what ecosystem service to you value most in your watershed?
Submitted by Luke Kolar on Mon, 2015-07-13 00:00
An ecosystem service is basically any relationship you have within your area. That can range from provision services such as food, water, energy sources or regulating services like water purification and regulation to cultural services like recreation and ecotourism.
The tough part of this question is the word value. Personally, I put a great price on the resources we have and I feel lucky to live here with all of its diversity. I enjoy being in the wilderness and flyfishing in mountain streams as well as floating the payette river, but if we look at the word value in this setting, how do we choose?
When we bring in all ecosystem services, I want to choose something fun and something that is recreational because it is easy to ignore necessities. Without provisional services our simple way of life goes extinct.
When I try to think about this question what stands out is survival. We need water for hydration, for food, for hygiene and ultimately those outweigh fun and recreation because those are the simple answers.
My question to you is: what does then word value in our prompt mean to you?
Comments
Value
I also value the ecosystem for its recreational opportunities, but like you number one has to be the survival aspect. I feel that though if you really value something that you will take care of it above all else and keep it healthy and thriving. I think that if you take care of it for survival then you should be able to recreate. I guess though different people have different ideas about recreating. I want to be able to float, see people fish, and have some serenity. Maybe for others that is not what they value.