Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for information. I received many more requests from folks for me to post my results than those responding with information, which seems to indicate widespread interest in this topic. Therefore, below I have pasted most of what I received (some links may lead to duplicate reports). There is great information in the federal reports but only a couple of these links will lead to published peer-reviewed articles. The last two links lead to reports on the economic value/influence of protected open space - perhaps something to consider when municipalities/states are faced with tough conservation decisions that often pit the environment vs. economy.
http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/document/id/8/rec/1 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jtr.730/abstract Look into papers by John Loomis at Colorado State University http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/ref/collection/document/id/176 http://www.nssf.org/PDF/research/HuntingInAmerica_EconomicForceForConservation.pdf http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/NationalSurvey/nat_survey2006_final.pdf http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3782724?uid=3739696&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102052677377 http://www.outdoorindustry.org/images/researchfiles/RecEconomypublic.pdf http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/NationalSurvey/National_Survey.htm (This link has reports for each individual state as well as federal level) The value of species rarity in biodiversity recreation: A birdwatching example Author(s): Booth, JE <http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/OneClickSearch.do?product=WOS&search_mode=OneClickSearch&colName=WOS&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&field=AU&value=Booth,%20JE> (Booth, Josephine E.)[ 2<http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=4&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&page=1&doc=5#addressWOS:000295442900022-2> ] ; Gaston, KJ <http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/OneClickSearch.do?product=WOS&search_mode=OneClickSearch&colName=WOS&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&field=AU&value=Gaston,%20KJ> (Gaston, Kevin J.)[ 2<http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=4&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&page=1&doc=5#addressWOS:000295442900022-2> ] ; Evans, KL <http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/OneClickSearch.do?product=WOS&search_mode=OneClickSearch&colName=WOS&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&field=AU&value=Evans,%20KL> (Evans, Karl L.)[ 2<http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=4&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&page=1&doc=5#addressWOS:000295442900022-2> ] ; Armsworth, PR <http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/OneClickSearch.do?product=WOS&search_mode=OneClickSearch&colName=WOS&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&field=AU&value=Armsworth,%20PR> (Armsworth, Paul R.)[ 1<http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=4&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&page=1&doc=5#addressWOS:000295442900022-1>,2<http://0-apps.webofknowledge.com.helin.uri.edu/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=4&SID=2FkfPfba5n3OhK4GkmI&page=1&doc=5#addressWOS:000295442900022-2> ] Source: BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION Volume: 144 Issue: 11 Pages: 2728-2732 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.02.018 Published: NOV 2011 http://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/environmental/openspacepreserv10.pdf http://economyleague.org/node/1468 Christopher Heckscher, Ph.D. Delaware State University
