56Forests at the Wildland揢rban Interface: Conservation and Managementto the public, no one can be excluded from using them (although user fees may be charged). Eventually, however, as more and more people use these lands, congestion becomes a problem. Consequently, each individual enjoyment of the property will be reduced. This is in stark contrast to the items that we purchase in the marketplace. Common property resources exist in between purely public goods and private goods. The nonexcludable nature of many land-based resources makes it nearly impossible for market forces (the purchase and sale) to operate due to the presence of what are commonly referred to as free riders. Free riders create a situation where no one is willing to pay for the use of the resource if other people are able to have access to it without paying. This is only partially the case with the problem of free riders. Indeed, people may be willing and able to pay, but there exists no market mechanism to extract payment. As we have seen, in the case of private goods, the market determines who gets to use a resource and who does not by granting use to the highest bidder. But in the case of many land-based resources, this only works when a market allows trading to take place. Without trading, the market is not able to place a value on uses that are not producing any sort of saleable good. Thus, we have to rely on a combination of market valuation as well as nonmarket valuation of land use to determine which uses are the most valuable to society. Nonmarket valuation techniques, used for many years to determine the value of alternative uses of land and land-based resources, can be divided into two primary categories: stated preference models and revealed preference models. 4.2.5.1 Stated Preference Approaches This aptly named category of methods for estimating the demand for nonmarket goods and services relies on surveys of people who are involved in some aspect of the nonmarket good. It allows people to directly state their preference for a nonmarket good or service. The key elements of interest in these types of approaches typically involve a two-step process. These two steps involve developing a reasonable market for trading a nontraded good and then querying people to estimate what they would be willing to pay for receipt of this good or service. Contingent valuation and contingent ranking are two specific methods that fall into this category of estimation techniques (a good overview of these methods can be found in Boyle and Bishop, 1988). To be sure, there are many possible problems and biases associated with this type of approach. Those who have been applying this method have worked to minimize several key types of bias. Examples of problems with these types of surveys include strategic bias (or the ability of a respondent to strategically affect the outcome of the research), hypothetical bias (or the inability on thepart of the respondent to understand the contingent market being set up), and starting point bias (or the inability of the respondent to respond accurately given the absence of any reasonable benchmark upon which to conceive of value). Although beyond the scope of this chapter, specific correction mechanisms have been instituted to allow use of stated preference methods as a reasonable approach for assessing the demand structure of nonmarket goods. 4.2.5.2 Revealed Preference Approaches Once again, this is an aptly named category of research methods that attempts to uncover evidence of people value for nonmarket goods through how they spend money in roxy�markets. In other words, these approaches try to develop an indirect estimate of people revealed preference for nonmarket goods or services by examining how they spend money in the marketplace for closely related marketbased goods or services. Examples of specific techniques within this category include hedonic price models and travel cost models. Again, given the size limitation of this chapter, a complete discussion of these approaches remains beyond our scope. Interested readers can obtain a more thorough detailing of nonmarket goods valuation from benchmark texts in natural resource economics (cf. van Kooten 1993; Lesser et al. 1997; Kahn 1998). We now turn our attention to a discussion that places valuation of land and land-based resources within the political and decision making framework of how land-use planning takes place within regions surrounding rapidly growing cities. In this way, nonmarket goods and services can be held up against market-based land uses and the complex array of stakeholders involved in weighing the benefits and costs of decisions about alternative land uses in the wildland搖rban interface.4.3 AFFECTING LAND USE IN THE WILDLAND揢RBAN INTERFACE THROUGH PLANNINGDirecting the course of land use within the region surrounding urban areas is the primary responsibility of landuse planners. Land-use planners are typically public servants of local units of government (cities, towns, countries, and regional planning commissions) or private consultants working for themselves or for larger engineering firms. Where resources are available, these local units of government will employ a cadre of planners to perform the necessary analytical and process-oriented tasks. Consultants often perform a significant number of the specific tasks associated with land-use planning. This is particularly true in smaller governmental units that do not have the resources to support a planning staff and in situations where specialized expertise is required.
