Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement Non-market Value Analysis
Date: 1998-2000
The Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement commissioned EcoPlan to conduct a value analysis in order to determine net compensatory losses resulting from surface disturbances caused by ongoing petroleum development activity on the Settlement. Petroleum resources have been exploited on the Settlement since the 1950s and have proceeded with little planning and poor adherence to guidelines, standards and regulations. Research and professional analysis were used to develop the direct economic values (such as timber damage assessments) while non-market values were supported by oral histories from elders, maps and historical research. A workshop was conducted with Paddle Prairie members, to elicit the value judgment of both the losses and gains to the Settlement that have resulted from petroleum related surface disturbances. Specific Métis values affected by petroleum development were elicited from members and structured in a hierarchy in order to be analyzed. The results of this value analysis clearly identified that past and current compensation levels dramatically under-valued the losses incurred by the Métis at Paddle