Description: Used as study area boundary for the Return on Environment (ROE) Study for the Swatara Creek Watershed in Dauphin County as part of Manada Conservancy's Swatara Greenway program. For additional information visit the project website at https://www.manada.org/swatara-greenway/ .
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation. USGS National Watershed Boundary dataset.
Description: Provides parcel level data used in the Return on Environment (ROE) 2019 findings for the Manada Conservancy's Swatara Creek Greenway program. The data is used in decision support tools used in support of the Greenway program. The parcel data was extracted in the fall of 2023, the file contains property descriptions and data related to ecosystems services and values attributed to the parcel location. Additional information on the decision support tools for the Swatara Creek Greenway program can be found at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/980a70922a11457d8916503a7bc0e7f9/page/Using-ROE-/?draft=true .
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
Description: Mapped riparian buffer areas for the Swatara Greenway ROE Project. Areas include riparian buffers within 100 feet of surface water features. ROE values account for riparian area conditions such as stream hierarchy, vegetative cover and adjacent land uses. Restoration of riparian areas is accounted for in determining potential ROE values due impacts associated with increasing water quality, supporting habitat, and providing recreational opportunities.
Description: Defining nature’s worth?The Return on Environment (ROE) concept recognizes nature as a complex, interconnected system vital to all life. Whether in urban or rural settings, the support provided by natural systems is substantial and tangible. Services from these systems contribute millions of dollars annually in recreational income and savings for governments, businesses, and individuals. The advantages of nature affect our quality of life, health, living costs, sense of community, and economic stability. These benefits are consistently delivered around the clock, throughout the year. Once depleted, the cost to restore these benefits is high and the process challenging. To prioritize health, safety, and social well-being, and to preserve public natural resources, it is crucial that our policies identify and utilize clear, tangible economic values for decision-making.Mother Nature doesn't write receipts. As a result, nature is often taken for granted, undervalued, or overlooked in policy debates, investment decisions and personal choices. When nature is undervalued, forest fragmentation, stormwater, flooding, water and air pollution and loss of habitat may result in choices that damage the sustainability of natural systems and the economy. Return on Environment (ROE) studies explain nature’s invisible financial value in terms everyone can understand. Putting a dollar value on nature is a new way to help policymakers, businesses, investors, and residents realize the financial value of natural system services in all resource-related decisions. This allows nature to be seen as a portfolio of financial assets rather than a commodity or unnecessary expense. The major objective of Return on Environment (ROE) studies is tomake enhancing nature and expanding the local economy a central goal among policy makers, businesses, and residents. This approach can help improve environmental quality and ensure a sustainable economy.ROE VALUATION BENEFITS// Nature’s complex system is conveyed in a simple bottom line that is understandable to a broad audience.// Dollars, as a financial measure, underscore nature’s connection to quality of life, health, cost of living, economy, and sense of place, while conveying a level of significance or priority that allows for a better trade-off analysis.// Monetary estimates of the value of natural system services can be applied within decision frameworks related to land use, tourism, and economic development.// Discussion of natural system cover types, services, and their values engages stakeholders in an educational process that can help organizations in their missions and raise awareness with policymakers and citizens.// Environmental health can be measured and incorporated into local decision-making processes.// Economic valuation of natural system services and biological diversity can make the value of protecting them explicit to policymakers, investors, and homeowners.// New business opportunities can be identified
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
Description: Green Ribbon Landscapes (GRL) represent some of the most significant places in an area that maintain services provided by nature. Green Ribbon Landscapes are areas where large, native forests, stream sides, and grassland habitats connect with trails, parks and green, open space that provide the highest environmental health, biological diversity, and economic sustainability.The Swatara Creek and land along it represent a Green Ribbon Landscape, providing an economic benefit of $71 million annually in natural system services such as water filtration, stormwater mitigation, and habitat, among others. Meanwhile, these natural system services compiled throughout Dauphin County’s portion of the Swatara Creek watershed provides an estimated $106 million in economic benefit.
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
Description: Forest Category Identifies properties containing portions of forested areas categorized by size (small, medium, large) associated with higher natural systems services. Areas of forested cover mapped by size used to determine ecosystems services. Mapped data derived from National Land Cover Dataset (2019) for Dauphin County. Code Values 4 = Not forested1= Small (Less than 500 acres)2 = Medium (Between 500 and 750 acres)3 = Large (Greater than 750 acres)Forests and understory areas are home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biological diversity. In terms of habitat, it is important to understand that the size, location, and types of woodland cover affect the value they provide. Forests that are larger than 750 acres provide the habitat required to sustain breeding populations of wildlife. A broad winged hawk, for example, uses a breeding area of mostly forest (80%); and of that forest, half or more of it is core, which equates to around 750 total acres. Areas over 500 acres are needed by migrating songbirds. Tolerance to forest fragmentation varies, and the amount of edge can affect a forest’s quality. For instance, forests less than 150 acres, or formed in long strips, are lower quality than forests 150 acres square.
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
Description: Mapped tree canopy areas with the Green Ribbon Landscapes areas defined for the 2023 Swatara Creek Greenway Return on Environment (ROE) Project. Mapping for tree canopy areas was derived from high resolution landcover data created by the Conservation Innovation Center (CIC) as described at CIC_high_resolution_data_services.pdf (chesapeakeconservancy.org). Tree canopy data is accounted for in defining conservation opportunities and factor into defining potential ROE values associated with restoration and preservation strategies.
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
Description: Defining nature’s worth?The Return on Environment (ROE) concept recognizes nature as a complex, interconnected system vital to all life. Whether in urban or rural settings, the support provided by natural systems is substantial and tangible. Services from these systems contribute millions of dollars annually in recreational income and savings for governments, businesses, and individuals. The advantages of nature affect our quality of life, health, living costs, sense of community, and economic stability. These benefits are consistently delivered around the clock, throughout the year. Once depleted, the cost to restore these benefits is high and the process challenging. To prioritize health, safety, and social well-being, and to preserve public natural resources, it is crucial that our policies identify and utilize clear, tangible economic values for decision-making.Mother Nature doesn't write receipts. As a result, nature is often taken for granted, undervalued, or overlooked in policy debates, investment decisions and personal choices. When nature is undervalued, forest fragmentation, stormwater, flooding, water and air pollution and loss of habitat may result in choices that damage the sustainability of natural systems and the economy. Return on Environment (ROE) studies explain nature’s invisible financial value in terms everyone can understand. Putting a dollar value on nature is a new way to help policymakers, businesses, investors, and residents realize the financial value of natural system services in all resource-related decisions. This allows nature to be seen as a portfolio of financial assets rather than a commodity or unnecessary expense. The major objective of Return on Environment (ROE) studies is tomake enhancing nature and expanding the local economy a central goal among policy makers, businesses, and residents. This approach can help improve environmental quality and ensure a sustainable economy.ROE VALUATION BENEFITS// Nature’s complex system is conveyed in a simple bottom line that is understandable to a broad audience.// Dollars, as a financial measure, underscore nature’s connection to quality of life, health, cost of living, economy, and sense of place, while conveying a level of significance or priority that allows for a better trade-off analysis.// Monetary estimates of the value of natural system services can be applied within decision frameworks related to land use, tourism, and economic development.// Discussion of natural system cover types, services, and their values engages stakeholders in an educational process that can help organizations in their missions and raise awareness with policymakers and citizens.// Environmental health can be measured and incorporated into local decision-making processes.// Economic valuation of natural system services and biological diversity can make the value of protecting them explicit to policymakers, investors, and homeowners.// New business opportunities can be identified
Copyright Text: Manada Conservancy with assistance provided by Audubon Mid-Atlantic through a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.