recreation) resources. When performing natural resource damage 

 assessments the U.S. Department of Interior mandates the use of 

 net willingness to pay in calculation of societal gains and 

 losses (U.S. Department of Interior, 1986). Additionally, the 

 Bureau of Land Management (1982) also uses net willingness to pay 

 in measuring the economic benefits of wildlife when performing 

 cost benefit analysis. Use of net willingness to pay in cost 

 benefit determinations is also recommended in current economic 

 literature (Just, Hueth and Schmitz, 1982; Sassone and Schaffer, 

 1978) . 



Many recreationists, when asked if a specific recreational 

 experience was worth more to them than they actually had to spend 

 answer "yes". Net willingness to pay is a measure of that 

 additional amount, over and above what they actually had to pay, 

 which they believed the experience was worth. Therefore, net 

 economic value or "consumer surplus" is the difference between 

 what a person is willing to pay and what they actually must pay. 

 This net willingness to pay is the measure of benefits associated 

 with deer hunting which is used in this study. 



