Economic Impact

The economic value of protecting our lands and waters is priceless, and yet also increasingly quantifiable. The connection between economic vitality and environmental health is an area of expanding research, with researchers concluding that nature boosts our local economies by:

• Increasing tourism and jobs;
• Reducing health care costs;
• Filtering our drinking water;
• Mitigating the flooding and other consequences of sea level rise that plague coastal towns;
• and more!

In Anne Arundel County, our economy is inherently tied to the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. An estimated 18 million people live, work and play in the Chesapeake watershed and 3,600 types of fish, wildlife and plants underpin the economic value of the Bay ecosystem.

By protecting land in Anne Arundel County and, in turn, the natural systems and wildlife that support a healthy Bay, Scenic Rivers’ work contributes to the economic prosperity of our county.