Off-Road Motorcycle Riders- Wilderness Area Economics

Off-Road Riders Spend Money! Study claims “Wilderness” designations have negative impact on local economies.

Wilderness area sign

Of all federal land-use designations, “Wilderness” is the most restrictive. It prohibits roads, road construction, motorized travel, mechanized equipment, logging, mining, telecommunication towers, transmission lines and energy pipelines. Environmentalists often claim that “Wilderness” attracts tourism and boosts local economies. According to a recent study by Utah State University, very often the opposite is true.

“The argument often stated by the environmental community that Wilderness is good for local economies is simply not supported by the data,” states the summary of “The Economic Costs of Wilderness.” Released in 2011, the study was written by Brian Steed, Ryan Yonk and Randy Simmons of the John M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State.

Conclusions from the study—and useful talking points for OHV advocates to bring to meetings that involve the Wilderness designation—are important to note:

• When comparing Wilderness and non-Wilderness counties, Wilderness counties are at an economic disadvantage to their non-Wilderness counterparts. Accordingly, if the test for whether or not to designate Wilderness is economic, Wilderness fails.

• Economics did not underlie the Wilderness Act or any of the Wilderness areas established since the Act was passed (1964). Wilderness is established for emotional, ecological and cultural purposes. Results show that those purposes are accomplished at a cost to local economies.

• Controlling for other factors influencing county economic conditions, the Wilderness designation is
significantly associated with lower per capita income, lower total payroll and lower total tax receipts in
counties.

• Despite these differing views, Congress has continued creating Wilderness areas. There are 759 Wilderness Areas currently in the U.S., totaling 109,663,992 acres. Only six states contain no Wilderness: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland and Rhode Island.

• Wilderness is managed by four federal agencies: the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management.

To read the entire study, go to http://www.environmentaltrends.org/single/article/the-economic-costs-of-wilderness.html.

Dave Halsey contributes to the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) newsletter, is a member of its board of directors and leader of the “clubs and associations” team.

Dustin Edwards

Yes sometimes preserving our planet harms the economy. It’s not always about profit today sometimes it should be about sustainability tomorrow. I mean if we want to continue to live on this planet that is.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000514797991 Will Holcomb

With
all the rigid rules, how many people in a decade use a given area of
wilderness. That makes it very expensive land. Aldo Leoplold said that
in order to love and protect wild places, you must first care about
them, and that only happens if you visit those wild places. I understand
there is a continuum of services available along the scale of amusement
park to remote designated wilderness. How much designated wilderness do
we really need if we can’t use it for our niche of the outdoor hobbies?
Billions of people have been to Disney World and care about anything
that happens there. How many more than a handfull of people have been
inside a desert wilderness down a remote road, in some corner near the
border? And how many would care if it became a military bombing range
because they spent time there?

The same is true for counties in Florida that are dominated by National or State Forests. Vast expanses of land are beautifully entombed out of touch of property taxes or development potential. The National Parks are the same except the strip just outside the front gate. And the resident of those counties have few, if any, county parks or preserves to recreate in because there is no tax base to pay for a county park, and there is no land available for the facility. They become a one trick pony….and if it is a rigidly ruled reservation like a “Designated Wilderness” barely anyone comes to visit compared to the three or four county parks or state parks you might expect in the woods or along the river.
http://twitter.com/RobGcf RobG

Wilderness is a joke. It was invented by Environmental Extremists and forced on the unsuspecting public. As illustrated by the article, it destroys local economies, which the Green movement is fine with. The planet doesn’t need protecting, at least not to this degree. There is NO reason to restrict mixed used recreation in these areas. Many Wilderness Areas are technically illegal anyway, because they already contain roads and buildings, which would have exempted them from consideration in the first place… but that was conveniently ignored by the extremists who want Wilderness at All Costs.

It’s been proven, for example, that snowmobiles do not damage the land. Their tracks disappear with the next snowfall. They should be allowed. Same goes with mountain bikes — yet it’s claimed that a mountain bike’s skidding tires destroy the trails. Yet horses are allowed, which, at an average of 1200 lbs each, do far more damage and leave giant piles of smoldering poo everywhere.