The first phase of the report, titled “The Economics Associated with Outdoor Recreation, Natural Resources Conservation and Historic Preservation in the United States,” http://www.fws.gov/refuges/news/pdfs/TheEconomicValueofOutdoorRecreation[1].pdf, completed in September 2011, found that the economic value of all U.S. natural resource conservation, outdoor recreation and historic preservation came to $1.06 trillion.
The report said, “The total value of ecosystem services provided by the acres of natural habitats in national wildlife refuges totaled $32.3 billion per year.” In addition, it noted, “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contributed about $4.2 billion in economic activity and supported more than 32,000 jobs through its management of refuges and thousands of smaller natural areas.”
The researchers further determined that homeowners near parks and protected areas are repeatedly seen to have property values more than 20 percent higher than similar properties elsewhere.
The report also concludes that the loss of nearly 10 million acres of wetlands in the United States since the 1950s has resulted in an economic loss of more than $81 billion in all wetlands-related ecosystem services. Ecosystem services include all the functions performed by nature that provide benefits to humans, such as waste treatment, water supply, carbon sequestration, and other aspects of nature that help modulate and regular climate. Saltwater wetlands, freshwater wetlands, temperate and tropical forests, grasslands, lakes, etc. all provide different levels of these environmental services.
