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Estimating the Cost of Wetland Restoration
in the Prairie Pothole Region
R. L. Bernknopf, C. D. Shapiro, D. R. Soller, W. S. Moy
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
922 National Center
Reston, Virginia 22092
Abstract
Decisions on wetlands preservation, creation, and restoration need to address
a number of economic and social factors to ensure an optimal use of resources.
Economic literature includes models for examining the benefits and costs
associated
with preservation of wetlands in the prairie wetlands pothole region. this
analysis
broadens an existing economic model for prairie wetlands to include restoration
costs. A statistical model was developed to estimate wetland restoration
costs in
portion of the prairie pothole region using information that can be derived
from
existing regional geologic and topographic maps.  The hypothesis tested is
that
physical science attributes influence the cost of wetland restoration. The
results
from the statistical model support the hypothesis that two physical science
variables,
average slope and soil permeability, influence wetland restoration costs
in the prairie
pothole region.
Introduction
During the next decade, many complex land-use decisions will be made in
order to implement the President's stated goal of "no net loss"
 of wetlands.
Decision-makers will have to consider physical and economic factors in deciding
which wetland areas should be maintained, and which geographic areas are
the
best candidates for either wetland restoration or creation.
Federal, State, and local government agencies such as the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), and the
Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) restore wetlands
from
active and idle farmland and ranchland. In the past, significant amounts
of wetland
areas were drained by farmers and ranchers in order to create additional
cropland.
President Bush stated on June 1, 1992, that during the past four years, the
national
has "... restored or protected more than one-half million acres a year
of important
wetlands." (Bush, 1992).
Gathering the data necessary to undertake a site-by-site analysis of wetland
restoration or creation costs is both time consuming and expensive. The model
developed in this paper takes an alternative approach to estimating the cost
of
wetland restoration. Cost estimates of wetland restoration in a part of the
prairie
pothole region in northeastern South Dakota are estimated statistically using
existing
regional earth science information. This technique is designed to assist
decision-
makers examine many candidate areas simultaneously in order to choose where
to
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