Land and resource management goes hand in hand with economic development, according to a group of panelists who visited from across the West to speak at the “Wilderness Economics” forum Saturday, Dec. 5, at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.…
Ben Alexander, associate director of the Headwaters Economic Institute, a nonprofit research group based in Bozeman, Mont., said historically public lands have been tied to economy prosperity.
“When we think about the economic history of public lands we think of food, shelter, forage and clothing for our pioneers and settlers,” he said. “And subsequently, those lands have generated a tremendous amount of wealth for our communities today.” He said commodity-based uses directly tied to public lands have been diminishing in importance for years, and dramatically so in the last several decades, accounting for less than 10 percent of total personal income in the rural West. One of the best ways to make the lands profitable, he said, is to protect them so that they can provide the scenery, weather, amenities and recreation to make Las Cruces an “attractive” place to do business.”…
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Link to Study By Gabriel Vasquez