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Media Coverage

Recent press coverage of research by Headwaters Economics.

Public News Service logo

 Study: Rural Communities Could Struggle to Access Infrastructure Dollars

Published by Public News Service on February 14, 2022

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress is directing a historic amount of funds to climate resilience. But some rural communities risk being left behind on these investments.

Related research
  • A rural capacity map

 Mountain towns across the West are facing a housing crisis. Can the Methow break the mold?

Published by Seattle Times on February 12, 2022

“Recreation destinations on average have seen larger price increases than nonrecreation destinations,” said Megan Lawson, a housing economist with Bozeman, Montana’s Headwaters Economics, which studies the West. 

Related research
  • Recreation Counties Attract New Residents and Higher Incomes
  • Housing in recreation-dependent counties is less affordable
Marketplace

 Inflation hits harder in rural areas

Published by Marketplace on February 9, 2022

The CPI captures how much consumers in urban areas spend on goods and services, with the key word being “urban.” It misses some of the nuance of rural life, according to Megan Lawson with Headwaters Economics.  

The Hill

 Free online tool identifies climate risks in every community and county in the US

Published by The Hill on

Neighborhoods at Risk is a free online tool that allows anyone to search what their hometown’s climate change risks are.

Related research
  • Neighborhoods at Risk: About

 Free online tool identifies climate risks in your neighborhood

Published by Yale Climate Connections on February 8, 2022

‘Neighborhoods at Risk’ helps you learn about potential flooding, heat waves, and other threats to your community.

Related research
  • Neighborhoods at Risk: About
Deseret News

 What ski towns tell us about the inequality crisis

Published by Deseret News on February 7, 2022

In her research, Lawson has found that across the West people are moving to counties with recreation opportunities more quickly than to other places — and there’s faster job growth in those towns. But if you pull apart the numbers there is darkness there. Abundant growth doesn’t always lead to equitable growth.

Related research
  • Recreation Counties Attract New Residents and Higher Incomes
  • Housing in recreation-dependent counties is less affordable
  • Housing costs broke records across the U.S.
  • Unaffordability for renters made worse during the pandemic

 Rural Western communities lack resources to fight climate change

Published by KUNR on

Communities across the nation are vying for funds from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure package. Some of that money is designed to address wildfire, drought, floods and other climate-induced crises, but many small rural communities in our region lack the tools to get that money, like planning departments, broadband access, and civic engagement. 

Related research
  • A rural capacity map

 The Custer Gallatin National Forest’s new guiding doc

Published by Montana Free Press on February 4, 2022

The Forest Service unveils its final forest plan for one of the country’s most ecologically, economically and culturally diverse national forests.

Related research
  • Measuring trail use in Montana’s Bridger mountains

 Resilience work expands as definition and dollars do, too

Published by Smart Cities Dive on January 31, 2022

“At the end of the day, being able to plan proactively and do resilience planning is a privilege. Most communities do not have the resources.”

Related research
  • A rural capacity map
  • Mountain, Midwest, and Gulf States fail to secure FEMA resilience funding

 The Sunday Read: This Isn’t the California I Married

Published by The Daily on January 16, 2022

In California, as in much of the world, climate anxiety and climate futurism coalesce into trans-apocalyptic pessimism. But, in spite of the doom, Weil suggests the situation is not completely devoid of hope.

Related research
  • Kimiko Barrett

 Rebuilding from the Marshall fire should be a model of climate adaptation

Published by Colorado Sun on

Kristin Smith, a researcher with Headwaters Economics, spends her time running the numbers and said that the billion-dollar estimate on the cost of the Marshall fire is only the beginning.

“The full cost of a wildfire is not just about property damage,” she said. “With any disaster, there are rippling impacts that people tend to overlook.”

Related research
  • Mountain, Midwest, and Gulf States fail to secure FEMA resilience funding
  • Full Community Costs of Wildfire

 Housing costs far outpace wage increases across the Mountain West

Published by Wyoming Public Media on January 10, 2022

“What we’re starting to see is that affordable housing can no longer be ignored,” said Headwaters economist Megan Lawson. “There are more people recognizing the need to get involved in this conversation, especially big employers.”

Related research
  • Housing costs broke records across the U.S.

 Report: Wages are up, but not as much as housing prices.

Published by KUER on January 5, 2022

Those cities saw median home values rise by more than 20% last year according to an analysis from the nonprofit Headwaters Economics in Montana. Megan Lawson, an economist with that group, said she doesn’t expect housing prices to collapse anytime soon. But she does think they’ll eventually slow down and stabilize.

Related research
  • Housing costs broke records across the U.S.
The New York Times

 This Isn’t the California I Married

Published by New York Times Magazine on January 3, 2022

Kimiko Barrett, who studies wildfire at Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit that aims to make “complex data understandable” so others can make better decisions around land use, helped snap this into focus for me one afternoon. We have, she said, “a home-ignition problem, more than a wildland-fire problem.” So simple, yet such a profound shift. Until we accept this, we’re going to remain deluded and stuck.

Related research
  • Kimiko Barrett
Daily Yonder

 Report: Outdoor Recreation Economy Takes a Hit Due to Pandemic

Published by Daily Yonder on December 13, 2021

Earnings from outdoor recreation stumbled a bit in 2020 because of the pandemic, but the sector remained an important part of the U.S. economy, according to a new interactive report from Headwaters Economics.

Related research
  • The Outdoor Recreation Economy by State
The Salt Lake Tribune

 Raft guides, ski lift operators and thousands of other workers on federal land are set to have a $15 minimum wage starting next year

Published by Salt Lake Tribune on December 10, 2021

“They can’t hire employees to staff the restaurants, to guide their rafts, to teach ski lessons,” she said, “because those folks can’t afford to live in these places.

Related research
  • Housing in recreation-dependent counties is less affordable
  • Housing costs broke records across the U.S.
logo of Earth Island Journal

 Aging Farmers, Vanishing Farmland

Published by Earth Island Journal on December 9, 2021

Montana lost over 1.6 million acres of farmland between 20212 and 2017.

Related research
  • Montana Losing Open Space
Albuquerque Journal

 A nuanced look at NM’s outdoor industry

Published by Albuquerque Journal on December 5, 2021

“I think that shines a light on the economic opportunity that outdoor recreation presents for communities, that even in a pandemic, it still has the power to bring visitors in and bring that spending in,” Lawson said.

Related research
  • The Outdoor Recreation Economy by State

 Colorado voters typically reject tax hikes. There’s an exception when it comes to funding parks and trails.

Published by Colorado Sun on November 29, 2021

Some of Lawson’s more recent research shows more people moving to counties with lots of recreational opportunities and those newcomers tend to have higher incomes than people moving to cities. And those new residents appear more ready to direct tax dollars toward conservation. 

Related research
  • Recreation Counties Attract New Residents and Higher Incomes
Public News Service logo

 Infrastructure Bill’s Passage Could Bring Flood Relief for MT City

Published by Public News Service on November 11, 2021

Three Forks has developed a plan for mitigating flood risk, but failed to receive federal funding when it applied earlier this year. However, under the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill passed in Congress last week, FEMA’s program for reducing flood damage has seen its budget more than triple to $700 million annually.

Related research
  • Decreasing flood risk in rural communities: a pilot program in Three Forks, Montana
  • Improving benefit-cost analyses for rural areas
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