The paper I have chosen to do a referee report on, "Contributions of the US state park system to nature recreation"by Juha Siikamäki, analyzes the economic contributions of state park systems in the United States. The stated goal of the paper was to estimate the net contributions of state parks in the US to help aid policy makers, and the public, with public policy and management decisions. To do this the author uses a novel approach to help with estimating the economic contributions of a state park by choosing to focus on the amount of time state parks are used for so called “nature recreation”. In the end, the results of analysis done in the paper show that state parks have a “robust positive effect on overall nature recreation” in the US. The author also goes over how state park systems affect the popularity of nature recreation and that the economic benefits of state park systems are
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For the variables that were used by the author a variety of demographic and geographic for each state was shown (see Table SI-1 on page 9). State Parks (In-State State Parks) were measured acres per total land per 100,000 people. A variable on Out-of-State State Parks within a 150 mile radius of the population weighted state-center and is similar the In-State State Park measurement. A Federal Lands variable measured acres per total land per 100,000 people was included as well. The variables used by the author also included data on age groups with 4 variables, level of education with 3, employment with 7 , as well as leisure hours per person per week and a Black race variable. The age groups were: 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, and finally those over 60 years old. Education was grouped as: high school, some college, and those with a college education or more. The 7 employment variables were: full time workers, part time workers, students, unemployed, homemakers, and those who are
For the variables that were used by the author a variety of demographic and geographic for each state was shown (see Table SI-1 on page 9). State Parks (In-State State Parks) were measured acres per total land per 100,000 people. A variable on Out-of-State State Parks within a 150 mile radius of the population weighted state-center and is similar the In-State State Park measurement. A Federal Lands variable measured acres per total land per 100,000 people was included as well. The variables used by the author also included data on age groups with 4 variables, level of education with 3, employment with 7 , as well as leisure hours per person per week and a Black race variable. The age groups were: 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, and finally those over 60 years old. Education was grouped as: high school, some college, and those with a college education or more. The 7 employment variables were: full time workers, part time workers, students, unemployed, homemakers, and those who are