When it comes to the economy of the Rocky Mountain West, recreation and
tourism trumps oil and gas development and other traditional land uses,
according to a new report from the Wilderness Society.
When it comes to the economy of the Rocky Mountain West, recreation and
tourism trumps oil and gas development and other traditional land uses,
according to a new report from the Wilderness Society.
The report, "Natural Dividends: Wildland Protection and the
Changing Economy of the Rocky Mountain West," concludes that while the
economic contributions of extractive industries remained static, the
importance of non-extractive amenities on public lands has grown
substantially. Recreation and tourism generate hundreds of millions of
dollars, and income from retirees and investments comprises about 25
percent of the region's economy, according to the report.
"The driver for the economic expansion that has occurred in
the larger Rocky Mountain West region over the last 15 or more years is
the amenities that have attracted more and more people, businesses, and
income to our region," said Larry Swanson of the University of Montana,
during a Sept. 27 teleconference.
And cities and states that do not take care of land and water
resources will "have much less to offer in the future," undermining
their potential for economic security, Swanson added.
Price increases and a rise in demand has prompted an energy
boom in the Rocky Mountain West, giving rise to conflicts over oil and
gas development projects throughout the region, from Colorado's Roan
Plateau to New Mexico's Otero Mesa. In the report, the Wilderness
Society advocates gradually phasing in energy development to ensure
that natural areas, air quality and water resources are not impaired.
Since the lifetime of fossil fuel developments is limited,
communities would be wise to pursue other economic endeavors that
protect the environment and generate long-term benefits, Swanson said.
"There is simply no question whatsoever that we must be firm
in our protection of land and water quality if we are to sustain our
economic prosperity in the future," he said.
"The Marlboro cowboy economy is a consistent myth," added
Walter Hecox, an economics professor at Colorado College in Colorado
Springs, which puts together a "State of the Rockies" report each year.
The Rocky Mountain region's rich "natural amenities,"
including its scenery and recreational opportunities, attract new jobs
and new people to the area, he said. About 4 percent of employment is
based on agriculture and natural resource extraction, he said.
"Outsiders and residents alike too often fail to understand the dramatic changes that have altered the Rockies," Hecox said.
Michelle Haefele of the Wilderness Society said that while
extractive industries like oil and gas development and mining are
important locally to some communities, they are not large contributors
to personal income in the region, despite the recent boom in energy
development. For instance, the contribution of oil and gas extraction
is about the same today as it was 30 years ago -- about 1.3 percent of
total personal income in 2005, the last year data was collected.
"Given the current drilling boom, oil and gas contributes a
remarkably small percentage to personal income in the Rockies," she
said. "Clearly, most Western counties are not resource dependent, but
instead have developed diversified economies that increasingly depend
on recreation, retirees, and the professional and service sectors."
West in transition
Bruce Babbitt, who served as Interior Secretary under President Clinton and grew up in Arizona, also sees a transformed West.
"I think there's a real change under way in the West, with
increasing urbanization, all of the large population centers around the
West," said Babbitt, who was not on the conference call. "People are
beginning to look out and take a much more direct interest in the
public lands."
Industry representatives noted that traditional energy
development is still an important economic sector in the Rockies.
According to a June study by the Colorado Energy Research Institute,
Colorado's oil and gas industry contributed about $23 billion to the
state's economy in 2005.
Marc Smith of the Independent Petroleum Association of
Mountain States (IPAMS), an industry group representing more than 400
independent oil and natural gas producers, said that production in the
Rockies has increased 70 percent over the past 10 years, and the region
now provides about 20 percent of the nation's natural gas. About 50
percent of the royalty revenue from federal lands goes back to the
states, he said.
In 2006, oil and gas production in Wyoming employed 15,000
people and contributed $711 million in severance taxes and $768 million
in property taxes -- 33 percent of property tax receipts. In New
Mexico, another of the Rocky Mountain region's top oil and gas
producing states, the industry employed 18,000 people in 2006, and
payments to the state in taxes and royalties amounted to $2.6 billion,
Smith said. Severance taxes brought in $489 million to New Mexico last
year, and $126 million in property taxes.
The Intermountain West has seen an increase in production of
natural gas by more than 50 percent in the last decade and will become
the largest supplier of gas in the United States this year, according
to IPAMS.
And while more development brings more of an impact on land
and water resources, the influx of people flocking to the region does
as well, Smith noted. "Which has a bigger impact, a new housing
development that eats up a meadow, or a couple of small gas wells that
are reclaimed in 20 years?"
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