Visitors to National Parks Cause Damage and Increased Maintenance Costs

Essay

Visitors to National Parks cause damage and increased maintenance costs on the parks. The marginal external cost of visitors is: MEC(q) = 1.5q, where q is the number of visitors to National Parks in thousands. The marginal benefit to visitors of attending National Parks is: If the Parks do not charge a fee, how many visitors will attend the National Parks. What is the optimal level of park visitation? If the National Parks were to establish a park visitation fee, what is the optimal level of the fee?