Catherine M. Chambers, Central Missouri State University, Department of Economics and Finance, Warrensburg, MO 64093, USA; John C. Whitehead, East Carolina University, Department of Economics, Greenville, NC 27858-4353, USA

The Federal government proposal to remove wolves from the endangered species list in Minnesota has sparked debate in the state concerning the appropriate focus of wolf management. While qualitative information from public meetings and opinion polls have been used to balance the tradeoffs between control and protection, quantitative estimate of the benefits of wolves have been missing from the wildlife policy analysis.

This paper employs the contingent valuation method to measure the nonmarket value of the preservation of wolves in northern Minnesota. The contingent valuation method is a survey-based economic method that is often used to quantify in dollar terms the benefits (or costs) of an environmental policy. Personal valuations for increases or decreases in the quantity of some good are obtained contingent upon a hypothetical market. Our aim is to elicit preservation valuatoins which are not directly observable and, therefore, often neglected. Using mail surveys, we will survey 800 Minnesota households. 400 of those households will be in Ely, an area with high wolf population density, and the other 400 will be in St. Cloud, an area with no resident wolves.