— Montana's outdoors attracts people and talent, creating jobs and a high quality of life. The outdoors is essential to the state's future economic growth.
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Ray Rasker, Ph.D.
Ray enjoys working with people in rural communities who are passionate about their place. He grew up in Mexico City in a Dutch household and came to the U.S. as a student. After obtaining B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Washington and Master’s in Agriculture from Colorado State University, he went on to study economics, earning a Ph.D. from the College of Forestry, Oregon State University. Ray has worked as a wildlife biologist and in the dairy industry. Ray’s multicultural background and diverse education and experiences allow him to appreciate many different viewpoints. He has written widely on rural development and the role of environmental quality in economic prosperity, and is well known in policy circles in the U.S. and Canada.
Public Land Ownership in the United States
— Public lands influence the economy, demographics, and fiscal policies of communities. Explore maps and county-level data for the 828 million acres of federal, state, and municipal land in the U.S.
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People and Public Lands Essays
— What is the economic impact of America’s public lands and waters? How can we quantify how these remarkable resources contribute to our quality of life? And how are our valuation methods and public policies changing?
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Redesignating Bandelier National Monument as a National Park
— Study on the economic impacts of redesignating Bandelier National Monument as a National Park with case studies of other Monuments converted to National Parks.
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Montana’s Outdoor Recreation Economy
— A new report highlights the role of Montana’s outdoor recreation economy in spending, jobs, and economic diversification.
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Populations at Risk
— Populations at Risk quickly and easily generates and downloads reports about populations more likely to experience adverse social, health, or economic outcomes.
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Economic Impact of National Parks
— This interactive and background materials show visits, spending, and the number of jobs created in gateway communities for every National Park Service unit.
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National Forest Socioeconomic Indicators
— Explore the socioeconomic conditions in communities surrounding our National Forests
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Impact of National Monuments Redesignated National Parks
— Investigating the economic effects of National Monuments redesignated National Parks, and the potential impact of converting the White Sands National Monument to a National Park.
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Gallatin County’s Economy, Growth, and Open Space
— This report summarizes Gallatin County's economy, how it has grown, and what is driving its performance. The report also describes how growth threatens open space and the role these lands play in local quality of life.
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Communities Threatened by Wildfire, 2000-2017
— The interactive map identifies frequently threatened towns and cities, including the different sizes and distances of wildfires from nearby communities.
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Communities Threatened by Wildfires, 2000-2017
— Explore all communities threatened by wildfires from 2000 to 2017.
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Wildland-Urban Interface: The Problem, Trends, & Solutions (slides)
— Slide show: The wildland-urban interface is growing and wildfires are causing cause more damage. Land use planning is an important solution.
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Communities Threatened by Wildfire, 2000-2017: Sortable Table
— The sortable table identifies frequently threatened towns and cities, including the different sizes and distances of wildfires from nearby communities.
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Assessing Wildfire and Populations at Risk
— A new tool helps the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico assess wildfire and populations at risk.
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Lessons from the Timber Transition
— Western counties once dependent on timber today perform similarly to like-sized counties. Three case studies outline economic lessons from counties that weathered the timber transition.
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West-Wide Economic Atlas
— Explore socioeconomic and land use trends in the western eleven states.
Updated July 2019 with latest available population, economic, and land ownership data.
Montana’s Economy, Public Lands, and Competitive Advantage
— This report summarizes Montana’s economy analyzing recent growth and what is driving its performance, including a description of how federal lands help attract people, investment, and businesses.
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Economy Surprisingly Dependent on Non-Labor Income
— Non-labor income sources such as investments, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid often are the largest and fastest growing sources of personal income for many counties. Rural counties especially are surprisingly dependent on non-labor income.
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The Value of Public Lands
— Headwaters Economics compiled a number of regional reports, case studies, tools, research library, and related news articles on the value of public lands to nearby communities.
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The Economic Value of Federal Public Lands (slides)
— Slide show: The role of federal lands in rural development.
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Wildfire Experts’ Paper Informs Effective Policy
— Wildfire experts outline key science insights important to inform policy discussions and development while reducing future risks and costs.
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Ray Rasker, Ph.D.
Rural Communities, School Kids, and Federal Lands in the West
— While most western rural counties are aging and losing young families, the loss of school kids in rural western counties with protected lands such as National Monuments was, on average, less than half the rate of loss for similar counties without protected lands.
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The Changing Role of Manufacturing in the U.S. and Insights for the Rural West
— Recent trends in manufacturing and what they mean for the people and communities of the American West, with insights for rural areas in particular.
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Does Insurance Affect Home Development on Wildfire-Prone Lands?
— It is unlikely that insurance rates and policies alone will determine whether or not a landowner decides to build a new home on wildfire-prone land.
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Summary: Wildfire Costs, New Development, and Rising Temperatures
— This summary highlights the major research Headwaters Economics has conducted concerning controlling fire suppression costs, state case studies, and the growth of homes in the WUI.
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Wildfire Increasingly an Urban Issue
— Wildfires increasingly are threatening urban areas—often repeatedly—putting more homes, lives, infrastructure, and other resources at risk.
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Reducing Wildfire Risk to Communities
— This report outlines a number of solutions to alter the pace, scale, and pattern of future development in the Wildland-Urban Interface.
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Better Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk: A Summit County Case Study and Lessons for Other Communities
— Wildfires pose a growing threat to many communities. As more development occurs near wildfire-prone lands, there is a growing need to reduce risk through improved land use policies and tools.
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Lessons for Wildfire from Federal Flood Risk Management Programs
— This paper reviews the experience of national floodplain management programs to draw lessons for new approaches to reduce the costs and risks posed by wildfire to properties in the Wildland-Urban Interface.
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Ray Rasker, Ph.D.
Today’s Economy, Political Rhetoric Too Often Don’t Match
— Today's economy is much different than what we hear in the rhetoric from current politicians. We need our leaders to wrestle with current problems rather than old ones.
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Ray Rasker, Ph.D.
Wildfire Budget, Incentives, and Missed Opportunities
— The failure of Congress to pass wildfire disaster funding is a missed opportunity for two reasons: one to stop 'fire borrowing' and second to reduce risks and costs to homeowners and the taxpayer.
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Study Finds No Evidence Firewise Lowers Suppression Costs
— Study finds no evidence of a relationship between wildfire suppression costs and Firewise participation, suggesting policies should focus on other solutions to lower future expenditures, such as preventing development in high risk areas.
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The Rising Cost of Wildfire Protection
— This report describes how the protection of homes in the Wildland-Urban Interface has added to wildfire costs and concludes with a discussion of solutions that may help control escalating risks and expenses.
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As Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Develops, Firefighting Costs Will Soar
— Fighting wildfires costs have averaged more than $3 billion per year, and home protection contributes substantially to this amount. The majority of the WUI in the West is currently undeveloped, but building on these lands will significantly drive up costs.
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Protected Federal Lands in Non-Metro West Increase Per Capita Income
— Headwaters Economics research and accompanying interactive map show the amount of per capita income explained by protected federal lands for each county in the non-metropolitan western U.S.
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Protected Federal Lands in the Non-Metro West Increase Per Capita Income
— New Study, Interactive Map Show the Amount of Per Capita Income (PCI) Explained by Protected Land
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Jobs and Higher Incomes
— This report finds that the West’s popular national parks, monuments, wilderness areas and other public lands offer its growing high-tech and services industries a competitive advantage.
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West Is Best Reports: News Release
— News release for report that shows how the western United States is outperforming the rest of the country and the role protected federal lands in providing western states a competitive economic advantage.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Washington Jobs and Higher Incomes
— This fact sheet summarizes Washington's recent economic growth and the role of protected public lands in supporting faster job creation and higher per-capita income.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote New Mexico Jobs and Higher Incomes
— This New Mexico fact sheet summarizes the state's recent economic growth and the role protected public lands play in supporting faster job creation and higher per-capita income.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Nevada Jobs and Higher Incomes
— During the past decade Nevada and the West outperformed the nation, and the competitive advantage offered by its protected lands supported job growth and higher per-capita incomes.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Montana Jobs and Higher Incomes
— Montana's recent economic growth and the role of protected public lands in supporting employment creation and higher per-capita income are explored in this report.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Idaho Jobs and Higher Incomes
— Helped by its high quality of life and protected public lands, Idaho’s economy and population grew rapidly in the past decade. The majority of growth coming from health care and administrative services.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Colorado Jobs and Higher Incomes
— Colorado's rate of population, employment, and real personal income growth has outpaced the nation and this fact sheet looks at the role of protected public lands in supporting jobs and higher incomes.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote California Jobs and Higher Incomes
— This California report is part of a series that analyzes how and why the West is outperforming the nation, and the competitive advantage offered by its protected lands.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Arizona Jobs and Higher Incomes
— This fact sheet summarizes Arizona's recent economic growth and the role of protected public lands in supporting faster job creation and higher per-capita income.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Oregon Jobs and Higher Incomes
— The great majority of Oregon’s net new jobs are from services industries, many of them high-paying. This report looks at the state's economy and the role of protected public lands.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Wyoming Jobs and Higher Incomes
— Wyoming is an economic leader and protected public lands help the state grow and diversify its economy.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Utah Jobs and Higher Incomes
— Utah has been a national leader in economic growth during the past decade. This report looks at the state's economy and the role of protected public lands.
read moreof West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Utah Jobs and Higher IncomesNewsletter: Fall 2012
— Our latest research on wildfire trends, improved socioeconomic profiles, fiscal and energy policy, and Montana's Rocky Mountain Front.
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Western Counties and the Recession
— This study provides a number of lessons as the West slowly recovers from the recent recession about why some local economies performed better than others.
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Colorado’s Economy and the Role of Federal Protected Lands
— This report summarizes Colorado's economy and the role of federal protected lands, including how the state has performed, and Colorado's ability to attract people, investment, and businesses.
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New Mexico’s Economy and the Role of Federal Protected Lands
— An analysis of New Mexico’s economy and how federal protected lands impact economic performance.
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Implementing Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons Learned From Ten Examples
— This paper presents ten examples of cities and counties around the country and the key lessons learned in the process of moving from planning to implementation on climate change adaptation.
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Economists Urge President Obama to Protect Federal Public Lands
— More than 100 economists and academics urged President Obama to create and invest in new federal protected lands such as national parks, wilderness, and monuments.
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Preparing Missoula County for a Changing Climate
— A report on socioeconomic conditions of Missoula County as part of public process of developing a climate change adaptation plan.
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Missoula County Homes at Risk in Flood and Wildfire Areas
— These two slideshows and related information use Missoula County and Western Montana to show how many homes have been built in flood and wildfire hazard areas, which are vulnerable to larger and more frequent floods and fires.
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EPS: Getting the Economics Right
— Headwaters Economics has updated the Economic Profile System (EPS) to help decision makers access and analyze large amounts of information about their communities.
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Crown of the Continent and Climate Change
— This report studies the possible effects of climate change in the Crown of the Continent on two “snow-pack” dependent sectors of the economy--downhill skiing and recreational fishing.
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The Economy of the Gila Region
— This report explores the question of whether and how rural, isolated communities can benefit from being gateways to large expanses of public lands.
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Wildfires: Development and Temperature Impact Cost and Safety
— Headwaters Economics has studied wildfires across the West, analyzing how more homes near forests and increasing temperatures will significantly increase future costs and safety risks.
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