Hydropower has played a central role in the development of the Swedish electricity system but has also substantially altered river ecosystems, creating a need to balance renewable electricity production with ecological restoration. As part of the Swedish National Plan for Modern Environmental Conditions for Hydropower (NAP), policymakers require reliable estimates of the societal benefits of restoration measures to support cost-benefit analysis and decision-making. This licentiate thesis examines how individuals value environmental improvements using stated preference methods, with particular emphasis on scope sensitivity--the concept that individuals should place a higher value on larger environmental benefits compared to smaller ones. The thesis consists of two complementary papers. *Paper I* investigates how ecological baseline conditions influence willingness-to-pay (WTP) and scope sensitivity using a discrete choice experiment conducted in two hydropower-regulated rivers in northern Sweden. *Paper II* examines scope sensitivity in contingent valuation through a mixed-methods study of wild salmon conservation, combining a split-sample valuation survey with follow-up focus group discussions. The results show that respondents consistently value ecological restoration positively, but that WTP depends on more than the magnitude of environmental improvements. Ecological baseline conditions influence both WTP and, for some environmental attributes, respondents' responsiveness to increasing environmental improvements, while qualitative evidence suggests that respondents often interpret valuation scenarios using broader ecological, moral, and fairness-related considerations rather than focusing exclusively on quantitative changes. Taken together, the findings indicate that WTP estimates should be interpreted in light of both the ecological context in which environmental improvements occur and the way respondents perceive and evaluate valuation scenarios. The thesis contributes to the stated preference literature by providing a more nuanced understanding of scope sensitivity and ecological baseline effects and offers insights relevant for environmental valuation, benefit transfer, and the economic appraisal of river restoration measures under the Swedish National Plan for Modern Environmental Conditions for Hydropower (NAP).