"Functions and values" can only be understood in the context of the "Ecosystem Services Model." The notion that humans are dependent on earth's ecosystems is an ancient one, but in the last 50 years (and especially in the last decade), this basic truth has been expanded into a full-fledged ecological-economic theory. Inherent to that theory is the notion that the ecosystem produces goods and services that have value to mankind. As Wikipedia says,
Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes. While scientists and environmentalists have discussed ecosystem services for decades, these services were popularized and their definitions formalized by the United Nations 2005 Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), a four-year study involving more than 1,300 scientists worldwide. This grouped ecosystem services into four broad categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits.As noted, the Ecosystem Services Model has been the subject of reports from the UN's Millenium Ecosystem Assessment but also from our own National Research Council. The content of those reports will be the basis for this mini-series on "functions and values."
For now, let me leave you with a diagram from a National Research Council report showing the inter-relationships between ecosystem structure, ecosystem functions, production of ecosystem goods and services, and valuation of those goods and services. We'll walk through this diagram in posts to come.
"Spiritual" values? Really? Why is it that in the 21st century we still include this kind of gobbledegook in civic and economic discourse? Here in the NW, everything regulatory that we do has to take into account tribal "spiritual" values. Although we are slowly managing to honor the First Amendment by having the knee-jerk Christian bias removed from many things governmental, we now are limiting citizens' rights to use their land to accommodate tribal "spiritual" values. Is this progress? Or political correctness run amok?
ReplyDeleteWhich may be one reason why the County has refused to define the functions and values adequately. It looks worse to identify some of them than it does just to leave them un-stated but pay homage to them anyway, to the exclusion of others. As later posts will describe, the non-use values have been prioritized over use values in our CAO process. Regulatory functions have been prioritized over provisioning functions (despite no apparent de manifestis risk) ... over other types of non-spiritual cultural functions, like recreation and general use of private property too. This re-prioritization of our historic values has economic impacts and results in wealth redistribution to protect functions and values related more to "commons-type" notions than "private use" notions. That is what happens when ALL functions and values are not defined or weighed appropriately.
ReplyDeleteECK - Unimpeded use of my private property serves a *very* spiritual function for me, perhaps my culture's functions and values aren't valued by our current County Council.
ReplyDeleteIt is really helpful to have your writing to understand the BS that is being unloaded on citizens not just in this County, but across the County...and I am grateful to you. But at the end of the day, this legislation has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with moving the US towards an authoritarin government that controls the land and how and where we live, what we eat, etc. Read UN Agenda 21 and read the book The Green Mask.
ReplyDeleteWhat will it take for the public to wake up and take action?
ReplyDeleteThere is someone going around Eastsound and taking pictures of all the drainage ditches. He told someone who asked that they are actually streams. Anyone know who is doing this? He said they are funded by a grant.
ReplyDeletePatty Miller of County Council fame lives in a wetland. Literally. She is doing quite a bit of work on her property right now, presumably ahead of her approval of the CAO.
ReplyDeleteLook back through your history. The Roman aqueducts to Calfornia Owens Valley and Lost Angeles, to the Milagro Bean Field War. Political control of water. Control the water, control the people. Wetlands = control of water. Connect the dots. Its not about the environment. Its about control. Of water, and then the rest. Why do you think the same crowd wants to designate all of San Juan County to be a critical aquifer recharge area? This is not hard to figure out.
ReplyDeleteso how does one effectively fight PGP, Friends, the proposed CAO and the hypocrisy of our elected officials?
ReplyDelete