Session The Economics of Mitigation and Cost-Effective Strategies Abstract COST JUSTIFICATION AND EXAMPLES OF COST-BENEFIT ANALYSES OF MITIGATION MEASURES
Wildlife-vehicle collisions, especially with deer (Odocoileus spp.), elk (Cervus elaphus) and moose (Alces alces) are numerous and have shown an increasing trend over the last several decades in the United States and Canada. We calculated the costs associated with the average deer- ($6,617), elk- ($...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.180.2148 http://www.icoet.net/ICOET_2009/downloads/proceedings/ICOET09-Proceedings-Session411.pdf |
| Summary: | Wildlife-vehicle collisions, especially with deer (Odocoileus spp.), elk (Cervus elaphus) and moose (Alces alces) are numerous and have shown an increasing trend over the last several decades in the United States and Canada. We calculated the costs associated with the average deer- ($6,617), elk- ($17,483) and moose-vehicle collision ($30,760), including vehicle repair costs, human injuries and fatalities, towing, accident attendance and investigation, monetary value to hunters of the animal killed in the collision, and cost of disposal of the animal carcass. In addition, we reviewed the effectiveness and costs of 13 mitigation measures considered effective in reducing collisions with large ungulates We conducted cost-benefit analyses over a 75-year period using discount rates of 1%, 3 % and 7 % to identify the threshold values (in 2007 $) above which individual mitigation measures start generating benefits in excess of costs. These threshold values were translated into the number of deer-, elk-, or moose-vehicle collisions that need to occur per kilometer per year for a mitigation measure to start generating economic benefits in excess of costs. For example, we calculated that wildlife exclusion fencing in combination with large mammal underpasses (one every 2 km) and wildlife jump-outs generates economic benefits if the pre-mitigation collisions are greater than 3.2 deer, 1.2 elk, or |
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