Distance effects in the demand for wildland recreational services: the case of national parks in the United States

Distance decay in spatial demand usually is taken as axiomatic. There are, however, a number of situations in which distance decay cannot be taken for granted. In recreational pursuits, for example, spatial interaction is often marked by a confounding distance effect in which nearby and more distant destinations are equally attractive. The research reported in this paper concerns an examination of the distance effect in the spatial demand for a specific type of recreation: the use of national parks in the USA. The paper contains a review of the related spatial demand literature, including the travel cost model used in calculating economic values of national parks and related places. A central-place-type model of park use is described and put into operation in the form of two linear spatial demand models. One focuses on regional demand for park use and the other focuses on a national market. The initial model specifications are expanded in order to examine the drift of their distance parameters over two variables intended to quantify park quality: age and area. Empirical tests of the models indicate distance decay in the demand for park use is pronounced when distance is considered in the context of park quality.