Raw data for: Ecosystem services benefits from the restoration of non-producing US oil and gas lands

Fossil fuel infrastructure has important land-use impacts within the US,
including environmental consequences of affected land persisting beyond
the lifespan of wells. We estimated ecoregion-specific, 50-year present
value net benefits of restoring lands associated with non-producing wells
in the conterminous US based on select ecosystem services: agricultural
sales and carbon sequestration. We identified over 430,000 restorable
wells occupying over 800,000 hectares of land. The present value of
ecosystem services benefits was 21 billion (USD 2018) while restoration
costs were 7 billion. Deciduous forests, grasslands, and Mediterranean
ecoregions had large net benefits, while arid and semi-arid regions were
often negative. Focusing on select ecoregions of the US would provide
higher returns on investment in the form of environmental and economic
benefits. Though our results suggest an ecoregional hierarchy, restoration
of all abandoned fossil fuel lands will have benefits at local, regional,
and national scales, including food security, protection of biodiversity,
and restoration-related job opportunities.