Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2020
A long sustained belief that undeveloped natural resources constitute unproductive economic waste has recently been losing ground. Moreover, preserving a natural resource such as wetlands is not preserving something unproductive. On the contrary, the resource can often be considered as socially and economically productive in its undeveloped form. In other words, an unaltered natural resource has the potential of being productive in both material and non-material ways. In making a decision about preservation the relevant point is the social productivity of a resource in its preserved condition as compared to its social productivity in an altered condition.
This work is supported by funds provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources, as authorized under the Water Resources Research Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-379), Dr. Joseph S. Larson, Principal Investigator. The author is also thankful to Professors John H. Foster and Elmar Jarvesoo for their advice and encouragement in the preparation of this paper.