Tourism Economics , 2007, 13 (1), 87–110 The effect of wildlife recreational activity on Florida’s economy J IAN ZHANG At the time of writing, Jian Zhang was with The Adbus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. He is now with the Department of Economics, UHERO, 2424 Maile Way, Saunders Hall 540, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. E-mail: zhjian@hawaii.edu DONNA J. LEE Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0240, USA. E-mail: DonnaL@ufl.edu This paper describes a dynamic computable general equilibrium model developed to examine the value of wildlife recreation in the state of Florida. Growth and volatility in wildlife watching, fishing and hunting are simulated and used to determine the impact on gross state product. A scenario replicating the impact of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 is examined. Results estimate the present value of losses from 2001 to 2010 could be between US$10 and US$80 billion. Keywords: outdoor recreation; wildlife; computable general equilib- rium; regional economy JEL classification: C68, D58, L83 Wildlife recreation includes wildlife watching, fishing and hunting. In the USA, these popular activities attract 82 million participants each year and generate US$108 billion in expenditures (Tables 1 and 2). Wildlife watching The USDA Forest Service, the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station and the Ecological and Environmental Economics Programme at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP – UNESCO/IAEA) provided financial support for this research. Basic versions of the model used in this paper were presented at ‘The Southern Forest Economics Workers’ Annual Conference: Com- petitiveness of Southern Forest Product Markets in a Global Economy: Trends and Predictions’, St Augustine, Florida, 14–16 March 2004. A more recent version was presented at the International Conference on Policy Modelling in Istanbul, 29 June–2 July 2005. Conference participants offered helpful comments. Alan Hodges shared knowledge and data that aided this effort. Roberto Roson offered suggestions on an earlier version of this manuscript. The authors appreciate comments and suggestions from two anonymous reviewers, which resulted in changes that significantly improved the final paper.