Mike and Marie Smith’s lodging business at their Three Rivers Resort near Lowell was tied to the traffic that passed by along U.S. 12 when they bought it in the 1970s.
Today, by their own design, the resort is a destination for hunters, anglers, hikers and whitewater rafters. The rafting business operated by their son is bigger than even the hotel business. They made their success by selling the wild character of the forests, mountains and rivers where they live.
“It’s important for our business that the public lands are here and accessible,” Marie Smith said.
Last week, more than 100 economists urged President Barack Obama to “create jobs and support businesses by investing in our public lands infrastructure and establishing new protected areas such as parks, wilderness and monuments.”
The list of signers includes three Nobel laureates: Kenneth Arrow, Stanford University; Robert Solow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University.
Plenty of studies show that areas around parks and wilderness areas are growing faster than other rural areas and have higher land values. There is little evidence that “locking up” these areas, as opponents like Idaho Gov. Butch Otter describe wilderness protection, reduces jobs or land value.
Still, Idaho offers anecdotal evidence that simply creating wilderness doesn’t automatically create wealth for surrounding communities.
Communities like Grangeville, Elk City, Salmon, Challis and Lowman have not thrived since the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness was established in 1980.
PROTECT IT, AND THEY WILL COME?
Salmon, McCall, Stanley and Riggins have benefited from the tens of thousands of whitewater rafters, hikers, hunters, anglers and horse packers attracted to the Frank. But without commercial air service, broadband Internet connections and other convenient links to the outside world, higher-income development hasn’t followed.
“It’s not a case of ‘protect natural areas and the income will come,’ ” said Ray Rasker of Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Mont., who signed the letter. “It’s more nuanced.”
The places that have benefited more are Boise, Ketchum-Sun Valley and Idaho Falls, Rasker said. These are the places with the airports, education systems and other amenities that allow footloose, high-income workers — engineers and architects — to do business while having access to Idaho’s wild places.
‘THEY’RE CHOOSING HERE’
Andy Munter, owner of Backwoods Mountain Sports in Ketchum, was cross-country skiing Thursday afternoon in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area before coming back to close up the store. His customers include tourists and the residents of Idaho’s most opulent community.
“I feel pretty strongly that uncrowded wild country is a resource that is disappearing around the world and people seek it,” Munter said. “Many people who live here can live any place in the world, and they’re choosing here.”
The Wood River Valley has been struggling with whether to build a new airport or extend its runway, which today can’t land certain jets. The issue is the most critical economic factor for its future, Rasker’s research suggests.
“In the West there seems to be a magical set of circumstances, the combination of protected public lands, an educated workforce and airports,” Rasker said.
ATTRACTING THE BOOMERS
But communities that aren’t big enough to support commercial air service do have alternatives, he said. One is to develop their health care facilities so they can attract the growing number of retiring baby boomers.
Salmon touts the Discovery Care Center, a modern assisted-living facility and skilled nursing home, along with the access to spectacular mountains, forests and rivers in the relocation packet it uses to promote itself to potential newcomers.
The city has mailed out more than 200 packets in the past year, and Salmon Valley Chamber of Commerce President Cori Allen said the response has been good.
Salmon has held its own through several mine openings and closings, as well as the closing of the local sawmill in the 1990s. Ranching has been its stable economic base, but tourism tied to the wilderness has slowly grown through the years.
Today, lots of companies are exploring for minerals on the surrounding public lands, and Formation Metals is expecting to open a cobalt mine nearby in 2012. Combined with tourism, that contributes to a positive sense in the community about the future, Allen said.
“There are people here taking risks and making businesses work,” she said.
The chamber has a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop trail maps, but the community is in the early stages of developing the trail system that Allen said will link the town to nearby public lands.
“We’re kind of like Boise in the ’60s, when they started buying up land for the Greenbelt,” she said.
WEIGHING THE OPPORTUNITY COSTS
Northwest Nazarene Economics Professor Peter Crabb was not among the economists who signed the letter. But he agrees that there is a multipliereffect when the government spends money on public lands like national parks. A study he did for the Idaho Department of Lands showed as much.
But what is not as clear is whether setting aside parks and wilderness will produce more wealth than some comparable economic endeavor, Crabb said. Idaho might create even more wealth if the public lands were privatized.
That would likely mean less public access, and maybe not even equal the benefits that open space provides, he said. Imagine Yellowstone turned into high-end resorts, mines and plants pumping out geothermal power, lumber and paper.
“If we value more open space, great,” Crabb said. “The tradeoff is going to be economic growth and jobs.”
A GOOD TRADE-OFF
Even before Three Rivers Resort became a destination business, its fate was tied to public lands, Marie Smith says. U.S. 12 was a major route for people going from the West Coast to Yellowstone and Glacier national parks.
“The minute Glacier got snow in August, we saw our business dry up,” Smith said.
Smith remembers when her neighbors were unhappy with the restrictions imposed when the corridor along the Lochsa, Selway and Clearwater rivers was protected under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
They are happy with the tradeoffs now.
“Over the years the people have come to love it, because they’re not putting a McDonald’s across the street from us,” she said.
Rocky Barker: 377-6484
<Letter from the economists
November 30, 2011
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
As economists and academics in related fields, we believe that federal protected public lands are essential to the West's economic future. These public lands, including national parks, wilderness areas and national monuments, attract innovative companies and workers, and are an essential component of the region's competitive advantage.
The West's public lands contribute to our economic well being in a variety of ways, including resource extraction and recreation. These activities can and must coexist with expanding protections for America's world-class natural amenities.
The U.S. is now predominantly a service-based economy, and the fastest-growing regions are those that have been able to attract talented workers, entrepreneurs, and investors across all sectors of the economy. In the West especially, public lands play a pivotal role in attracting and retaining people and businesses. This is the case for all sectors, including manufacturing.
The rivers, lakes, canyons, and mountains found on public lands serve as a unique and compelling backdrop that has helped to transform the western economy from a dependence on resource extractive industries to growth from in-migration, tourism, and modern economy sectors such as finance, engineering, software development, insurance, and health care.
Today, one of the competitive strengths of the West is the unique combination of wide-open spaces, scenic vistas and recreational opportunities alongside vibrant, growing communities that are connected to larger markets via the Internet, highways and commercial air service.
Increasingly, entrepreneurs are basing their business location decisions on the quality of life in an area. Businesses are recruiting talented employees by promoting access to beautiful, nearby public lands. This is happening in western cities and rural areas alike.
Together with investment in education and access to markets, studies have repeatedly shown that protected public lands are significant contributors to economic growth.
America's public lands can be used responsibly while expanding protections for the nation's world- class natural amenities. We urge you to create jobs and support businesses by investing in our public lands infrastructure and establishing new protected areas such as parks, wilderness, and monuments.
Sincerely,
The following individuals have endorsed the contents of this letter. Institutional references are provided for identification only.
Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University (Emeritus), Nobel Laureate, California
Robert M. Solow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Emeritus), Nobel Laureate, Massachusetts
Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University, Nobel Laureate, New York
HJ Albers, Oregon State University, Oregon
Donna M. Anderson, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, Wisconsin
Paul Baer, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia
Richard Barrett, University of Montana, Montana House of Representatives, Montana
Mimi Larsen Becker, University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire
Frank Benford, Economist, Oregon
Robert P. Berrens, University of New Mexico, New Mexico
William B. Beyers, University of Washington (Emeritus), Washington
Douglas Booth, Marquette University (retired), Wisconsin
Gardner Brown, University of Washington (Emeritus), Washington
Greg Brown, Central Washington University, Washington
Arthur J. Caplan, Utah State University, Utah
David Carrier, Appalachian Regional Commission, District of Columbia
Ken Casavant, Washington State University, Washington
Karen Conway, University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire
Douglas Dalenberg, University of Montana, Montana
Ray Dezzani, University of Idaho, Idaho
Ernest Diedrich, Saint John’s University, Minnesota
Christopher A. Erickson, New Mexico State University, New Mexico
Jon Erickson, University of Vermont, Vermont
Frank L. Farmer, University of Arkansas, Arkansas
Yeganeh H. Farzin, University of California – Davis, California
Paul Ferraro, Georgia State University, Georgia
Nicholas E. Flores, University of Colorado – Boulder, Colorado
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Massachusetts
David Gallo, California State University – Chico (Emeritus), California
Heidi Garrett-Peltier, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Massachusetts
Eban Goodstein, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, New York
Neva Goodwin, Tufts University, Massachusetts
Hannah Gosnell, Oregon State University, Oregon
Kyle Gracey, Global Footprint Network, California
Philip Graves, University of Colorado – Boulder, Colorado
Daphne Greenwood, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, Colorado
Michelle Haefele, Economist, Colorado
Dan Hagen, Western Washington University, Washington
Robin Hahnel, Portland State University, Oregon
Darwin C. Hall, California State University – Long Beach (Emeritus), California
Walt Hecox, Colorado College State of the Rockies Project, Colorado
Steve Henson, Western Washington University, Washington
Taylor Hesselgrave, Economics for Equity and the Environment Network, Oregon
Richard B. Howarth, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
Ray G. Huffaker, University of Florida, Florida
Nan Jenks-Jay, Middlebury College, Vermont
Harley Johansen, University of Idaho, Idaho
Jerry D. Johnson, Montana State University, Montana
Desmond Jolly, University of California – Davis (Emeritus), California
Sudiksha Joshi, West Virginia University, West Virginia
Frederic B. Jennings Jr., Center for Ecological Economic and Ethical Education, Massachusetts
Jonathan Isham, Jr., Middlebury College, Vermont
Christopher Juniper, CORE, Colorado
Maureen Kilkenny, Economist, Nevada
Chris McGrory Klyza, Middlebury College, Vermont
Richard L. Knight, Colorado State University, Colorado
John A. Laitner, Economic and Human Dimensions Research Associates, Arizona
Megan Lawson, Economist, Montana
David Lewis, University of Puget Sound, Washington
Peter M. Lichtenstein, Boise State University (Emeritus), Idaho
John Loomis, Colorado State University, Colorado
Paul Lorah, University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
Christine Loucks, Boise State University, Idaho
David Marcouiller, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin
Wade E. Martin, California State University – Long Beach, California
Mark McBeth, Idaho State University, Idaho
Deirdre N. McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois
Don McLeod, University of Wyoming, Wyoming
Pete Morton, Economist, Colorado
Brian Murray, Duke University, North Carolina
Don Negri, Willamette University, Oregon
Julie Nelson, University of Massachusetts – Boston, Massachusetts
Peter Nelson, Middlebury College, Vermont
Noelwah Netusil, Reed College, Oregon
Ernie Niemi, Economist, Oregon
Roger Noll, Stanford University (Emeritus), California
Richard B. Norgaard, University of California – Berkeley, California
Mark Partridge, Ohio State University, Ohio
Nate Peach, George Fox University, Oregon
James Pittman, Prescott College, Arizona
Thomas Michael Power, University of Montana, Montana
Ray Rasker, Headwaters Economics, Montana
Robert B. Richardson, Michigan State University, Michigan
Dan Rickman, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma
Alexander Rist, Economist, King County Department on Natural Resources and Parks, Seattle, Washington
Gundars Rudzitis, University of Idaho, Idaho
Peter Schaeffer, West Virginia University, West Virginia
Douglass Shaw, Texas A&M University, Texas
Kristen Sheeran, Economics for Equity and the Environment Network, Oregon
Nathan Sivers-Boyce, Willamette University, Oregon
Kenneth A. Small, University of California – Irvine, California
Rob Southwick, Southwick Associates, Inc., Florida
Tesa Stegner, Idaho State University, Idaho
David Theobald, Colorado State University, Colorado
George Tolley, University of Chicago (Emeritus), Illinois
Austin Troy, University of Vermont, Vermont
John Tschirhart, University of Wyoming, Wyoming
William Ward, Clemson University, South Carolina
John C. Whitehead, Appalachian State University, North Carolina
John Willoughby, American University, District of Columbia
Randall K. Wilson, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania
Maggie Winslow, Presidio Graduate School, California
Michael W. "Mick" Womersley, Unity College, Maine
Richard O. Zerbe, University of Washington, Washington
Cc:
Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
U.S. Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
