of EQIP funding that it receives as compared to many other large agricultural states. To better understand the process of federal EQIP allocation, we reviewed the history of EQIP, examined the past and current decision pathways used to determine federal allocation of conservation dollars to state NRCS offices, conducted interviews among NRCS staff, and quantitatively analyzed the funding allocation process. We provide scenarios for how it might be possible for a state like North Carolina to increase the allocation of EQIP funding that it receives and attain better conservation on identified lands of highest priority. We expect that our recommendations targeted at helping EQIP improve equity among states in the federal funding allocation process, will ultimately lead to a rise in North Carolina’s allocation of EQIP funds and in its national ranking among other states. In this project, the formula we use to develop our quantitative analysis of the federal EQIP allocation process is the formula used by NRCS for fiscal years 2009-2011. The EQIP formula includes two parts: financial assistance and technical assistance. From our analysis, we developed a number of scenarios that propose ways in which the funding formula might be changed to better address different social or environmental issues and to serve those states that, in the past, have struggled to receive the same budgetary support as other states, and so are less likely to see the needs of their farmers and the conservation needs of their land be served to the same degree. Our evaluation led us to make a number of recommendations that we expect will move EQIP more in line with its stated goal of optimizing environmental benefits. Our recommendations are also made with the goal to reduce or eliminate many of the inconsistences and criticisms that have beleaguered past EQIP funding allocation processes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    IMPROVING FEDERAL ALLOCATION OF EQIP FUNDING
    (2013-04-25) Liu, Jiemei; Gilbert, Emily; Qin, Jianming; Neal, Ashley
    The motivation behind this report is to evaluate and respond to past and current decision pathways employed for determining state allocation of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program [EQIP] funding under the Natural Resource Conservation Service [NRCS]. We work to provide justifiable recommendations for how the allocation of EQIP dollars might be improved, especially as it pertains to improving equity among those states with the highest priority needs. The distribution mechanism of federal EQIP funding to each state has received significant criticism in the past. The criticism stems primarily from the usage of a weighted factor formula that has been thought to unfairly favor certain states over others. Beyond questions of equity, there have also been more fundamental concerns over the quality of data inputted into the funding formula. In this project, we worked with our client, a Program Analyst at the North Carolina NRCS office, to tailor our recommendations to the specific concerns of one state. Our client’s specific concern was that North Carolina has historically been positioned lower in the national ranking of EQIP funding that it receives as compared to many other large agricultural states. To better understand the process of federal EQIP allocation, we reviewed the history of EQIP, examined the past and current decision pathways used to determine federal allocation of conservation dollars to state NRCS offices, conducted interviews among NRCS staff, and quantitatively analyzed the funding allocation process. We provide scenarios for how it might be possible for a state like North Carolina to increase the allocation of EQIP funding that it receives and attain better conservation on identified lands of highest priority. We expect that our recommendations targeted at helping EQIP improve equity among states in the federal funding allocation process, will ultimately lead to a rise in North Carolina’s allocation of EQIP funds and in its national ranking among other states. In this project, the formula we use to develop our quantitative analysis of the federal EQIP allocation process is the formula used by NRCS for fiscal years 2009-2011. The EQIP formula includes two parts: financial assistance and technical assistance. From our analysis, we developed a number of scenarios that propose ways in which the funding formula might be changed to better address different social or environmental issues and to serve those states that, in the past, have struggled to receive the same budgetary support as other states, and so are less likely to see the needs of their farmers and the conservation needs of their land be served to the same degree. Our evaluation led us to make a number of recommendations that we expect will move EQIP more in line with its stated goal of optimizing environmental benefits. Our recommendations are also made with the goal to reduce or eliminate many of the inconsistences and criticisms that have beleaguered past EQIP funding allocation processes.