…A study by the research firm Headwaters Economics found that the local economies surrounding new national monuments grew in 17 of 17 cases. The study looked at monuments larger than 10,000 acres created after 1981. It included the Agua Fria National Monument that Bill Clinton created in 2000.
The study says travel and tourism represented about 20 percent of total employment in Yavapai County in 2008. Population, jobs, personal income and income all grew by double digits during the eight years after the monument was created…