I HIGHLY recommend the "Economics of Protected Areas" by
John A. Dixon and Paul B. Sherman (c)1990, Washington DC:
Island Press.
 
The just of their work is that any preservation should
compare benefits against cost.  The direct costs of
establishment, monitoring and protecting; the indirect costs
of pestilence or other damages; and the costs of lost
opportunity, the benefits society looses by protecting the
area.  Weighed against these costs should be economic
assessments of the many benefits of protection.
 
These benefits MAY include recreation and tourism, watershed
protection, the preservation of ecological processes, the
preservation of genetic resources, education and research
values, consumptive benefits such as the harvest of
resources, plus non-consumptive benefits like aesthetics and
mental health.  In addition, there may be unknown future
values as the result of new discoveries.
 
While their work is primarily for the preservation of
outdoor spaces, many of their theories and formulas would
apply to the preservation of cultural resources.
 
Ed Harrison
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