Jagten Moor is the only available fishing area in York County. It is owned by the county, which allows free access to fishing enthusiasts. Almost all fishing visitors to Jagten Moor come from the nine towns in the county. York County is considering leasing Jagten Moor for logging, which would require that it be closed to fishing visitors. Before approving the lease, the county executive would like to know the magnitude of annual benefits that fishing visitors would forgo if Jagten Moor were to be closed to the public. An analyst for the county has collected data for a travel cost study to estimate the benefits of fishing at Jagten Moor. On ten randomly selected days, he recorded the license plates of vehicles arriving at Jagten Moor. (As the fishing season is 100 days, he assumed that this would constitute a 10 percent sample.) With cooperation from the state motor vehicle department, he was able to find the town of residence of the owner of each vehicle. He also observed from the sample of vehicles that each vehicle on average carried 3.6 persons (2 adults). The table above summarizes the data he collected: In order to translate the distance traveled into an estimate of the cost that fishing visitors faced in using Jagten Moor, the analyst made the following assumptions. First, the average operating cost of vehicles is $0.60 per mile. Second, the average speed on county highways is 50 miles per hour. Third, the opportunity cost to adults of travel time is 50 percent of their wage rate; it is zero for children. Fourth, adult fishing visitors have the average county wage rate of $15.00 per hour. The analyst has asked you to help him use this information to estimate the annual benefits accruing to Jagten Moor fishing visitors. Specifically, assist with the following tasks:

(a) Using the preceding information, calculate the estimated number of visitors during the fishing season from each of the nine towns. What is the total number of fishing visitors to Jagten Moor from all nine towns?

(b) Using the preceding information, calculate the estimated visit rate (VR) per 1,000 people residing in each of the nine towns.

(c) Using the preceding information, calculate the travel cost per person (TC) of a visit from each of the nine towns. (d) (5 points) For the nine observations, regress visit rate (VR) on travel cost (TC) and an intercept. You can use the Regression Tool in the Analysis Toolpak of Excel or another regression program of your choice. If you do not have regression software available, plot the points and fit a line by sight. Find the slope of the fitted line.

(e) Predict the reduction in the number of visitors from each town as price is increased by $5 increments until demand falls to zero.

(f) Estimate the area under the demand curve as the annual benefits to fishing visitors.

Miles from Population Number of Town Jagten Moor (thousands) Vehicles in Sample 24.0 114.9 261 183.0 330 32.4 63.0 124.0 108 1450 26102968 1 766334642 231 oa bn ms ue NC ns at ar 2 0 90240 in oo-3 4. 45 uu 3 2 1 1 S 1 2 1 8 9 36 1 Ph fro 9 90 103 9 21 33 43 51 57 78 90 103 138178 en 234557 M ow A B C D E F G H