…But there are advantages to not cutting the forests as well. A new study released by Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics found that Montana’s fastest-growing employment sector was in service jobs, including health care, professional and technical trades and real estate sales. And the single driving factor was proximity to protected public lands, Headwaters director Ray Rasker said.
“What we found was employers are using the lifestyle of the West as a way to attract talent,” Rasker said. “The average salary is about $35,000 a year in the West, per capita. But there’s a 10 percent premium for areas located next to 100,000 acres of public lands. It’s one of the unique circumstances that set the West aside from the rest of the country.”…