EES specializes broadly in the application of economics to environmental and natural resource issues. Specific environmental and natural resource economics services offered by EES include:
- Assessing natural resource damages as a result of oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and wildfires
- Reviewing/critiquing Trustee assessments of natural resource damages as a result of oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and wildfires
- Reviewing proposed regulations and guidance for assessing natural resource damages
- Developing guidance and providing training on assessing natural resource damages
- Collecting and evaluating existing information on the characteristics and use of recreation areas
- Identifying and evaluating relevant valuation studies in the economic literature for transfer to natural resource damage applications
- Estimating nonmarket values for recreation activities
- Analyzing contingent-valuation and travel-cost data on the value of recreation activities
- Using conjoint analysis and habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) to determine the appropriate scale of compensatory restoration actions for losses of natural resource services
- Evaluating conceptual and empirical issues associated with estimating nonuse values
When existing information is not available or is not sufficiently reliable for a client’s needs, EES can design and administer cost-effective surveys to obtain the desired information. The specific survey services offered by EES include:
- Developing and implementing protocols for counting users of recreation sites
- Developing and administering face-to-face surveys with users of recreation sites
- Training and monitoring counters of recreators and interviewers for recreation surveys
- Developing and implementing telephone and mail surveys administered to recreators
- Designing and conducting focus groups and pre-tests of survey questionnaires
- Developing and implementing self-administered, computerized surveys of the general public
Occasionally, the resolution of environmental and natural resource issues involves litigation. Accordingly, EES offers the following litigation support services:
- Participating in settlement discussions/meetings with Trustees on natural resource damages and third-party claims
- Evaluating claims of lost tax revenue following oil spills and hazardous-substance releases
- Evaluating claims of lost business income following oil spills and hazardous-substance releases
- Providing deposition and trial testimony on natural resource damages, tax losses, business-income losses, and property-value reductions as a result of oil spills and hazardous-substance releases
- Developing questions for deposing or cross-examining economic experts in natural resource damage cases and third-party lawsuits
Updated March 2020