The Wealth of the Nation is derived by the investments, both public and private, into its natural resources. It might just as well be called The Wealth of Nature. One of the great examples of investing in our natural capital is the story of the Catskills. In 1998, New York City was faced with a drinking water issue and instead of investing in a water filtration facility to the tune of $6-8b with an annual operating cost of $300m, they invested over $1.3b to protect the Catskills. By recognizing their water source and strengthening that connection, New York City saved the Catskills, got fresh drinking water and saved billions of dollars.

The story of the Catskills has become a parable for investing in points of connections and the impact those decisions have for all that are involved.

As Theodore Roosevelt once wrote, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which in must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value." Roosevelt is not talking about conservation or living off the land or plundering the goose that lays the golden egg but rather how to invest, increase and enhance the asset. What Roosevelt is speaking to, is the power of restoration ---- investing in natural capital and watching it grow.

The Catskills story serves as an important parallel for how we must look at Goose Creek --- our watershed and our water supply to the region. Beyond making taxpayer investments into these assets, private landowners have more options than ever before to make private investments. There are four broad areas where landowners can access capital and assistance.

1. Fencing cost share programs for livestock. Here landowners can work with the John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District (JMSWCD) to access cost share to fence out livestock from the local stream or creek. Last year, Locust Hill Farm (Middleburg), working closely with JMSWCD, installed 11600 feet of stream protection fence in 2008 and has future projects planned in 2010 along Cromwell's Run.

2. Grassland Reserve Program and Conservation Reserve Program. These federal programs provide landowners cost share on establishment, annual rental income every year for 10-15 years, and some practices may include signing bonuses and practice incentive payments.

3. Wetland Mitigation Banking. There are a number of private firms that work to create a natural wetland. The mitigation credits for making the improvement are used and bought by developers who are faced with wetland issues on building. Each acre created as a wetland generates a credit. The national law is to purchase two wetland credits for every one acre destroyed. The markets are fragmented by watershed and depending on the development pressure in that watershed, the value of the credit can range from $1,000 to more than $100,000. So it varies a lot.

4. The Carbon and Nutrient Markets. These markets are part of what is also called Payment for Environmental Services (PES). By restoring lands whether in grasses or trees, these markets enable payments that are based on the rate of absorption (sequestration) of either carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or nutrients that would be leaching into the nearby stream or creek. On the nutrient front, Chesapeake Bay has a nutrient fund for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. C2I, LLC (a company for which I am a co-founder along with Carey Crane), has a program called GreenTrees in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley where we partner with private landowners, and make payments to them for restoring their lands into trees. The capital we raise and use comes from companies that are looking for carbon for pre-compliance needs. Funds and aggregators are very important to facilitate the technical expertise and economies of scale for both markets. For the landowner, these markets provide new sources of capital and new income streams for sensitive and marginal lands.

For the landowner whose property is adjacent to the 835 stream-bank miles that comprise of the Goose Creek Watershed, these four areas provide much needed tools that go beyond conservation --- restoration. These acts of investing in our natural capital and restoring our lands, creating a healing effect, will make lasting impacts that are felt downstream. In doing this, we have begun the process of putting a price on what was once considered free.

Doing well by doing good!

Chandler Van Voorhis is a board member of Goose Creek Association (www.goosecreekassn.org) and a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Chandler can be reached at chandler@c2invest.net.