The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the GreenSpace Alliance recently released Return on Environment - The Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Southeastern Pennsylvania – Final Edition and Technical Appendices.
More than just pretty places, preserved open spaces contribute to our local economies and property values, they help us save on everything from health care to recreation, and they perform valuable ecosystem services that naturally improve the air we breathe and the water we drink. These are the messages that the new study documents and will be used to convey to the public. The Summary Report, Final Edition Report, and Technical Appendices of Return on Environment - The Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Southeastern Pennsylvania, are available for download here. The Final Edition report includes a new section "The Impact of Protected Open Space on Runoff — An Analysis of Runoff in Four Southeastern Pennsylvania Sub-Watersheds", conducted by the U. S. Forest Service. This section was not in the November 16, 2010 version of the report, and offers an analysis on the stormwater management costs avoided as a result of the existence of protected open space within the four sub-watersheds studied.
