An Assessment Of Estuarine And Nearshore Marine Environments

This assessment is a summary of the accumulated scientific understanding of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. It discusses the extent of anthropogenic modifications to this marine environment, points out principal uncertainties that hinder our understanding, and identifies important regional environmental issues. Many assessments attempt to provide easy-to-understand information to a wide, non-specialist audience. Others are directed more specifically to scientists, but include a conclusions section written for non-scientists. This document offers something of a middle approach: it is intended to be understood by a non-specialist audience, albeit one with a general knowledge of contemporary science. At the same time, it gives the professional scientist a broad-scale synthesis of current information.

In this title, originally published in 1984, Wilman develops and describes a methodology for imputing a monetary value to the loss in beach recreational services that would result from a hypothetical oil spill in the Georges Bank area off Massachusetts. Combining an oil-spill risk analysis model with an hedonic pricing model to generate estimates of beach pollution costs associated with offshore oil development, Wilman makes possible for the first time a rational judgement regarding whether the benefits of developing offshore oil outweigh the costs. This book is a valuable resource for students interested in environmental studies and Wilman’s methodological approach can be used to value other nonmarket resource services in any area.