Earth Economics is the newest member of the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (PNW CESU), hosted by the University of Washington.
CESUs provide research, technical assistance, and education to federal land management, environmental, and research agencies and their partners. Members from biological, physical, social, cultural, and engineering disciplines provide the expertise needed to address natural and cultural resource management issues at multiple landscape scales.
The PNW CESU is one of seventeen CESUs representing biogeographic regions encompassing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US insular areas. The broader network includes 19 federal agencies and more than 500 nonfederal partners such as tribes, academic institutions, state and local governments, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and other partners—all working together to support well-informed public trust resource stewardship.
The overarching goal of the CESU network is to improve the scientific base for managing federal lands by providing resource managers with high-quality scientific research, technical assistance, and education. Since its founding in 2000, over $113 million has funded 885 projects through the PNW CESU Cooperative Agreement.
Earth Economics will focus on valuation of ecosystem services, which has become an important tool for agencies as they maximize public benefits from federal investments. In February, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget released guidance to agencies on accounting for ecosystem services in benefit-cost analysis.
