Environmental equity and the conservation of unique ecosystems: An analysis of the distribution of benefits for protecting southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests

Some critics in the environmental equity literature argue that low-income populations disproportionately have environmental risks while the wealthy and better educated gain disproportionately from protecting unique ecosystems. We test this hypothesis in an analysis of the decline of southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests. We calculate willingness-to-pay measures for forest protection through a contingent valuation survey. Survey respondents consider spruce-fir forest protection to be a normal good (income elasticity: 0.421). Education does not influence willingness to pay. In an assessment of willingness to pay scaled by income, we found that income has a negative effect, implying that as income increases, willingness to pay as a percentage of income decreases. Education weakly influences willingness to pay in this assessment. Given the substantial existence and bequest values associated with these forests, these results substantiate our rejection of the hypothesis that conserving this unique ecosystem only benefits the wealthy and better educated.