Putting a Price On Nature - Part 2

 In the Skagit Delta, in Washington State there is a decades old struggle between native fisheries and local farmers. The farm land was build on reclaimed deltas that fundamentally changed the viability of the salmon industry.  Years of litigation have led no where.  The Nature Conservancy realized that the salmon issue was too big to tackle at this level so instead they wanted farmers to provide a habitat for shore birds. The project is called it Farming for Wildlife.  Farmers are paid to leave shallow water on their fields in the winter which is a valuable breeding ground for birds. The Nature Conservancy offer farmers market rate rents on the land and more monies if they also created shorebird habitats.  In the Skagit Delta sprawl in the form of  big box stores and strip malls are being build on valuable farmland. By offering money to the farmers it rewards good stewardship of the lands and provides an economic incentive to stay on the land.  It appears to be a win - win situation. The issue of the salmon is still  ongoing although the Nature Conservancy feels the project could be replicated.  It, like so many of these issues, is complicated and emotional. How do we put a value on entire eco-systems, producing our own food, or an entire way of life? Can we quantify nature?  To read more about this interesting story go to Orion Magazines at http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/5828/ or
the Nature Conservancy at http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/washington/preserves/art6376.html