Stony Creek Reserve 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 Stony Creek Reserve come from the nine towns in the county. York County is considering leasing the Reserve 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 forego if Stony Creek 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 Stony Creek Reserve. On ten randomly selected days, he recorded the license plates of vehicles arriving at the Reserve. (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 2.4 persons (1.9 adults). The following table summarizes the data he collected: In order to translate the distance traveled into an estimate of the cost that fishing visitors faced in using Stony Creek, the analyst made the following assumptions. First, the average operating cost of vehicles is $0.66 per mile. Second, the average speed on county highways is 51 miles per hour. Third, the opportunity cost to adults of travel time is 60 percent of their wage rate; it is zero for children. Fourth, adult fishing visitors have the average county wage rate of $18.00 per hour. The analyst has asked you to help him use this information to estimate the annual benefits accruing to Stony Creek 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 Stony Creek Reserve 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) For the nine observations, regress visit rate (VR) on travel cost (TC) and a constant. 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) Using the fitted line as an approximation of the demand curve for visits, estimate the consumer surplus for fishing visitors.

(f) Assume the county executive determines that the amount you computed in part (e) will be the annual lease payment from the logging company. The logging company will lease the land for 10 years. If the county's discount rate is 6% and the lease payments begin one year from now, what is the present value of all the lease payments?

Miles from Population Number of Town Stony Creek Reserve (thousands) Vehicles in Sample A 12 30.7 51 B 15 25.0 36 C 36 114.3 126 D 45 177.0 183 E 48 91.2 75 F 54 32.4 15 G 5? 63.0 45 H 69 124.0 54 | 75 145.0 18