Boon or Bust: Wilderness Designation and Local Economies

Using cross-sectional time series analysis, we find no evidence that wilderness land designations result in positive economic outcomes for local economies. Rather, our results suggest that formal wilderness designations accompany worse economic outcomes, particularly when considering median househol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of private enterprise Vol. 31; no. 3; p. 1
Main Authors Yonk, Ryan M, Steed, Brian C, Simmons, Randy T, Martin, R Christopher
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Martin Association of Private Enterprise Education 01.10.2016
Subjects
Economic conditions
Economic growth
Family income
Forests
Government agencies
Highway construction
Land use planning
Legislatures
Mineral exploration
National monuments
National parks
Political activism
Public lands
Roads & highways
Statistical analysis
Time series
Wilderness areas
Wildlife conservation
United States > US
Utah
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Summary:Using cross-sectional time series analysis, we find no evidence that wilderness land designations result in positive economic outcomes for local economies. Rather, our results suggest that formal wilderness designations accompany worse economic outcomes, particularly when considering median household income, total tax receipts, and total payroll payments. We further find that diverse motivations lead to wilderness designations. The designations may meet political, environmental, and conservation goals, but our findings suggest that claims that wilderness designations promote economic growth are unfounded. Recognizing that designations impose costs on local economies should inform a consensus-building approach to new wilderness area designations.
ISSN:0890-913X