AbstractsEconomics

Since the first English colonists in the early 17th Century, expanding civilization and environmental quality have often been in direct conflict. By the mid-1800's reduced wildlife populations, declining natural resources, and vanishing wilderness settings had become problems of such magnitude that a significant number of sensitive citizens began to call for conservation. The environmental movement as we know it today had its roots in the efforts of men such as John Wesley Powell, George Perkins Marsh, Gifford Pinchot and John Muir to foster a sense of stewardship toward the natural environment. Mounting scientific evidence during the 1960's of human health effects and ecological damage resulting from anthopogenic pollutants gave rise to a spate of environmental legislation designed to protect human health and welfare, as well as enhance environmental quality. One of the most important pieces of environmental legislation, to date, is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. It not only established a national policy of commitment to maintaining environmental quality and promoting harmony between man and nature, but also set up the Council on Environmental Quality and instituted requirements for Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) for major federal actions significantly affecting the environment. A va of techniques are currently available for determining the impact of proposed action on the environment; however, a common shortcoming of these methodologies is their inability to adequately predict and assess changes in the socioeconomic environment. I As increasing emphasis is placed by planners and decision-makers on the human factors associated with a proposed project, better methods for establishing the critical socioeconomic indicators and measuring attribute changes will become imperative. /At the present time, there is no standard, reliable methodology for analyzing the socioeconomic implications of contemplated programs.