Big Benefits for Conservation in Missouri for a Few Dollars

Conservation in Missouri has big benefits. I looked at the State of Missouri budget this evening and was comparing the amounts spent on various things in state government.

I think conservation is a real bargain compared to what is spent throughout the rest of government. The budget for conservation is less than one percent of the total, at less than 0.8 percent. On the other hand, every dollar spent on conservation results in over 50 dollars of economic impact in the state. And that economic impact is only the direct impact of spending. It does not include the quality of life benefits we receive daily from healthy fish, forest, and wildlife, healthy streams and habitats, and the fact that the outdoor world and sustainable natural resources are the very foundation of our Missouri economy.

For a few dollars. Looking at the Missouri budget, consider what 0.8 percent of the total represents. I'll put it in a scale that is easier for me to understand and perhaps you also. The current fiscal year budget was proposed at over $21 billion dollars in Missouri and the conservation operating budget at just over $143 million. Those seem like big amounts, but on a more personal level, the average income per person in Missouri from the U.S. Census Bureau is $23,026. I can remember making much less than $23 thousand a year and that's a number I can understand easily.

If I take 0.8 percent of that average income of $23,026; that yields $184.21. One hundred and eighty four dollars and twenty-one cents. If the State of Missouri budget were this average income amount of $23,026, only $184 of that amount would be spent on conservation.

Now consider this, in 2007 the State of Missouri budget included 10.4 percent for transportation costs, which is $2,394.70 of the $23,026. Education was 28.1 percent, which accounts for $6,470.31. Health and social services accounts for 37.8 percent, which is $8,703.83. Other government services were 20.1 percent, which is $4,628.23 of the $23,026.

On a percentage basis, 0.8 percent, especially compared to what is spent on other services in Missouri, is almost nothing. Conservation is a bargain for the economic activity that it generates and all the natural world and recreation benefits that are produced.

I could easily spend 10 times the amount that 0.8 percent represents of the average per person income in Missouri for a television. I compare what I spend in my budget at home like I look at comparisons in the State of Missouri budget. For example, what do I spend on food, on gas for the car, on health care, education for my children, and what do I give away?

Now, my old television is developing weird color patterns and I've looked at some new LCD televisions. Wow. Standing in the local electronics store and seeing folks pay over $2,000 for a new large screen television is amazing.

Those large screens do look pretty good. I could enjoy watching one of those at home. Now I consider that average $23,026 income level per year. If I'm willing to spend, and apparently other Missourians are willing as well, over $2,000 for a television, that makes the example percentage of the average income, $184, seem pretty small. That 0.8 percent level in the State of Missouri budget is only a few dollars.

In those terms, I think conservation is a huge bargain in Missouri, for the few dollars spent, compared to the overall state budget.

More information about the conservation budget is available in a two-page summary of the annual report that was in the January, 2007 issue of the Missouri Conservationist magazine.

A recent entry in the Missouri Department of Conservation Blog included comments about how conservation pays its way in Missouri.