The Economic Value of Public Lands Around Grand County, Utah

Resources

October 2011

The report “The Economic Value of Public Lands in Grand County, Utah” (4M PDF) finds tourism and recreation businesses account for 44 percent of private employment in the county — more than one-third of local families have a member that works in a public lands-related business.

Headwaters Economics examined a wide range of public lands uses, including mining and agriculture, but focused on recreation because this type of use represents the largest, most complex, and least well understood activity on public lands in the county.

The report was created after a local steering committee that includes diverse interests — including representatives from Trail Mix, Ride With Respect, Red Rock 4-Wheelers, Moab Lodging Association, Moab Trail Alliance, Moab Area Chamber of Commerce, and local officials — requested that the Grand County Council support a study on the economic and fiscal role of public lands in the county that could be the basis for informed discussions about how to develop, protect, and manage nearby public lands so that they benefit businesses, the county, and diverse users into the future.

Summary Findings

The public lands in Grand County–because of both their extensiveness and their beauty–have directly influenced and shaped the county’s economic performance. Looking ahead, these lands will continue to play a vital role in the future economic health and prosperity of the region, and a key challenge facing Grand County leaders is how to maximize the long-term return from this valuable asset.

Grand County residents have embraced their public lands. More than one-third of households have a member that works in a tourism and recreation business related to public lands, and nearly two-thirds of local residents indicate that public lands are “extremely important” to their business.

Over time, Grand County’s public lands have supported economic growth in a variety of ways. In the second half of the 20th century, mining activities played a significant role in the region’s economy. Since peaking in 1981, however, the share of Grand County residents employed in mining fell rapidly and plateaued at two to three percent of total employment for the past fifteen years.

Today, tourism and recreation on public lands are the largest economic sector in Grand County. Businesses operating in these areas are the main drivers of the local economy (they account for 44% private employment in the county) and also produce a significant amount of tax revenue (16% of local government revenue). Within this sector, accommodation and food services and retail trade are the dominant businesses, accounting for more than 80 percent of tourism and recreation jobs.

Looking at federal public lands specifically, IMPLAN analysis shows that area BLM lands supported 2,447 direct jobs in 2007. For the National Park Service, the Money Generation Model (MGM2) shows that area national parks supported 2,181 direct jobs in 2009. (Note: these data should not be added together.) To put this in perspective, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that in 2007 there were 6,724 total jobs in Grand County, and in 2009 there were 6,687 total jobs in the county.

These and other public lands support a wide range of recreational opportunities in Grand County, including sightseeing and nature viewing, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, camping, horseback riding, motorized recreation, exploring, and river floating. In many cases visitors participate in a mix of these outdoor activities.

In effect, a significant reason for the county’s economic success stems from the diversity found today within its tourism and recreation economy. Finding ways to sustain and develop tourism and recreation that appeals to a wide mixture of visitors and residents is paramount to long-term well-being and economic resilience.

Within the diversity of public lands users, some activities are more prevalent than others. BLM surveys show that hiking is the most common activity on its lands, followed by biking and nature viewing. Using a tailored spending profile, IMPLAN analysis shows that hiking on BLM lands has the largest economic impact, followed by nature viewing, biking, and motor vehicle use.

While it is important to appreciate which type of recreation produces the largest impacts, it is equally vital for Grand County to continue to offer a wide variety of recreational activities on area public lands because together they make up the lion’s share of the local economy.

Encouragingly, studies conducted over the last decade consistently show that public lands users, such as mountain bikers and OHV drivers, see their outdoor experience in Grand County as a good value and are willing to help pay for upkeep and management. The same studies show that these visitors have the disposable income to follow through on this inclination.

In addition to the economic benefits of tourism and recreation, Grand County’s picturesque and high-profile public lands–and the environmental and recreational amenities they provide–are closely linked to population growth and other economic benefits. The county, for example, has had success attracting new residents who find the communities and surrounding public lands in the area compelling–almost one-third of net population growth in the last decade resulted from in-migration. Trading on natural amenities, the county has increased non-labor sources of personal income (+54%, or $47 million new dollars, in real terms, from 2000 to 2009), especially retirement-related income, which has boosted per capita income and added stability to the local economy.

Despite past success, future growth in Grand County cannot be taken for granted. The boom years of the 1990s when the county’s economy grew by seven percent annually have yielded to the 2000s when the economic growth rate slowed to two percent annually. This deceleration should lead to discussion on how Grand County can best utilize public lands to remain economically competitive.

As the tourism and recreation economy matures in Grand County, specific issues to consider are:

• Whether different users are crowding each other out and diminishing one another’s experience;
• The continued quality of the landscape and uniqueness of the outdoor offerings; and
• The area’s ability to compete with rivals in the outdoor recreation market that have constructed new signature trail systems or are benefiting from newly created public lands protections.

To help ensure Grand County’s future economic health, several steps are worthy of consideration:

• Educate the public to better understand the important economic role that public lands play in Grand County, including a periodic update on the county’s economic health and trends, especially focused on tourism and recreation;
• Partner closely with public land managers on planning and decisions that impact public lands in Grand County, including supplemental work and funding to maximize the protection and return of public lands assets;
• Ensure the continued diversity of recreation options and the capacity for public lands to support a wide variety of user activities. In addition, make sure that recreation uses do not directly conflict and drive away visitors or create the impression that the county favors one form of recreation; and
• Utilize the national and international visibility created by public lands and recreation–such as national parks, the Colorado River, mountain biking, and jeep events–to attract visitors or retirees with the potential to relocate and bring new businesses and wealth to the region.

Grand County enjoys many economic benefits from nearby public lands. To continue to capitalize on the competitive advantage that these lands provide, the county and local groups should work collaboratively with state and federal officials to implement policies that sustain existing uses and also anticipate future development and protection needs.

A recent study by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit group, shows that outdoor recreation on the county’s spectacular public lands has become the area’s economic engine, producing jobs and replacing the county’s disappearing mines and ranches. And the jobs, like the scenery, aren’t subject to the booms and busts that afflict extractive industries.
—“Economic model: Grand County’s outdoor recreation”
Salt Lake Tribune, November 2, 2011

Full report: “The Economic Value of Public Lands in Grand County, Utah” (4M PDF)
Summary: “Summary & Discussion” (280K PDF)