County Commissioners Protecting America's Natural Resources 

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Economic Value of Wilderness

A new report shows community economic health is associated with Roadless and Protected Lands.  "People and communities in counties with protected Wilderness have witnessed increased economic growth and improved quality of life over the past 30 years," said economist Rob Southwick, one of the report's authors.

The study investigated income and employment data from 1969 to 1997 in 410 western counties.  The results showed that counties with more roadless and protected areas experienced faster income and employment growth over that period of time.  This growth is attributed to the influx of tourists, small business owners and retirees who are drawn by the region's natural amenities and breadth of recreational activities.

"People really benefit in two ways from protecting roadless areas and national monuments," said Dr. Dominick Della Sala, Director of the World Wildlife Fund Klamath-Siskiyou Regional Program, which commissioned the study with the Oregon Natural Resources Council.  "They benefit from stronger economic growth and their children benefit by protecting the environment for their future," he added.

Della Sala also noted that roadless areas and national monuments contain some of the best habitat for fish and wildlife and are key to the economic security of regional economies.  This report is additional evidence that non-extractive uses of natural resources are the economic wave of the future.

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Masthead photo credits: Rolf Sklar, Curtis J. Carley FWS, NOAA