Parks’ Value More than Just Aesthetic

by Michael Kirschman
Mecklenburg County, N.C.

The justifications for cutting county parks and recreation services budgets have grown so much that the many benefits offered by these systems deserve a closer look. What are the true comprehensive benefits of these services? Can these benefits be quantified?

Unfortunately, county park staff and administrators often depend solely on anecdotal comments, visitation estimates or vague “quality of life” judgments to justify their services.

To assist decision-makers in Mecklenburg County, N.C., parks staff compiled data on the environmental, economic and health benefits of the county’s nature preserves.

Combined, these benefits provide, conservatively, a five-to-one return on investment. Armed with this data, parks interpreters can now relate the “true value” of these preserves. Interpretive themes have also been developed to highlight benefits of specific nature preserves.

For example, “Your community is healthier with nature next door” is the new thematic foundation for one preserve that protects our city’s drinking water. Following is a brief overview of the benefits and the associated values determined for Mecklenburg County nature preserves.

Water Quality Benefits

The benefits of protecting open space, tree canopy and watersheds are extensive, as there are direct correlations to water quality. Even relatively impermeable forest soils, such as those found in Charlotte, can absorb a one-inch rainfall. Remove those trees and replace them with roads, parking lots, and roofs, and the same rainfall produces 27,000 gallons of runoff per acre.

A 2003 analysis found our county’s preserves have a storm water retention capacity of 29 million cubic feet per year. Further, this value can be conservatively estimated at $58 million. To build a facility capable of filtering this amount of storm water, our county would need to spend $2 per cubic foot of construction cost, and that does not include yearly operating costs.

Air Quality Benefits

Urban forests reduce the effects of air pollution by removing carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and particulate matter. Using City Green software, we determined the trees within our nature preserves remove 458,000 pounds of pollution every year. This service can conservatively be estimated at $2.2 million per year, based on a 2005 study for the city of Houston.

Economic Benefits: Increased Property Values, Tourism and Direct Revenue

Although not well known, nature preserves provide significant economic benefits. The greatest of these derive from higher sale prices and higher property taxes via the “proximity effect.” People pay more for homes near parks, especially natural areas. The resulting higher sale price and associated taxes paid by an owner represent direct, immediate and ongoing economic returns.

On average, properties adjacent to areas like preserves experience a 20 percent increase in value. This declines to zero for properties 2,000 feet away. Using these estimates and public tax records, the adjacent 2,026 property owners and 3,146 nearby property owners living within just 1,000 feet of Mecklenburg County nature preserves provided an extra $1.2 million to the local tax base in 2008.

Tourism impacts can be calculated using local tourism spending data ($98.60 per day) and preserve visitation data (75,000 tourists per year), which indicates the preserves contribute $7.4 million in tourism every year. Additionally, revenues from programs, campground fees, shelter rentals, boat launch fees and nature center gift shops were approximately $230,000 in 2008. Combined, the economic impacts of the preserves exceed $8.8 million each year.

Health Benefits

Nature provides significant health benefits, one being stress reduction. According to Stress Directions, Inc., stress is recognized as a major drain on corporate productivity and competitiveness. Stress Directions, Inc., calculates that $300 billion, or $7,500 per employee, is spent annually on stress-related issues. Since more than 100 studies find that spending time in nature reduces stress, it can be argued nature preserves and their facilities have a positive impact on residents’ health. As mentioned in Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods, even rooms with a view of nature help protect children against stress. Researchers have found that children with more nature near their homes have lower levels of behavioral disorders, anxiety and depression. Other fascinating studies clearly show the benefits even a view of nature or a walk in nature can have on an office worker. It has also long been known that hospital rooms with views of trees or nature contribute to faster recovery times and discharges.

The value of these health benefits may be hard, if not impossible, to calculate but they cannot be denied — and should always be highlighted in any justification for services.

Mecklenburg County residents value nature preserves. However, do they truly understand the magnitude of their benefits? Combined, the benefits exceed a $69 million. Excluding the large water quality benefit, a conservative estimate still exceeds $11 million per year. This is based solely on air quality benefits and quantifiable economic impacts. Since the preserves operate on a $3.1 million budget, this represents a nearly 350 percent return on investment and doesn’t include the unquantifiable benefits to health.

Other studies find similar results. A report from 2008 showed Philadelphia’s parks generate about 100 times the amount the city spends on them each year. Similarly, a 2009 New York State Parks study concluded the 55.7 million park visitors support $1.9 billion in economic activity and 20,000 jobs. Furthermore the benefits exceed the direct costs of maintaining the state parks by a ratio of more than five to one. North Carolina State Parks study concluded each park in the system produced an economic return ranging from l.8 to 25.1 per dollar spent, meaning that for each dollar the state invested in a park, between $1.80 and $25.10 was generated.

An understanding of the environmental, economic and health benefits provided by your county can be critical to its long-term success. Last fall, during a declining economy, residents in Mecklenburg County passed a $250 million park and recreation bond package, the largest in state history. This followed a $36 million land bond in 2007, of which $31 million was earmarked for nature preserves. Our county is planning to open five new preserves, replace an aging nature center, and build a new fourth nature center to build upon this foundation on benefits to residents. Even with recent operating budget reductions, no full-time staff was cut, all preserves and nature centers remain open, and no programs were cancelled.

 For more information about Mecklenburg County's nature preserves, click  here.

Michael Kirschman is the division director for nature preserves and natural resources in Mecklenburg County, N.C. Contact him at Michael.Kirschman @ MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.