Methodology to Quantify the Economic Impact of the Double-Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) to the Oneida Lake Region, New York

The economic impact of wildlife-caused damage and associated management is one of the many factors that arguably play a role in the decision-making process of wildlife managers. Often the role of an economist is to value the damage created by wildlife, or to assess programmatic efficiency to determine if changes can be made to increase return per dollar invested in management efforts. Frequently, the results of economic analyses of wildlife-caused damage are used to justify program efforts in the pursuit or maintenance of funding. The complexity of determining the economic impact of wildlife-caused damage requires that there is a clear understanding of the methodological approach used to determine impacts. Examining specific methodological approaches used in actual case studies provides a systematic replicable approach to valuing damage. This study outlines the methodology for determining the economic impact of cormorant damage to natural resources in a local economy: the Oneida Lake Region of central New York.