Regional Economic Valuation

A GIS false-color satellite image of the relative value estimate for Green Infrastructure and its Associated Ecosystem Services in 7 counties in West Michigan.

Relative Value Estimate for Green Infrastructure and its Associated Ecosystem Services in West Michigan is ~$1.8 billion per year*

* This amount represents an estimated value only and should not be interpreted as an actual value.

Legend

Red: > $10,000*
Orange:$2,001- $10,000*
Green: $201 - $2,000*
Blue: $0 - $200*
Grey:Developed Area/Not Valued

*All values are per acre per year.

For county-level data, select a county name from this list:

A map of the seven West Michigan counties in the INVEST project: Allegan, Barry, Kent, Ionia, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Ottawa.

Preliminary Value Estimates for Ecosystem Services in West Michigan

(Per Acre Per Year)

	Cropland	Orchards & Specialty Crops	Grass, Shrub & Prairie	Forest	Water	Wetlands	Great Lakes Sand Dunes & Beach	Other Bare Lands
Food Production	$58	$337	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Raw Materials	n/a	n/a	n/a	$48	INS	INS	$369	$369
Aesthetic/Amenity	$23	$23	$23	Private: $38 Public: $3,311	NEI	$19 - $30	Private: $19,437 Public: $62,171	n/a
Recreation	$19	$19	$19	Private: $38 Public: $3,311	$864	$13 - $76	Private: $19,437 Public: $62,171	n/a
Fish/Wildlife Habitat	INS	INS	$14	$3	$864	$147 - $1,513	NEI	n/a
Pollination	NEI	NEI	INS	NEI	n/a	NEI	INS	n/a
Nutrient Cycling	NEI	INS	NEI	NEI	NEI	$1,067 -$2,040	NEI	n/a
Waste Assimilation	n/a	n/a	NEI	NEI	NEI	$1,067 -$2,040	NEI	n/a
Erosion Control	NEI	NEI	NEI	$21	n/a	$86 - $485	NEI	n/a
Water Regulation	INS	INS	NEI	NEI	NEI	NEI	INS	n/a
Water Supply	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	$59	$59	n/a	NEI

NEI: Not enough information
INS: Value presumed to be insignificant
n/a: not applicable

Select a descriptor for additional information.

This pie chart and associated table show the break down of land use and the lower bound value estimates for the West Michigan policy region.

Land Use and Cover	Acres	Estimated Annual Value
Cropland	1,192,127	$119,212,726
Orchards & Specialty Crops	39,519	$14,977,686
Grasses, Shrubs & Prairie Lands	456,829	$25,582,424
Forest Lands	996,189	$1,111,015,891
Water	67,540	$62,339,152
Wetlands	58,579	$81,483,097
Great Lakes Sand Dunes & Beaches	4,762	$138,820,172
Other Bare Lands	10,265	$3,787,718
Developed Lands	268,387	Not Valued
Total	3,094,197	$1,565,218,867

A pie chart summarizing land use as a total percentage of West Michigan in the project's 7-county region.

In addition to the data listed above in the value matrix, the Project Team estimated values for ecosystem services associated with rails-to-trails. The West Michigan policy region also has 123.16 miles of rails-to-trails. The Ecosystem Services associated with this land use include Aesthetics/Amenity and Recreation, but there was enough information to determine an ecosystem services value only for Recreation. The estimated value for the rails-to-trails in the West Michigan policy region is $299,401 per mile per year, or ~ $36.9 million (Betz et al. 2003; Siderelis and Moore 1995; Siderelis et al. 2000).

Page last modified April 14, 2026

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