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Media Coverage

Recent press coverage of research by Headwaters Economics.

Daily Yonder

 Landmark Legislation for Conservation Fund Passes Senate

Published by Daily Yonder on June 26, 2020

LWCF has been an important tool for rural communities who want to pursue outdoor recreation as a vehicle for rural economic development according to Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics, an independent, nonprofit research group. 

“LWCF has touched all 50 states, touched thousands of local communities, and it’s an important resource especially in rural places,” Lawson told the Daily Yonder.

Related research
  • Land and Water Conservation Fund, 2011-2014
WyoFile

 Transition in Coal Country: Rural communities on the brink

Published by WyoFile on June 23, 2020

Wyoming’s coal mining industry lost 20% of its customer base in the past 10 years and will lose another 23% over the next 10 years as the nation’s fleet of coal-fired power plants continues to shrink, according to a report by the University of Wyoming and Montana-based Headwaters Economics. The same trend applies to coalfields in Appalachia, where only mines that produce metallurgic coal anticipate continuing markets in steelmaking. 

Related research
  • The Changing Geography of U.S. Electricity Generation

 Big Money Bought the Forests. Small Logging Communities Are Paying the Price.

Published by ProPublica on June 11, 2020

Half of the 18 counties in Oregon’s timber-dominant region lost more money from tax cuts on private forests than from the reduction of logging on federal lands, the investigation shows.

Related research
  • Commercial Activities on National Forests
  • Economic Profile System (EPS)

 Summer outside? Calls to preserve U.S. public lands after lockdown

Published by Reuters on June 4, 2020

Rose, the mountain biker in Spokane, volunteers with a mountain bike club to build new trails in a county that is 92.5% private land, according to data tabulated by Montana-based research firm Headwaters Economics.

Related research
  • Public Land Ownership in the United States
The Salt Lake Tribune

 Feds cut oil and gas royalties in a move that could hurt Utah’s local governments

Published by Salt Lake Tribune on May 20, 2020

The Bureau of Land Management has begun lowering royalties owed by companies that produce oil and gas on public lands, including tens of thousands of acres in Utah, to ease the financial strains created by the coronavirus pandemic… In 2017, Utah reaped about $54 million in federal oil and gas royalties, according to Headwaters Economics. 

Related research
  • Economic Profile System (EPS)

 As Outdoor Recreation Drives Western Economies, It’s Also Driving Up The Rent

Published by Wyoming Public Radio on May 19, 2020

“Even after you account for all the economic factors that we can measure, recreation communities still charge a premium,” said Lawson, an economist with the Bozeman-based organization. “It still costs more to live in those places, because they have a quality of life, because they have, in some cases, this social cache.”

Related research
  • Housing in recreation-dependent counties is less affordable
High Country News

 Coronavirus takes a heavy economic toll on rural hospitals

Published by High Country News on April 28, 2020

According to an analysis by Headwaters Economics, local taxes help fund health-care services — for areas that have hospitals — in more than half of rural Western counties with recreation-based economies.

Related research
  • The health and fiscal vulnerability of rural recreation counties
Daily Yonder

 Recreation Counties See Threats to Their Hospitals During the Epidemic

Published by Daily Yonder on April 24, 2020

“The rural health care system is already getting by on a shoestring, with rural hospitals closing and remaining hospitals being easily overwhelmed, especially in these rural communities that have demands beyond the local population.” Haggerty is concerned that public-sector hospitals, partially funded by taxpayers to remain open and available to both year-round local residents, are facing a combined problem of increased demand and declining local government revenues. 

Related research
  • The health and fiscal vulnerability of rural recreation counties
The Salt Lake Tribune

 Utah’s GOP members of Congress want to give oil, gas and mining companies a break

Published by Salt Lake Tribune on April 1, 2020

Last year, the federal government took in about $155 million in royalties from the oil, gas and coal operators on public land in Utah, according to Headwaters Economics. About 48% of that money is returned to the state of Utah, and the Republican members of Congress say in their letters that Interior should still flow back to the states where the drilling and mining is happening.

Related research
  • Economic Profile System (EPS)
  • PILT Proposal Would Help Small-Population Counties

 Recreation-Based Counties See Initial COVID-19 Vulnerability

Published by Wyoming Public Media on March 27, 2020

Ray Rasker with Headwaters Economics, a non-profit research group, said recreation-based counties are also particularly vulnerable to the economic impact of COVID-19.

“Recreation works through volume. We need to get lots of people in there, spending money and we need to see each other face to face, right? We need to come into your store and your coffee shop, into your restaurant,” Rasker said, adding that’s mostly impossible right now.

Related research
  • The health and fiscal vulnerability of rural recreation counties
Mother Jones

 There’s a Huge Disparity in the Number of Available Hospital Beds. See Your County’s Capacity.

Published by Mother Jones on March 19, 2020

In the West, nearly 100,000 people over 65 years old live in counties without a hospital bed.

High Country News

 Crowded cities and lonely country: See your county’s hospital bed capacity

Published by High Country News on

As the Western United States continues to see a rise in COVID-19 cases, it’s important to get a sense of the region’s health-care capacity… These maps and charts, compiled by Megan Lawson of Headwaters Economics, help give a snapshot* of hospital bed capacity around the West. 

Related research
  • Seniors in counties without hospitals are at the greatest risk
Daily Yonder

 Permanent Funding for Land and Water Conservation Fund Could Benefit Rural Areas

Published by Daily Yonder on March 12, 2020

‘LWCF is very important for rural communities who want to pursue outdoor recreation as a vehicle for rural economic development,’ said Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics, an independent, nonprofit research group. ‘LWCF has touched all 50 states, touched thousands of local communities, and it’s an important resource especially in rural places.’

Related research
  • Land and Water Conservation Fund, 2011-2014
Marketplace

 Rural communities in “Graying America” see boost in business

Published by Marketplace on February 27, 2020

In rural areas, retirement benefits can make up more than 50% of local spending, what Megan Lawson with Headwaters Economics calls the “mailbox economy.”

“Non-labor income can really be a tremendous support in rural places that maybe don’t have a robust job market,” Lawson said.

Related research
  • Non-Labor Income in the Rural West
NPR

 Bust Times In A Former Wyoming Coal Boomtown

Published by NPR on January 28, 2020

Mark Haggerty with the research group Headwaters Economics says one-industry towns are inherently vulnerable. ‘The real effort that needs to take place is trying to diversify and reach out and branch out into new sectors, into new ideas that will sustain the community going forward.’

Related research
  • Coal Communities Lack Strong Transition Plans
  • Solutions for Transitioning Coal-Dependent Communities
Daily Yonder

 States Invest in the Outdoor Recreation by Opening Offices Dedicated to the Sector’s Growth

Published by Daily Yonder on

The outdoor recreation economy has been a rare bright spot in many rural communities, particularly those places near public lands. Rural counties with recreation-based economies have slightly higher incomes and are seeing more population growth since 2010, according to Headwaters Economics’ 2019 report, Recreation Counties Attracting New Residents and Higher Incomes. 

Related research
  • Recreation Counties Attract New Residents and Higher Incomes
Outside Magazine

 New Mexico’s White Sands Is Officially a National Park

Published by Outside on December 23, 2019

The country’s largest dune field has been a national monument since 1933, but now it’s our 62nd national park. The new designation will also have positive impacts on the surrounding community: a 2018 study found that turning monuments to national parks could increase visitation by 21 percent (about 100,000 more visitors) in the first five years and result in a $7.5 million increase in the local economy, mainly due to increased visibility. 

Related research
  • Impact of National Monuments Redesignated National Parks
NPR

 Big Money Is Building A New Kind Of National Park In The Great Plains

Published by NPR on December 8, 2019

Rural recreation counties are growing faster than counties that don’t have a lot of hiking, hunting and fishing opportunities, according to the nonprofit Headwaters Economics.

Related research
  • Recreation Counties Attract New Residents and Higher Incomes
Outside Magazine

 Outdoor Recreation Offices Are Popping Up Everywhere

Published by Outside on December 5, 2019

In total, 16 states now have some kind of recreation office or task force. Each functions slightly differently…That state-specific development approach is becoming increasingly important in rural areas struggling to retain residents. The research group Headwaters Economics found that rural areas with recreation options have both more people moving in and a faster earnings growth.

Related research
  • Recreation Counties Attract New Residents and Higher Incomes
High Country News

 Montana’s water rights fractured by new development

Published by High Country News on

From 1990 to 2016, over 1.3 million acres of undeveloped land in Montana was converted into housing, according to a 2018 report by Headwaters Economics. The demographic landscape is changing as well: Several western Montana counties are attracting younger people and new residents from across the country. All this population growth is making water management more complicated. 

Related research
  • Montana Losing Open Space
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