Defining An Economic Research Program To Describe And Evaluate Ecosystem Services

The Forest Service has proposed the concept of ecosystem services as a framework for: (1) describing the many benefits provided by public & private forests; (2) evaluating the effects of policy & mgmt. decisions involving public & private forest lands; & (3) advocating the use of economic & market-based incentives to protect private forest lands from development. The concept extends traditional economic theory regarding multiple forest benefits & the use of economic incentives to enhance their provision, by emphasizing ecosystems as an organizing structure for benefits. Although the emphasis on ecosystems is new, challenges in evaluating ecosystem services are similar to those long faced by economists tasked with evaluating forest benefits.