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The Economic Value of Services from and for Wilderness

BY TRlSTA PATTERSON

Introduction sibility that the value of the is In the Sierra Club classic On the Loose (19671, Terry and Renny Russell reject attempts greater than the sum total of all the to place econon~icvalues on wilderness, emphasizing that the true rewards of the things we own as individuals. In addi- wilderness experience are spiritual: the freedom of self-reliance and the uplifting t~on-to neoclassical economic tools, beauty of wild . At the same , citing Winston Cllurchill, they issue a key social deliberative and consen- challenge: to learn the one has to play for more than one can afford to lose. sus methods, multicriteria and conjoint Some wilderness scholars are taking up this challenge by reexamining and reem- analysis, and ecological pricing (e.g., ploying economic tools they had long since dismissed. emergy and exergy) can elucidate and Economic valuations of v\lilderness have concentrated on direct benefits [e.g., convey values from multiple perspec- commodity goods, ! and nonuse benefits (e.g., existence, bequest! [Haynes tives [Patterson 20051. These are and Horne 1997; Schuster et al. 2006; Cordell et al. 1998; Loomis 2000; Loomis and necessary to relating willingness-to-pay Walsh 1992; Loomis and Richardson 2001; Richardson 2002; Walsh et al. 1984; Walsh to the market, the market to the econ- and Loomis 1989). Increasing public importance has been noted for indirect values omy, and the economy to wilderness. from x~ilderness,such as ecosystem services (see figure 1) (Morton 1999. 2000; Cordell et al. 2003l. Ecosystem services are the naturally occurring contributions to Distinguishing Growth from support and quality of life that people normally do not have to pay for (Daily Development 1997; Costanza et a1 1997; de Groot et al. 2002). Actual typologies vary, however (see The term econotnic growth is often used Boyd and Banzhaf 2005; Costanza et al. 1997; de Groot et al. 2002; Alcamo et at. 2003; interchangeably with economic develop- Heal et al. 2005; Brown et al. 2006). They can be experienced directly [provisioning ment [Daly 19771, but with different , freshwater, and cultural and recreational opportunities!, or indirectly [regulating implications for \vilderness (Czech 2000). or or supporting the other services through formation or nutrients] GI-owth ia quantitative attribute] involves (Millennium Ecosystem Association 2005; Chapin this issue]. increasing economic activity, commonly Creative experiments are bringing values of ecosystem services into the market- a result of increasing population andlor place, including carbon markets, wetland and habitat banking, temperature per capita energlmaterial consumption. ~redits~certifications,and tax i~centives(Wunder 2005). Market values have helped raise Technolo$- often does not fully mitigate awareness for ecosystem sen- contributions to quality of life, and help harness funds the impacts of growth, and sometimes we for their protection. Achieving these outcomes for wilderness involves particular chal- allow the negatix-e impacts to be borne lenges. This article discusses four of these challenges. out in future generations. The increasing areas and use intensity needed to Broadening the Methods support economic growth can uitimately One challenge is that reducing a multifaceted issue such as wilderness to the market compete tvith, or adversely impact is by nature a subjective and exclusionary process iFuntox\ricz and Ra\-etz 1994: \\rilderness. This occurs not only at geo- Funtowicz et al. 1999!. one that will reflect only a subset of the many values associ- graphic boundaries iLVhite et al. 2000!. ated .\-ith wilderness around the world. When Costa~lzaet a1 119991 estimated the but also with systemic changes in cli- value of the x:.orld's ecosystem services as US533 tl-illion, 1.8 the ~vorld'sGDP. mate, dynamics, and soil and some logically ~vonderedhoxv people's willingness to pay could exceed what they had water transport. In contrast, develop- IBockstael at a!. 20001. The overreliance on certain methodologies can obscure the pos- rnerzt ja qualitatil-e attribute] can be

24 1 The Wild Planet Project I !\,iay 2007 acl~ieved by econoinic rearrangement, TOT.~LEC OYOIIIC I:$LLT OF;\ ~TLDL.YXDSETITOW ,in theory improving the ability of ~vildernessand the -made econ- omy to coincide This must be the center :12y.r7; 5 i:9c.-iST EX13:~; BLIL=ES33.5~ FDYSZP'.' ~:~:n.yITS7r5csz of our focus if economic tools are to be harnessed efiectix-el? from and lor I 1 %arrtx A-Z,lh~n! rmn.wre \\-ildelness .3iccounting ecosysten~serv- :*ax: 2iewweIr+mpb,a ,>iT'. =-7rt*: 1 '.'M?ez.: cb:m, cm-,zm o>s-i:<=3= I Flexible Institutions M-~:m.-m 05 :,- :"-% ~..!,L:.,L ;pr 1 .'Tl J5 A-rnzx .. Rf ab--,e B,*'m,? The characteristics of various goods and wtc cc s(~ra m.0.t :+3"w. ci <'G I, z:Olo~.~:'; *A>'+, services affect the ease with which mar- plalcr oi%'.ki 4~LwIe7tlrpb7zcm ket-based tools can elicit their value. AIarketed goods are most often cxcl~idable (a legal concept that allows an owner to pl-event another person from using the asset!, and rival (where consumption or Figure 1-Morton's 12000)total economic valuation framework for estimating wilderness benefits based on seven categories, arranged from left to right in order use reduces the amount available for of decreasing tangibility to other people], whereas most ecosystem ser1, are nonexcludable, and nonrival that are rarely congruent with market nomic value through broad-scale ecosys- (see Daly and Fat-ley 2004 for applica- and property boundaries. Time lags and tem services, buffering severity and tions] To some extent, social agreements feedback loops can also muddle the directionality of environmental change, can engineer excludability or rivalness, or cause-effect relations needed to reflect and helping us understand the way create a proxy (consider carbon "credits"] marginal gains. Wilderness affects nature works. One barrier to stemming to make ecosystem services marketable. ecosystem services and vice versa: the losses of ecosystem services and VL'ilderness (often on ] requires loss in Amazonia reduces rainfall in Texas wilderness alike is an inability to additional creativity because most mar- (Avissar and Werth 20051, and carbon account for their nonmonetary contribu- ket-based mechanisms are salient to emissions from affect wilder- tions to quality of life, or the damage private That said, offsets elsewhere ness (Bachelet et al. 2005). costs to be incurred when they are lost. can benefit the wildland network as a Conditions that satisfy market effi- Broadening assessment of value to whole, and ecosystem services that are ciency don't include environmental include the indirect (public] goods and not marketable (e.g., ) can be sustainability or socially just distribu- services can prevent assets of "the com- bundled to one that is [e g., water tem- tion (Daly and Farley 20041. For the mons" from taking a bacliseat to private perature credits). world's poorest, ecosystem services pro- profit, sensu Hardin (1968). This article Regulations (la\vs and standards), vide "natural insurance" for people has mentioned four challenges particular market incenti\.es, information (e.g.,cer- living in or near wilderness as has been to wilderness: ensuring that the market tification), and inslitutional flexibility all documented in Peru, the Amazon and willingness-to-pay is not the only way influence the longer standing success of (Takasaki et al. 2004), Knuckles we elucidate economic value, distinguish- attempts to bring I\-ilderness attributes Wilderness in Sri Lanka (Gunatilake et ing economic growth (a quantitative goal) to market. Simply because the lnarket is al. 19931, and others (Pattanayak and from economic developlnellt (a qualitative trading cat-bon credits in quantity does Sills 2001!. Despite this, wilderness con- goal), eniploying creativity and skill with not mean abatement is occurring. servation has at times been cast as econon~icinstruments and flexibility with Alai-ket price iol- carbon vcas more than elitist, because demographic disparities social institutions and looking beyond halved in .April 2006 ~vhenEuropean exist in those who access it [Johnson et market efficiency to social and environ- countries set first-round emission tar- al. 20041. Exclusive focus on direct mental justice issues. gets too his11 [rather than indirect or nonuse) benefits The economic approach is not for can obscure important distributive jus- everyone. If the Russell brothers had been Cultivating Socially and tice benefits of ~vilderness. asked to put a dollar value on wilderness, Environmentafly Just Markets the>- probably would have responded Links between x~ildei-nessand ecosystem Conclusion with a public mooning. Yet the market is sel-\-icesoften in\-olre broad spatiai scales 1,Yilderness contributes to indirect eco- already valuing wilderness by way of a

May 2007 1 The Wild Planet Project 1 25 nat.lre's Resolii-ces 158: 16-19. classification, description and vaIuation Brovcn. T j Loomis and 1. Bergstrom. 2006. for ecosystem functions, goods and Ecos!-stem goods aiid serl-ices. services. Ecological Econo~nics41: Definition \:aluation and provision. 393-LC8 L7ST),\ Foi-es! er\ice RA.IRS-R\\,T~-4851 Funtowicz S.. J. Mal-tinez-Aler. G. hTunda, and D~scus~onPa~e:. I. R. Ra~etz.1949. Informat~orlTools for Cordell. E; JI Ta~rant,and G. Green. 2003. En~iron.nzenta1Policy under Conditions o/

Is the public 1 le~vpo~ntof wilderness Coi?ipieri@ Environmental Issues Series sh~fting' 1~::ei ;10iioi;i71!01irrlQI of 9 Copenhagen. Denmark: EEA. 12;!6cr!.icss 0!2! 27-32 Funlowicz 5,and j. R Ravetz. 1993. The Cordell, H K. I\I A Tzrrant B L. worth of a songbird: Ecological ?.IcDonald and J C Bergstrom 1998 economics as a post normal science.

Ho:\ tlie pitbllc \ ie1x.s n.ilderness. Ecologicc! Economics lO(31: 197-207 I!.+-cLkri~atioi~a! j~liill~! of [l'ilderriess 4\31. Gunatilake. H. D. Senaratne, and P 25-31 .4beygunav$ardena. 1993. Role of non- Costanza. R , R d'.4r~e,R de Groot. S. timber forest products in the economy Fai-ber ill. Graso 6 Hannon, K of the peripheral communities of Figure 2-Pristine forest in Guyana Loss Limburg, S Naeein. R O'Neill, J Knuckes National IVilderness Area of of rain forest in South America has global impacts, including decreasing rainfall in the Pal-uelo. R Rask~n,P Sutton, and M Sri Lanka: A farming systems approach. southern van den Belt 19% The value of the Ecorion?ic Botany 47-25-35. very few commodified and direct-use val- world s ecos!;stem servrces and natural Hardin. G 1968. The tragedy of the ues. Progress fi-om and for \\iilde~-nessis capital A'nt~tr-e357- 253-60 commons Sirence 162. 1233-45. perhaps most hindel-ed when we do not Czech. 6 2000. Economlc growth, ecological Haynes, R. W.. and A. L Horne. 1997. have any new or compelling tools with economics. ancl \vllderness preserva- Economic assessment of the basin. In

which to constl-uct a vision tor the future tion In It~~lde~-i~cssScience 111 a Time of An rlssess!neni of Ecosystem Components

More use can be nlede of economic Chaqe Coilfeience Vol 2 , comp iri !lie Ii~~er-lorColumbia Basin and instruments without eclipsing values in Stephen F. RlcCool. David N. Cole, POI-t~oitsof the Klalnatli and Great Basins. social, cultural, or ecological terms. Tl'illiam T. Borrle, and Jenniier \'ol IV [pp. 1715- 1870). USDA Forest O'Loughlin ipp 104-!. Proc. RMRS- Service. PNW GTR-405. Portland. OR: References P-I 5-\'ol-2. Ogden. CT L' S Pacific NOI-th\vestResearch Station. Alcamo. J , N J. Ash C. D Butler. J. B Departrnei>t of A~riculture,Forest Heal. G. 51 F B Barbier. K J. Boyle. A. P. Callicott, D Capistl-ano S R 5e1- ice, Rocky hlountain Research Covich 5. P Gloss C. H Hersliner, et Gal-penter, et al 2003 nnd Station. al. 2003 \bluing Ecosystein Services. Hirlnaiz Gl'cll-being A Fi.nir:eu~orl?fol Daily. G C 1997 Introduction- What are Towcir-d Betrcl- Eii!,ir.orlmerltal Decision- Assessi7ieiit Washinpton DC- Island eCoSyslt"xel \:ices7 In i\'fl:lii-e's rimkwg Lt7aslii~-igton.DC: National Press Se:,~~iccsSocietcil Dcpendencc oil !\'ntrri-a1 Academ!- Press. Avissar, R , and D CVerth 21105 Global Ecosysterns ed G C. Daily (pp 1-101 Johnson. Cassandra Y..J hl. Bowker. John C. h~droclimatologicalteleconnections . DC- Island Pi-ess Bergstronl. and H. Ken Cordell 2005. resulting il-om Tropical deiorestation Daly, H. 1957 S:sady S,:aic Econonlics \,- ?

Bachelet. D..J Lenihan, R Ne~lson.R. Daly. H. and I. Far1c.y. 20'li Eio!og~ca! Socic:), ii11:i \kiiircil Resoul-ces 17: Drapek, and 7. Klttel 21105 Si~nitlating ~~~:iol!.i!csPi ir:iil?izs air3 .-Ippiiiations 611-28 tlie response oi natui-al ecc~systemsand \.l1a~hin~ionDC island Pi-css. Landrzs P 6 . 5. .\.iarsli. L >,lel.igliano, D. the!]- fii-e reglmes to cllrnatic \ariabilit)- de Groot R h!. A \V~lso~;2nd R A1.J Ritter anii .4 Xorrnan. 1998 in . Cniiadiaii jo[<;-iio/ol For-es: Bournan5 20C2 11 t!-~olug!- for Ezn!c;p~czi eifecis of administrative Reseal ci: 33, 2241-5; Bockstael. 8..A Freeman R Kcpp P Portlie!- an3 \. Smith ZilDn. 01) WiIderness contributes 'to indirect meast~ilngeconomic ah-s to: natule economic value through broad-scale ecosystem E11v 1cri17et,fo' 5,,e ice altr Tc,:bs~o'c,r~ 32\81 1381-~9 services, buffering severity and directionali>y of BOY^. I TV and H s Banzllsi ~111~3 environmental change, and helping US Ecosystem ser\-~cesand goiernn;ent . . understand the way nature works. The need (01- a nev: :\a!- ot iuclginp

26 1 The Wild Planet Project I PAay 2007 boundaries In Ste\cordci7:i. Aci-osc

Borilid~ries,ed. R. L lil;~:h! and F B

* .I Landre. (pp. 117-3% l\;ashing!oi~DC Island Press. Loomis. J 2000 Economic 1-alues of iv~ldei-nessrecreat~on and passi',-e 11s~

What ;\-e think i5e knol:: ai !!I? t~lrr!of the 215t cent:ir)- In P,.~c~ed!i!$~

Il'i!deiness Screi~ceri? ~7 T:i?lc! 01C:i;'is~, ed Stephen F McCocl D Co!e. 12; Borrie, J 0 Loughlin /pp 6-13) P:oi RMRS~P-15-VOL-2O~den. UT L; S Depal-tmeni of ;\gi-~ci~lti~re.Forest Service, Rocky h,lorin!ain Research Station Loomis. J., and R Richardson 2001

Economic values of the U.S wildelmess Figure 3-Pollution from large cities affects both polar regions. This is especially true of system. Research evidence to date and fast-industrializing nations such as South , which have many coal-fired power feeding the of Johannesburg and surroundings. questions of the future. Iiiter~~otioncil Jo~lrnalof M711derness 711)- 31-34 Loomis. 1.. and R. Walsh. 1992. Future in Action, 1921. USDA Forest Service GTR SE-51. economic values of w~ldernessIn The December 11-13, hlassey Uni\,ersity, Hshev~lle.NC: Southeastern Forest econon~icValue of It'ilderness, ed C Palmerston Noi-th, Experinient Station. Payne et al. Southeastern Forest R~chardson R. 2002 Ecoilomic Benefits of Walsh, R G., 1. B Loomis, and R S. Experinient Station. GTR SE 78. M'ildln17ds in the Eastern S~erraNevada Gillman 1984. Valuing option. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Region of Cal~ior-n~a.San Francisco: The existence and bequest demands for Ecosysiems and Human IVell-being Wilderness Society. wilderness Land Economics 6011): Syizthes~s.Washington, DC: Island Russell. T and R Russell 1967 On the 11-29. Press. Loose New \or-k S~erra White, P,J Harrod. J. Walker, and A. Morton. P 1999. The economic benefits of ClubiBallantine. Jentsch. 2000 Disturbance. scale and wilderness. Theory and practice. Schuster. R.. H K Cordell, and B Phillips boundary in wilderness management. In Lrn~vei- sit^ of Denver Law Review 76[2): 2006 Measuren~entof direct-use IVflderiiess umithin the Context of Larzer 465-5118. wilderness \.slues 4 qualilative study. In Systems. May 23-37, 1999. hlissoula, ---. 2000. Wildland econonlics: Theory Proc. of the 2005 Northeastern hlT ed. S. McCool. D Cole. \V. Borrie, J. and practice In Wtlderness with111 the Recreation Research Symposium, ed J. 0. Loughlin. [pp 27-42) USDA Forest Context of Larger Systems. May 23-37, G Peden and R. RI. Schuster. (pp Service Proc. RMRS-P-15-Vol-2. Ogden. 1999, hlissoula, hlT, ed. S McCool, D 185-1961. Newton Square, PA: USD.4 UT Rocky hlountain Research Station. Cole, W Borrie. J. 0. Loughlin. Ipp. Forest Service GTR-NE-311 Wunder S 2005. Pa!.ments for environmen- 238-2501 USDA Forest Service Proc Takasaki, Y. B. L Barham, and 0 T tal services: Some nuts and bolts. RR.IRS-P-15-\ro1-2. Ogden. UT Rocky Coomes 2004 Risk coping strategies in CIFOR discussion paper, Center for Mountain Research Station, tropical : floods. ~llnesses,and International Forestry Research, Pattanayak. S., and E. Sills. 2001. Do tropical extraction. Enclrofi~nentand Jakarta. Indonesia fol-ests provide natural ~nsurance?The De~elopizectEcor7oinicr 912!: 203-224

microeconomics ot non-timber forest VValsh. R G , and 1. B. Loomis. 1989. The TRlSTA PATTERSON works ai the PI-oduct collection in the Brazilian non-traditional public valuation Pacif~cNorthwest Research Station. Amazon. Land Econo~~iics77: 595-612. [option bequest, existence1 oi USDA Forest Service, 2770 Sherwood Patterson. bI. 2005. I'aluation in ecological wilderness In I15lder-nessBenchmai-k Lane, 2A.Juneau. Alaska 99802 USA; economics: 1s there and should there be 1985- P!-oc of ilie Natioi7ai G\'~lderr?ess email: tmpatterson@fs fed-us. a common ground7 Paper presented at Co!locji;ir~ni.ed H R Fre~lich[pp, 181-

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