Managing Our State’s Natural Capital    
The health and well being of Louisiana’s citizens depends on the state’s resource-based economy.  Energy, wetlands, fisheries, wildlife, forests, land, and water – Louisiana’s natural capital assets – must be efficiently managed for both current and future generations. 
 
Efficient management, however, implies more than just a focus on extraction and utilization, jobs and income.  Efficient management also calls for a careful analysis of the intergenerational effects of resource investment decisions and the institutions that manage the allocation of the resources.  This kind of multifaceted analysis is the focus of natural resource and environmental economics.  Together with biophysical scientists, resource and environmental economists can help improve the long-term management of Louisiana’s natural resources.  

Coordinating Economic Research and Extension
Louisiana has seen a steady expansion in public funding for natural resource management, especially in the areas of coastal restoration and farm-based conservation.  The wise use of this funding requires a coordinated resource economics program that contributes to the policy making process.  As more ambitious plans for conservation and restoration unfold, economists will increasingly be called on for their expertise in non-market valuation, property rights and public goods, resource allocation, and compensation analysis.  While some of this research has occurred in Louisiana, efforts have been fragmented and widely dispersed across different research units and campuses.
 
The Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy (CNREP) was established in January 2004 to coordinate the activities of resource economists and policy professionals and to provide a focal point for organizing and marketing their efforts to resource managers and other constituents.

A Natural Resource for Decision-Makers
The development of sound resource management plans will always involve complex economic and environmental tradeoffs.  As new technological approaches emerge to address resource problems, policy makers will inevitably seek estimates of the costs and benefits associated with pursuing different courses of action. CNREP provides a resource for those agencies seeking the socioeconomic information required to fully evaluate new environmental programs and projects. 
 
The ultimate challenge of resource management involves reconciling the duel needs for economic viability and environmental integrity.  CNREP will help Louisiana to meet this challenge by improving the efficiency and equity of the state’s natural capital management and allocation.