Eugene’s parks, urban forests and natural areas save the city millions of dollars every year. A new study assesses the benefits green spaces provide, including air quality improvement and natural filtration along waterways.
The first-ever study of Eugene’s ecosystem shows the city’s parks and forests provide 42 million dollars in economic benefits. The report says the natural filtration of the city’s waterways saves about 5 million dollars a year in storm water processing.
Trevor Taylor with the City of Eugene Parks and Open Spaces says the study placed a dollar value on the services the parks provide like flood prevention and outdoor recreation.
“When water collects pollution as it flows across our streets or through parking lots and enters a stream, the wetlands and the waterways have natural filtration ability that clean that water--so that when it later moves downstream a lot of those pollutants have been removed.”
Taylor says the study found homes located near parks can increase in value.