(McConnell and Strand, 1981). A comparison of the deterrent 

 effect of travel time and monetary travel cost indicated that the 

 anglers valued the time spent traveling at about 60% of the wage 

 rate. The McConnell and Strand Model was estimated on the deer 

 hunting database. The estimated parameters on trip costs and 

 time were not significant at the 90% level. Accordingly, the 

 Water Resources method estimate of 7.0 cents per mile for the 

 opportunity cost of time was used for both the standard and 

 reported travel cost parameters. 



Variable Transportation Costs 



Variable out-of-pocket travel expenses for Montana deer 

 hunters were also calculated by two different methods. The 

 "standard" approach recommended by the Water Resources Council is 

 based on the variable cost of operating a motor vehicle. This 

 cost was obtained from the U.S. Department of Transportation's 

 Cost of Owning and Operating Vehicles and Vans - 1984 and is 15.2 

 cents per mile. This figure is based on the variable cost of 

 operating a large-size vehicle, which most closely approximates 

 engine efficiencies and size of typical vehicles utilized by 

 hunters. Only 6% of our sample utilized compact- or 

 intermediate-sized vehicles. The "standard" cost per passenger 

 mile is, then, 5.8 cents, based on our sample average of 2.62 

 hunters per vehicle. 



The reported variable travel cost is derived by regressing 

 reported trip expenditures on distance traveled. The estimated 

 slope coefficient on distance can then be interpreted as the 

 variable monetary cost of travel (Burt and Brewer, 1971). The 



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