Essays on economic valuation of recreation and ecosystem services in the Illinois River Basin in northeastern Oklahoma

treambank instability and resulting erosion is a severe problem throughout Oklahoma. Bank erosion and deposition processes are major sources of fine sediment loads to streams and downstream reservoirs. Two economic valuation studies were conducted on Illinois River Basin in northeastern Oklahoma. The first study estimated visitors' recreation demand to the river using travel cost method. The data for this study was gathered from 489 on-site travel cost surveys in 2012. Results from the travel cost study indicated that the total annual estimated value to visitors of the river falls between...