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Abstract
The Desert Uplands is a biogeographic region in central-western Queensland that lies within
the rangelands area of Australia. In the region, many pastoralists are clearing the scrub and
woodland vegetation in order to improve production for cattle grazing. Only limited
production gains are possible because of the low rainfall and infertile soils relative to many
other areas of Queensland. To assess whether such developments are economic and desirable,
a first step is to value the environmental implications of alternate management regimes. A
stated preference choice modelling study was undertaken to provide estimates of these values.
Attributes included in the choice model pertain to reductions in the population size of nonthreatened
species, the number of endangered species lost to the region, and changes in
regional income and employment. A nested logit model was used to model the data. Results
indicate, inter alia, that the loss of one endangered species to the Desert Uplands region is
valued similarly to three jobs lost. The welfare implications of several different policy
options regarding levels of tree retention are estimated.