On August 1st, 2023, the White House Office of Management and Budget* (OMB) released draft guidance on Assessing Changes in Environmental and Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis for public comment. This is part of a broader strategy to develop natural capital accounting at the federal level. Here is our response.

Earth Economics with the Water Wise Gulf South Collective recently updated The Benefits of Community-Driven Green Infrastructure report, first published in 2021. This includes new community-gathered data from three new Water Wise neighborhoods. The expanded valuation covers aesthetics, avoided emissions, stormwater management, carbon sequestration, flood regulation, habitat, reduced heat, climate stability, and noise reduction benefits.

On June 1st, Ken Cousins (Research Principal at Earth Economics) presented our most recent work on outdoor recreation at the 2023 Annual Conference of the Inland Empire section of the American Planning Association, held in Priest Lake, Idaho. Ken summarized the results of the 2022 study, and described the innovative methods used to develop detailed estimates of visitation to state- managed lands in Washington state from 2019-2021.