Wonky Wednesday: What Is the Value of a Tree?

The poets might object, but economic techniques are increasingly being used to place a dollar value on trees. The blog Environmental Economics has an interesting post on placing a dollar value on NewYork City’s street trees. The city’s City Parks Department has developed a method for measuring the economic value of all the street trees in the city:

It takes into account several factors, including a tree’s impact on local property values, its contribution to cleaning the air by absorbing carbon dioxide, and how much its shade helps reduce energy consumption.Factoring in the costs associated with planting and upkeep, New York City’s street trees provide an annual benefit of about $122 million, according to the Parks Department. The study concludes that New York receives $5.60 in benefits for every dollar spent on trees.

A commenter noted this report on the economic value of Canada’s natural boreal ecosytems. The report’s authors conclude that the non-market value of Canada’s natural capital (such as flood control and carbon sequestration) is 2.5 times greater than the value extracted via mining and timber harvesting.

Last fall, I wrote of an intriguing program in which the Sacramento Municipal Electric District plants street trees for its customers, using a sophisticated computer algorithm to calculate the energy savings for each customer.