Consumer willingness to pay a price premium for standing-dead Alaska yellow-cedar

Alaska yellow-cedar has declined in Southeast Alaska over the past 100 years, resulting in half a million acres of dead or dying trees. The natural decay resistance of Alaska yellow-cedar means that many of these trees are still merchantable. However, the topography of Southeast Alaska is such that selectively harvesting Alaska yellow-cedar may often require helicopter-yarding. This paper tests two hypotheses. First, do consumers perceive salvage logging of standing-dead Alaska yellow-cedar as more environmentally friendly than harvesting living trees, and therefore, are they willing to pay a price premium for products manufactured from standing-dead Alaska yellow-cedar? Second, should such a price premium exist, is it sufficient to justify the expense of helicopter-yarding? By using contingent valuation techniques, it is estimated that consumers are willing to pay $1,948 for a children?s play structure made from Alaska yellow-cedar sawn from standing-dead trees, compared to $1,000 for an identical play structure sawn from living Alaska yellow-cedar. This price premium is sufficient to justify the additional cost of helicopter-yarding.

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