Economics and Ecosystem Services
Economics and Ecosystem Services
Federal policymakers and land managers are accountable to the public for how they invest public funds and for the outcomes of the policy and management decisions they make. Through a variety of economic analyses and custom modeling, SEA economists evaluate how investments and management decisions affect individuals, local communities, and society as a whole. Specifically, SEA economists (1) conduct economic effects analyses to quantify how spending cycles through local economies, generating business sales and supporting jobs and income; (2) conduct research to assess nonmarket values associated with public policy and land management practices; and (3) assess the economic values associated with ecosystem services, defined as socially valued goods and services resulting from ecosystem structures and functions, and other natural resource management issues.
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Social and economic analysis research in support of public safety, outdoor recreation, and economic growth
FORT researchers provide sound science to support the Department of the Interior in its efforts to reduce the risks wildfires pose to people and property, expand outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities, and promote economic decision making in public lands management. This research is developed in partnership with resource managers from local, State, Federal and Tribal governments, industry...
Land management research in support of streamlined energy development, economic growth, and wildfire management
FORT researchers provide sound science to support the Department of the Interior in its efforts to streamline reliable energy development, enhance cost efficiency in public lands management, and manage fire-prone habitats for public safety. This research is developed in partnership with resource managers from local, State, Federal and Tribal governments, industry, and nongovernmental organizations...
Economics of Wildland Fire
In recent decades, wildfires have increased in size and intensity, and the fire season has lengthened. This and other factors have increased wildfire suppression costs and risks to human health and safety. Economists in the Social and Economic Analysis Branch (SEA) at FORT investigate numerous aspects of wildland fire, its impacts, and how to mitigate the risk wildfire poses to people, resources...
The Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team
Wildfires cost billions of dollars to suppress annually, yet they still devastate lives, communities, and ecosystems. While wildfire is a natural phenomenon, learning to live with wildfire is a social issue – so we need a social solution.
Wildlife Economics
Wildlife economics can help us better understand, and sometimes even quantify, the various relationships between humans and wildlife species. On one hand, humans benefit significantly from wildlife, for example through activities like hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing, or through the conservation of threatened and endangered species. On the other hand, wildlife can also impose substantial...
Economics of Outdoor Recreation
Planning and managing outdoor recreation on public land and water entails a series of choices, many of which are economic in nature. Economics is useful for informing a wide range of decision-making processes in the context of outdoor recreation management, including why people choose to engage in recreation and where, how people substitute between different types of recreation activities and...
Economic Impacts of Public Lands Management
Federal investments in land management projects protect Federal trusts, ensure public health and safety, and preserve and enhance the benefits provided by ecosystems to people. These investments also generate business activity and create jobs. However, limited information often exists on the costs and associated economic impacts of public land management activities.
Economic assessment of addressing annual invasive grasses across the sagebrush biome
This interdisciplinary project combines expert judgment on treatment costs with spatially explicit ecological modeling to estimate the financial resources needed to address the threat of invasive annual grass across the entire sagebrush biome. Results of the assessment will provide economic insights that can inform cost-effective resource allocation to efficiently achieve sagebrush conservation...
Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch
The Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) branch is an interdisciplinary group of scientists whose primary functions are to conduct both theoretical and applied social science research, provide technical assistance, and offer training to support the development of skills in natural resource management activities.
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Federal land managers are accountable to the public for how they use public resources and for the outcomes of management decisions. Through a variety of economic analyses and custom modeling, SEA economists evaluate how investments and management decisions affect individuals, local communities, and society as a whole.
Economics of Invasive Species
In managing invasive species, land managers and policy makers need information to help allocate scarce resources as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Water Economics
Water is associated with numerous important benefits and uses, including clean water for drinking, support for outdoor recreation, provision for other ecosystem processes, and direct cultural values.