Public Access to Lake Superior Increases Inland Property Values
Ann Arbor, Mich. — Local residents are often concerned that taking land out of private hands and off the tax rolls for public ownership will decrease local tax revenues. A recent study of property near Lake Superior's shoreline suggests just the opposite is true.
"People who buy property near Lake Superior, but not directly on the lake, would still like to be able to use Lake Superior," states Blair Orr, a researcher at Michigan Technological University's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.
Orr and his colleagues examined real estate transactions close to Lake Superior for three years and found people were willing to pay more for property that is close to a park on the shores of Lake Superior. When people are prepared to pay more for property they are taxed on that higher value. It turns out that parks not only provide recreational opportunities and preserve our natural heritage, they also increase the tax base of a county, and are in effect helping to pay for themselves.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study, "Public Access to Lake Superior and Attribute Values of Proximate Non-Shoreline Property," are reported by Blair D. Orr and James B. Pickens in the latest issue (Volume 29, No. 4, pp. 616-629) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by the International Association for Great Lakes Research, 2003. Funding for the study was provided by the Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund and the MacIntire-Stennis Fund.
Contacts
For information about the study, contact Blair Orr, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931; bdorr@mtu.edu; (906) 487-2291.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; marlene.evans@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.