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The Potential Economic Impacts of the Badlands Wilderness in Central Oregon

This report explores whether and how designation of the Badlands as Wilderness would benefit the communities and economy of Central Oregon, including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties.

General

The Badlands consists of 30,000 acres of high desert that is located east of Bend and straddles the Deschutes-Crook county border. It is currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management as a Wilderness Study Area and lacks permanent protection.

Report

This report (3.6 Meg .pdf) explores the question of whether and how designation of the Badlands as Wilderness would benefit the communities and economy of Central Oregon, including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties.

This powerpoint slide show portrays a series of residential build-out maps for Central Oregon from 1900 to 2005 by decade. Red indicates urban housing densities (0-1 acre lots), orange indicates suburban housing densities (1-10 acres lots), and yellow indicates exurban housing densities (10-40 acre lots).

Economic Profiles

These profiles for Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties and Central Oregon as a whole offer more detailed socioeconomic information than is available in the report above. These profiles were created using Headwaters Economics’ Economic Profile System.

Deschutes County
Crook County
Jefferson County
Central Oregon

News Article

Click here for a story from The Source Weekly on how Wilderness proposals could benefit rural communities in Central Oregon.