This study found that snowmobiling is associated with high daily spending in Montana, with the average resident snowmobiler spending $108 per day and the average non-resident spending $148 per day. Despite the 4,000 miles of groomed trails available in the state, snowmobiling remains primarily an activity enjoyed by residents, who accounted for 93 percent of snowmobiling days in 2013.
Mountain
The Economic Benefits of Mountain Biking at One of Its Meccas: An Application of the Travel Cost Method to Mountain Biking in Moab, Utah
This study found that the Slickrock Trail, a world-famous mountain bike trail in Moab, Utah, draws a large number of avid users annually, who are willing to travel long distances and spend large sums to reach it. Because access fees are a relatively low portion of overall trip cost, visitation rates are unlikely to change much even if they are increased.
Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey: Findings Report
This study found that while 70 percent of Missoula residents were willing to pay more taxes to acquire open space and build new trails and recreation facilities, still more (77%) were willing to pay more taxes to maintain existing facilities. Eighty-six percent of all residents had used City parks in the previous 12 months, highlighting the importance of within-community trails even in rural areas with public lands nearby.
Jackson Hole Trail Project Economic Impact Study
This study found that locals are the main beneficiary of the Teton County, Wyoming trail system, although visitors are increasingly enjoying area trails outside of Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The economic impact of the trails may be significant, but is difficult to estimate without knowing how many visitors come to the area just for the trail system.
Trails on Tribal Lands in the United States
This study found that the benefits of trails in Indian Country may be more significant than in other communities that are less culturally or spatially fragmented, less politically and economically marginalized, or less culturally tied to the landscape. Trails can provide particularly valuable benefits to residents of Indian Country, helping to improve residents’ quality of life in several dimensions: connecting tribal members to each other and to culturally significant sites and natural resources; providing safe alternative transportation routes across the reservation; providing opportunities for safe exercise; and providing opportunities for economic development and cultural education.
Estimating the Recreation Demand and Economic Value of Mountain Biking in Moab, Utah: An Application of Count Data Models
This study found that mountain bikers visiting the Moab, Utah trail system spent an average of $282 per trip and visited 2.5 times per year. Rather than a specific trail, as was studied in the Fix and Loomis (1997) Slickrock Trail study, this study evaluated the benefits of the Moab area’s whole mountain bike trail system.
Wildfire Effects on Hiking and Biking Demand in New Mexico: A Travel Cost Study
This study found that crown wildfires that cross trails are likely to have a dramatic effect on use and individual benefit for hikers and mountain bikers that persists for decades after the fire occurs. Prescribed fires are also shown to decrease benefits and use for both groups, but these declines occur gradually over decades rather than an immediate drop in the year of a wildfire.
Teton-West Yellowstone Region Backcountry Winter Recreation Economic Impact Analysis
This study found that participants in backcountry, non-motorized winter recreation generate a substantial economic, employment, and fiscal impact in the Teton-West Yellowstone region. This is the only study we are aware of that assesses the impact of this type of recreation.
Community Economic Contributions from Recreational Trails Usage on Public Lands: Implications from a Comprehensive Wyoming Study
This study found that trail-related recreation on Wyoming’s 10,000 miles of trails, both motorized and non-motorized, generates substantial spending for local businesses and tax revenue for state and local governments. While off-road vehicle (ORV) and snowmobile users generate far more spending in this analysis, the incomplete assessment of non-motorized users makes it difficult to make comparisons of impact between motorized and non-motorized users.
Economic Opportunities in the Blackfoot Watershed
This report provides an overview of the Blackfoot River watershed’s economy and summarizes the findings from six focus groups that explored potential economic opportunities.
Understanding the Recreation Economy on Nearby Public Lands
How can communities measure and take advantage of the economic impacts of nearby outdoor recreation activities on public lands?
Three Wests Sortable Data
Review the economic and demographic differences between Metro, Connected and Isolated counties.
The Economic Impacts of Restoration in Central Idaho
This report provides a way to calculate the economic impacts of natural resource restoration activities to nearby communities that should be helpful to local officials, agency staff, and policy analysts.
Wyoming Oil Taxes: Highest Rate, Large Savings Compared to Other States
This report compares how Wyoming provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.
Local Governmments in New Mexico Receive Lowest Share of Oil Revenue
This report compares how New Mexico provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.
Colorado Lags Other States in Taxing Oil, Incentives Increase Volatility
This report compares how Colorado provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.
Montana Oil Tax Policy: No Long-Term Savings, Exposure to Volatility
This report compares how Montana provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.
Restoring the Clark Fork River
Headwaters Economics worked with the Clark Fork Coalition, U.S. Forest Service, and others to create an interactive tool that describes many of the stories behind the ongoing recovery of the Clark Fork River.
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.
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.