Priceless is often the first word out of people's mouths when they describe visiting a national park in the U.S. Is it really priceless, though? On an emotional level, the experience is impossible to quantify, but a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) suggests you may be able to put a price on wildlife sightings in national parks.

Scientists Leslie Richardson and Aaron J. Enriquez decided to take a look at just one species in one national park in the U.S. to see if they could put a price tag on wildlife. They decided to focus on bear sightings in Yellowstone National Park, which has both black bears and brown (grizzly) bears. Then, they created a complicated series of equations to determine the value of each bear and individual bear sightings in the park.

Not only does th

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