From the WSJ's Evening Wrap (not the permanent link):
A federal judge applied the brakes to a $320 million irrigation project in Arkansas, ruling that the changes could alter the habitat of the ivory-billed woodpecker. The problem is, the woodpecker the court is protecting may or may not exist. Scores of volunteers beat the bushes in search of the elusive bird last winter but the hunt turned up not a trace. All the same, Judge William R. Wilson said his hands were tied. He had to presume the woodpecker exists and the federal agencies may have run afoul of the Endangered Species Act by not studying the habitat fully. The ivory-billed woodpecker is a rare bird indeed. The last confirmed sighting of the woodpecker in North America was in 1944 and scientists have long presumed that the species was exist. That is, until a kayaker claimed to have spotted one of the birds in eastern Arkansas. Since then, the area has been gripped by an orgy of ornithological enthusiasm, as people from all over the world flocked to catch a glimpse of the bird. With today's ruling, the hunt will intensify.
Lessee. If the benefits of the irrigation project exceed the costs, then the opportunity cost of this decision is at least $320 million. With almost 300 million folks in the U.S., we all must value a bird that may or may not exist by more than $1.07 in order for the benefits of this application of the Endangered Species Act to exceed the costs.
Is it existence value if we're not sure of the resource's existence?
