The concept of net economic value is often hard to grasp. One 

 way to view this value is to consider it a personal income 

 equivalent in that it is equal to real income but not actually 

 cash in hand. It can also be considered the "added" benefit a 

 person gains from the use of the good or service. 



The U.S. Water Resources Council Principles and Guidelines (1983) 

 requires that many federal agencies employ net willingness to pay 

 in measuring the value of resources. The U.S. Department of the 

 Interior also requires that net willingness to pay be used in 

 measuring society's gains and losses when assessing natural 

 resource damage (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1986) . The 

 Bureau of Land Management also uses this concept when estimating 

 the value of wildlife in their cost benefit analyses. 



