Urban trail efforts increasingly are focusing on providing equitable access to trails. Trails and parks can create substantial benefits for public health, property values, and quality of life.
Posts by Chris
Know Your Economy: Tools for Every Community
Understanding your local economy and how it compares to peers is a crucial part of community and economic development.
Strengthening Rural Communities (slides)
Slide show: A theory of economic development in the rural West.
The Economic Importance of National Monuments to Communities
This research and interactive charts show that the local economies adjacent to all 17 national monuments studied in the West expanded following the monument’s creation.
Rural Economic Development in Lincoln, Montana
Many rural western towns face economic uncertainty. This report—informed by interviews and public meetings with residents—compares Lincoln to peer communities and outlines rural economic development options building on the town’s strengths.
Why the Rural West Matters
The rural West matters for at least three important reasons: the vitality of the region’s landscape; its impact on local, state, and national politics; and the future of the area’s people and communities.
Trails and the Elusive Quality of Life
Many people talk about trails and quality of life, but how do we measure and obtain it?
Measuring the Benefit of Trails to Communities
Updated tools, research, and studies on the benefit of trails to communities and local citizens.
Know Your Economy: Economic Tools Updated for Every County
Understanding the local economy, and how it compares to peers, is a crucial part of smart community and economic development. Several new tools, utilizing the latest data (through 2014), now are available for every county in the nation.
One Click: Socioeconomic Reports for Every County
Understanding what drives the local economy is crucial to smart community and economic development. This map provides detailed socioeconomic reports for every county.
The West Today: What Sectors Drive the Economy?
In the West today, what economic sectors are driving the economy and make up the growing workforce?
The Economic Value of Public Lands in Grand County, Utah
This updated report analyzes the economic value of public lands in Grand County, Utah and the important role that these lands play for local businesses and the well-being of the region’s economy.
Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Cities, Counties, and National Forest Regions
A sample of research and free tools available to help communities better understand the potential socioeconomic impacts of climate change.
Getting the Economics Right: Communities, National Forests, and Local Development Decisions
Getting the economics right is important for communities to compete in a modern economy. We’ve created a number of tools to help rural, western communities better understand current trends as well as the role of the nearby National Forest or other public lands.
Local Responses to Wildfire Risks Are Limited
This study reviews how western communities are addressing wildfire risk, how they have responded to recent major fires, and useful lessons and public policy insights for the future.
Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front
This report analyzes the Front’s land, people, and economy, how the region has changed in important ways during the past several decades, and the potential impact of the proposed Rocky Mountain Heritage Act on the Front.
Wildland Fire: Climate Change and Housing Growth Could Double the Cost of Protecting Homes from Wildfires
Our newsletter on how the price of fighting forest fires has been increasing substantially, costing taxpayers billions every year.
The Economic Benefits of Southern New Mexico’s Natural Assets
This report examines how investments in conservation and restoration provide both an immediate return through employment and revenue and help promote long-term economic growth that extends far beyond tourism.
Economic Profile System: Making Better Economic and Land Management Decisions
Newsletter on updates to the Economic Profile System is a free, easy-to-use software application that produces detailed socioeconomic profiles.
Land Use Effects of Paving Rural Roads
This report, a first step toward understanding how paving rural roads impacts land use, reviewed eight projects in western Montana