The Visual Management System (VMS) was developed in the early 1970s in response to increasing public concern for the maintenance of the scenic qualities of natural landscapes during and following land management activities. The underlying assumptions of the VMS, though, have been criticized and questioned, creating a sense of distrust for the output information and the system’s ability to reflect human preferences for the visual landscape. The four principal assumptions are as follows: 1) Every landscape has scenic value, 2) Viewers are sensitive to modifications of the visual landscape, 3) The public can differentiate among Visual Quality Objectives (VQO), and 4) Portions of the landscape classified into the Preservation and Maximum Modification VQOs have the highest and lowest scenic value, respectively. This study attempted to validate two of these assumptions by investigating the relationship between the sale price of a single-family residence and the integrity of the surrounding landscape. The results of the estimated hedonic price function show that an area classified in the Preservation VQO (highest level of integrity) has the greatest positive economic contribution ($-7.66/%) and an area in the Variety Class C and Maximum Modification VQO combination (lowest level) contributes the least ($24.96/%) to the sale price of a home, ceteris paribus. These results accord with a priori expectations that homebuyers are influenced by the quality of the visual landscape when choosing between two homes comparable in all aspects expect environmental setting.

Key Words: non-market valuation, hedonic price function, GIS