Written by Bob Daniel, Norfolk, Virginia

Priceless Nature

I was disheartened by our Department of Interior’s recent change of policy in assessing the value of our natural lands. It no longer assigns a value to the recreational experiences there. Instead, it only focuses on the extractive value, derived from harvesting timber, minerals, fossil fuels, etc. You know – the resources that support our materialistic society. This process of extraction inevitably diminishes what I would call the “immersive” value – our ability to commune with nature. What the bureaucrats cannot fathom is the human paradox regarding nature: we both are a part of nature and stand apart from nature. These modern-day Philistines always assess value from the detached, “apart from” point-of-view.

Walnut Bottoms at Dusk – What’s It Worth to You?

What Price Nature?

I do appreciate one aspect of their dilemma: how do you quantify the value of communing with nature? For example, what price tag would I slap on my encounter with a wolverine while solo backpacking on Colorado public lands? Or on my seeing a bald eagle swooping across the marsh grass from my back door? Or on a mink and I briefly freezing in our tracks, six feet apart in my front yard? (Fortunately for me, neither of these intangibles has shown up on my real estate assessment.) Or on various other experiences in nature, more mundane, but nonetheless special? I would give the same economic assessment to all these examples. And it’s the same answer as the punchline from the MasterCard™ credit card commercials a few years back: PRICELESS.

Valuing Nature, Valuing People

I have little sympathy for the bureaucrats regarding another aspect of their policy decision. Namely, in their capitulation to Trump’s materialistic bias, loyalty wins out over integrity yet again. And more recently, that bias has been shown in the drastic curtailment of protected land in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. We must do a better job of balancing our relating to nature with our using nature. Similarly, we need to improve our relating to one another, rather than just using one another to make deals, no matter how mutually advantageous. Trump’s transactional approach has thrown all that out of balance.

What’s It Worth to You?

To borrow from a famous quote, the price of preserving nature is eternal vigilance – and advocacy. So what’s it worth to you? A monthly payment plan is currently available!