The term value is most often used in the context of relative monetary worth. It is in this context that economists, and other social scientists have sought to define the value of such environmental goals as clean air and water, leading to the concepts of green values. Yet the term implies more than the simple financial valuation of often intangable public goods but rather the relative place that such goals hold in the choices we as individuals and society as a whole make. Those charged with the stewardship of cultural property, be it an individual document in an archive or an entire ancient city on the World Heritage List, are faced daily with decisions based on often conflicting value systems. By considering a number of examples, it is shown that conservation does indeed have a demonstrable value but that the choices made are critically dependent on the value system of the decision maker. So it may be that different parties to a conservation decision may assign a high positive value or a high negative value to an individual conservation action. Some approaches to rational decision-making and the role of the conservator are discussed.