Detailed estimates of summer trail use help show the impacts of growing recreational use and highlight infrastructure needs in southwest Montana.
West
Western State Housing Prices
Western States Unprecedented Housing Prices
Diversifying Revenue on New Mexico State Trust Lands
New activities can help guarantee and diversify future revenue from New Mexico state trust lands, complementing the successful Land Grant Permanent Fund.
Mountain, Midwest, and Gulf States Fail to Secure FEMA Resilience Funding
Rural and lower capacity communities failed to successfully compete for FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding in FY 2020.
Decreasing flood risk in rural communities: a pilot program in Three Forks, Montana
Flood risk is underestimated in the U.S., but better maps and data are not enough to help communities. They must be accompanied with resources to support local action.
Montana wildfire risk is widespread and growing
The number of western Montana homes in areas with high wildfire hazard has doubled, outpacing development rates in areas with low wildfire hazard.
Community benefits of the Merced River Trail
The Merced River Trail in Mariposa County, California will create benefits for the economy and businesses, quality of life, and public health.
Tension as Catalyst: Public Lands and the Rural West
View a presentation given at the Our America’s Rural Opportunity forum about the context of public lands and the rural west.
Outdoor Recreation and New Mexico’s Economy
Outdoor recreation is a way of life and economic powerhouse for New Mexico. New Mexico residents enjoy outdoor recreation on more than 35 million acres of public lands and the outdoor recreation economy directly supports $1.2 billion in income and 33,500 jobs.
Building for Wildfire Summit: Understanding How Homes Burn
Video and highlights from an event that brought together diverse community leaders to explore practices for building fire-adapted communities.
Newsletter: September 2019
Our latest newsletter contains research on transit equity analysis for Denver, CO, funding needs for Montana’s outdoors, a custom socioeconomic tool for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter.
The Value of Montana’s Outdoors
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.
Denver Transit Equity Analysis
Identify where potential bus rapid transit corridors in the Denver, Colorado Metro Area are most likely to enhance mobility and equity.
Funding Needs for Montana’s Outdoor Heritage
Funding for Montana’s working lands, wildlife, and outdoor recreation is not keeping pace as population, visitation, and development pressures expand.
The Economic Impact of Snowmobiling in Utah
In Utah, snowmobile use generates substantial economic activity that is concentrated in the population centers along the Wasatch Front and accrues largely to equipment, gasoline, and food retailers. Snowmobile registrations have been steady over the past two decades while the state’s population has grown, showing a decline in participation rates across the state.
The Economic Impact of Outdoor Recreation and the Whitefish Trail in Whitefish, Montana
In Whitefish, Montana, outdoor recreation is the most important reason why residents stay and visitors come to the community. On the Whitefish Trail, 22,000 annual uses by visitors (30% of total use) generates $3.6 million in spending and supports 68 jobs.
Trail Usage and Value: A Helena, MT Case Study
In Helena, Montana, an 80-mile hiking and mountain biking trail system attracts more than 63,000 trail users during the summer. Seven in 10 users are residents, but visitors who use the trail system account for $4 million in spending, support 60 jobs, and generate $185,000 in state and local taxes.
Association Between User-Generated Commuting Data and Population-Representative Active Commuting Surveillance Data—Four Cities, 2014-2015
One of the primary concerns about data from GPS tracking apps is that the users tend to be more frequent recreators or commuters and therefore do not accurately represent the actual population. This paper shows that there is a strong correlation between the reported share of people in a neighborhood commuting by active transportation between the American Community Survey (a nationally representative survey) and Strava (a GPS tracking app).
Economic Impact and Importance of Snowmobiling in Idaho
Across Idaho, the counties with the most snowmobile use and associated spending on trips are the counties with the best access to snowmobile trails. Spending on equipment, which is highly lucrative, happens mostly in population centers and not in the destination communities.