How much does a Yellowstone National Park grizzly mean to the local economy?
Many say they’re “priceless” resources, but in cold, hard cash each is worth about $46,000 a year, according to a new study by scientists with the National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey.
Their research attempts to quantify the "societal economic values" of Yellowstone National Park's grizzlies and black bears.
The authors argue that bear sightings are a measurable component of a park's economic impact, going so far as to assign an approximate dollar value to each bear species.
Overall, the study concludes that "corresponding annual per-animal estimates of at least $46,000 for a grizzly bear and $15,000 for a black bear.”
That puts the total annual value of Yellowstone bear sightings at roughly $8.7 million for grizzlies and $6.9 million for black bears.
Can someone put a fixed dollar amount on a bear's value?
As the grizzly gets potentially closer to being removed from the Endangered Species List, many states might be eyeing this study with interest, while conservationists are concerned.
"Just as a wolf is the voice of the wild, the grizzly is the soul of the American wildland," said retired wildlife expert Chuck Neal. "You cannot put a price on a grizzly head. The grizzly is priceless."
Per Bear, Per Sighting, Per Year
The study, conducted by Leslie Richardson with the NPS and Aaron Enriquez with the USGS, uses survey data collected in Yellowstone by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2009.
Visitors were asked to answer a series of targeted questions about their experiences viewing bears in the park.
"What we've done is tried to quantify just one small piece of the total economic value of bears by estimating a 'use' value from bear sightings," Enriquez told The National Parks Experience. "The entire total value of bears would be higher, especially if one accounted for 'non-use' values like existence value.
"As more types of values get filled in over time, we'll continue to have a better picture of how much society benefits from bears."
The simplified explanation of the study is that the travel costs of Yellowstone's visitors were used to determine the relative value of bear viewing per sighting per trip to reach an aggregate value of all bear sightings during the survey.
Equations derived from these numbers yielded the aggregate monetary contribution per bear in Yellowstone, per sighting.
Using this formula, Richardson and Enriquez determined that the average value of a bear viewing during a two-day Yellowstone trip, based on visitors' travel expenses, is $153, with a range of $57 to $549 depending on the season.
The value per bear sighting is $14.08 for each black bear and $15.91 for each grizzly.
Using this value, the average per-animal view value of $46,178 per grizzly bear and $15,198 per black bear.
That means that the "societal economic values" of bear sightings in Yellowstone are roughly $6.9 million for black bears and $8.7 million for grizzlies.
Where's The Value?
The study puts a high price on each grizzly's head, but even the authors expected some pushback given the high importance Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho place on bears, as reflected in each state's per-animal restitution value.
Wyoming's restitution value is $5,000 per black bear and $25,000 per grizzly. Montana's restitution value for both bears is considerably less: $1,000 per black bear and $8,000 per grizzly.
Meanwhile, Neal called the study's premise "nonsense."
"This kind of exercise seems to be done by people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing," he said. "There are certain individuals who would say if a bear is worth $46,000, we can easily afford to lose $46,000."
Neal was referring to the growing momentum behind the effort to remove grizzlies from the Endangered Species List.
That momentum went into overdrive when Brian Nesvik, former director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, was appointed as the new chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in August.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, called Nesvik "one of the strongest advocates for delisting the grizzly bear.”
She introduced a bill in January to delist the grizzly before Nesvik's confirmation, which passed the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee in July.
Rob Wallace, who previously oversaw the NPS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told Cowboy State Daily that he believes Nesvik will be able to navigate the bureaucratic complexities and successfully delist grizzlies.
"He's got, without a doubt, as much — if not more — experience with grizzly bears as anybody in the Interior Department," he said in May. "You just don't want to trip yourself up and end up in court again, and he'll know best how to navigate that minefield.”
On the other hand, conservationists have seized on the study to make their point.
According to The National Parks Experience, 63 grizzlies died in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem between January and September.
Based on the study's value of $46,000 per grizzly, that's an economic loss of $2.89 million this year alone.
Conservation Or Capitalism?
Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said this isn’t the first study that’s tried to quantify the economic value of Yellowstone’s wildlife.
She said such studies can be helpful and hurtful, depending on one’s perspective.
“I think (this study) is important because it tells the story about how beneficial it is to have these grizzlies around,” she said. “Our economy gets a huge boost from having these animals available, but it’s helpful to realize that these animals have their own intrinsic value just by being alive and out there.”
Combs noted that such studies are inherently “anthropocentric and humanist” in the sense that they put dollar signs on wild animals. But Yellowstone’s wildlife isn’t important because of its perceived monetary value.
“I trust that the researchers did their due diligence, but I believe we can't underestimate the value of having these animals on the landscape in ways that can’t be quantified.
"For many people, seeing grizzlies like 399 and 610 is a transformational life experience. That’s important to our economy, but the inherent, intrinsic value of those experiences shouldn’t be overlooked.”
From a monetary perspective, Combs suggested that having a scientifically determined monetary value for grizzlies could influence management decisions if they’re delisted.
“The last time grizzly bear hunting was brought up, we were looking at $6,000 for an out-of-state hunting tag,” she said. “If a Yellowstone grizzly is worth $46,000, that's a hell of a lot more money, and you can’t underestimate the economic value of having these animals on the landscape.”
A Price On Priceless
In their conclusion, Enriquez and Richardson indicate they want to expand their methodology to assess the economic value of other animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Wolves, mountain lions, bison, and bighorn sheep "often rank highest in terms of visitor preferences for wildlife they would most like to see," and thus would be suitable for "further human dimensions research."
Neal said he understands the intent behind this research, but he finds the premise unsettling. Yellowstone's wildlife has a definite economic impact, but he feels it's best to leave the number unknown.
"I suppose they were trying to justify the existence of grizzly bears by putting monetary value on them, but it's an exercise in futility," he said.
Combs appreciates the study as a resource for future discussions on conservation and tourism, but she believes quantifying the economic value of Yellowstone’s wildlife is too complex to be determined by any study.
“You couldn't put a value on a human's life, and I feel like it's the same way with this study,” she said. “When I've been in Yellowstone, a bear is a bear is a bear. People stop and look, whether it's a black bear or a grizzly bear.
"One of the reasons this place is so popular is because of our wildlife. Bears are at the top of the list, and we can’t forget the value that brings to people’s lives and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
