This session is taking place during a time of extreme interest both internationally and nationally, as well as within ESA, in valuing the protection of ecological systems and services. It will provide an overview and understanding of the evolving ecosystem services field and present innovative approaches that have been developed to quantify ecosystem services. Recent case studies will be used to demonstrate how ecosystem services valuations can be applied and integrated into decisions affecting resource management, environmental sustainability, conservation, land management and development, site remediation, and natural resource damage assessments. In addition to providing a history of ecosystem services valuation development and methodologies, recent development of policies, strategies, and solutions that utilize ecosystem services in managing both short- and long-term environmental issues will be presented in order to establish the current state of the science. This information will be used to evaluate and discuss how ecosystem services valuation could best be used to preserve, utilize, and sustain our ecosystems moving forward. The session will include the background, development, and history of the ecosystem services field, followed by presentations describing innovative and interdisciplinary approaches that have been developed to quantify ecosystem services and recent case studies demonstrating the application of these methodologies. The current state of the science will be presented to provide a platform for discussing the path forward.