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2015 Puget Sound Factbook Book | v3.0
Conclusion: New strategies for
recovery
A healthy ecosystem supports human values
Essay by: Christopher Dunagan
The Puget Sound region is expected to grow by as many as 2 million residents over the next 25
years. Social scientists say we need to better understand how humans interact with Puget
Sound—the good and the bad—if we want to understand how to protect it.
In the 1850s, lumberjacks brought their saws and axes to the Puget Sound region and began
cutting down the massive fir and cedar trees that grew to the water’s edge. Lumber was in high
demand in Northern California, where a gold rush was fostering a population explosion.
Schooners began moving lumber from the first sawmills in Puget Sound to San Francisco and
other Pacific Coast ports.
It wasn’t long before other newcomers opened up avenues of trade in fish, shellfish and
minerals. Like lumber, barrels of fish and shellfish were welcomed in burgeoning markets along
the West Coast.
Eventually, supplies of these naturally produced goods declined, but Puget Sound’s natural
resources remained a dominant economic force until modern times.
Today, economists, ecologists and social scientists are looking at the natural values of Puget
Sound in a different way, studying and measuring the many economic and social benefits of
living within an intact, functioning ecosystem.
In many cases, these benefits are measured in real dollars. Some argue that a healthy natural
environment attracts the very labor force that helps maintain the strong and diverse economy of
the Puget Sound region. A functioning ecosystem also brings with it inherent benefits like clean
and inexpensive drinking water.
But some human values are not as easy to define. What is the importance of our enjoyment of
nature, or the ability to continue cultural traditions like fishing? These are values that vary from
person to person, and placing a monetary worth on things like mental health and outdoor
activities comes with its own challenges.
Ecosystem services
While the idea that humans benefit from nature is not new, the concept of “ecosystem services”
has been evolving since the 1970s, gaining increasing momentum in recent years. Ecologists,
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