CHAPTER FIVE 

 WETLAND VALUES, HUMAN IMPACTS, AND MANAGEMENT 



The terai "value" imposes an 

 anthropocentric orientation on the 

 discussion of marshes. The term can be 

 used in an ecological sense to refer to 

 functional processes, for example, when we 

 speak of the "value" of primary production 

 in providing the food energy that drives 

 the ecosysten or the "value" of a predator 

 in controlling the size of herbivore 

 populations. But it is important to 

 distinguish this use of the term from its 

 ordinary use which refers to the services 

 wetlands perfonn for man . 



The reasons that wetlands are legally 

 protected have to do with their value to 

 society, not with any abstruse ecological 

 processes that proceed therein; this is 

 the sense in which "value" is used in this 

 chapter. These perceived values arise out 

 of the functional ecological processes 

 described in the previous chapters, but 

 are detennined also by the location of a 

 particular marsh, the human population 

 pressures on it, and the extent of the 

 resource. 



The extent of the marsh, in 

 particular, has been one factor that has 

 lowered the value of gulf coast marshes in 

 human eyes. There is so much marsh that 

 losing a few acres for any specific 

 project has not been seen to be of much 

 consequence. In this chapter I will first 

 review the services natural wetland 

 systems provide for society, then discuss 

 the problems of trying to compare the 

 values of natural ecosystems with more 

 conventional economic systems. Finally, I 

 will outline what appear to me to be the 

 major management issues in Mississippi 

 del ta marshes . 



WETLAND VALUES 

 Wetl and Harves t 



The easiest wetland value to discuss 

 and quantify is the harvest of animals 

 that depend on it. Aside from the 

 important fur animals, most commercially 

 important species associated with wetlands 

 are migratory, requiring habitats in 

 addition to marsh to complete their life 

 cycles. This group includes all 



commercially important fish and shellfish, 

 recreational fish species, and hunted 

 waterfowl. Qual i tatively, i t is clear that 

 delta marshes are important habitats for 

 these species, and the completion of their 

 normal life cycles depends on the marshes. 



This dependence has been the 

 rationale for imputing the whole economic 

 value of the harvest to the marsh, 

 although this is not without problems from 

 an economist's point of view. The 

 Louisiana coast fishery harvest is the 

 largest in poundage in the country, and 

 the wild fur harvest is also without 

 equal. Sport fishing and recreational 

 hunting generate comparable revenues. The 

 per acre dollar value of these harvests 

 has been detennined by a number of 

 individuals. The figures in Table 31 for 

 the Barataria basin are representative. 

 Cited values usually range from $50 to 

 $200/ha/yr, depending on the geographic 

 area and the assumptions made. Other 

 measures of wetland value for harvested 

 species would be the weight of harvested 

 animals or the number of hides and 

 carcasses. These measures would not be 

 subject to year-to-year variability in 

 prices, but from an economic point of view 

 they are not much good for comparison to 

 other commodities. 



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