DENVER (September 27, 2007) - A panel of Western economists today described a Rocky Mountain economy in which the role of oil and gas development and other extractive industries remains small while the importance of public lands and other amenities has grown. The trends are examined in a report from The Wilderness Society, Natural Dividends: Wildland Protection and the Changing Economy of the Rocky Mountain West, which synthesizes research on socioeconomic trends.

According to U.S. Department of Commerce data detailed in the report, extractive-industry income in the Rocky Mountain economy has declined in the last 30 years, with oil and gas extraction accounting for just 1.3 percent of total personal income in the region in 2005. Meanwhile, retirees and entrepreneurs, attracted in large part by public lands and other amenities, are bringing jobs and income to the region and becoming an important indicator of an area's overall economic health and potential future prosperity.

"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 Dr. Larry Swanson of the University of Montana. "Areas that are not taking care of their surrounding landscapes and land and water resources will have much less to offer in the future and will degrade their potentials for long-term sustained prosperity. Obviously, we still need to pursue oil and gas and other energy resources, but we will have to be increasingly careful as to how and where we do this, accounting for the rising economic importance of our amenity assets. Special measures must be taken to protect them, assuring that our region's communities can maintain their long-term economic viability well beyond the oftentimes limited lives of area fossil fuel deposits. 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." Dr. Swanson has conducted hundreds of studies of area economies throughout the West and has documented the importance of area environmental quality and public lands to area economic growth and vitality. More information on his work can be found at crmw.org.

Other researchers throughout the region are also finding that amenities play an important role in western economies. "Our research, based on housing values and wages in the Southwest shows that on average, workers in this region are both willing to pay more for homes near national forest lands and that they are also willing to accept lower wages," said Dr. Jennifer Thacher of the University of New Mexico. "Proximity to the amenities that the public lands provide serves in essence as a 'second paycheck.' In other words, some individuals are willing to accept lower wages to live near forests because they value the recreational opportunities or the view. Combining our estimates of the impact of these amenities on housing value and wages, we find that overall, individuals place a positive dollar value on having national forests and wilderness in the area n which they live as well as in the contiguous area."

 "Annual report cards for the eight-state Rockies consistently reveal dynamic changes in the region's economy, with spectacular, world-class scenery and recreation increasingly underpinning the welfare of communities and the land." reports Dr. Walter Hecox, an economist at The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, who runs the "State of the Rockies" Project. These changes occur as periodically the Rockies is called upon to extract energy and minerals for the nation from its vast resources. The Rockies Project confirms what is more difficult to detect: the region's equally vast and rich "natural amenities" that attract new people and jobs to the region and increasingly drive the region's communities and their economies. "Outsiders and residents alike too often fail to understand the dramatic changes that have altered the Rockies," says Hecox. "For instance, a sparse 2% of the region's population lives in completely rural counties; a mere 4% of employment is based on agriculture and natural resource extraction; and levels of college education (25%) mimic national levels." An April 2007 Report Card section on "energy development in the Rockies: tempering the boom, avoiding the bust" analyzes the current energy boom and its impacts on rural communities and surrounding land, water and air. As in decades past, the Rocky Mountain States are being asked to shoulder immense socio-economic and environmental costs even as "boom town" conditions add jobs and income. "Few think as they fill up their gas tanks that at the other end of the hose are immense human, social and environmental impacts, often not adequately identified let alone compensated," responds Prof. Hecox. "Careful balancing of energy development along side protection and enhancement of involved environments is key to mapping out a responsible role for the Rockies in the nation's energy mix."

More information on the Rockies Report Cards and the State of the Rockies Project is available online.

The Rocky Mountain States are home to many businesses which provide jobs and income for local residents. Once such business is footwear manufacturer Chaco, located in Paonia, Colorado. Chaco's founder chose this Rocky Mountain town in part because of the surrounding natural amenities. Chaco realizes that the region's abundant public lands and high environmental quality attract skilled workers - making their business a success and a sought after work place. "We were just named as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Colorado for 2007," says Dave Knutson, Chaco's lead on sustainability. "Our location allows for access to local climbing, skiing, river running and mountain biking. This is a key attractor when we recruit professionals from the Outdoor Industry."

"We have long known that wildlands are important to individuals for many reasons," says Dr. Michelle Haefele of The Wilderness Society. "What this large and growing body of research is telling us is that these lands are important for whole communities as well."

Despite widespread assumptions to the contrary, resource extraction industries, while important locally to some communities, are not large contributors to personal income in the Rocky Mountain region, adds Haefele. The contribution of oil and gas extraction is roughly where it was 30 years ago - about 1.3 percent of total personal income in 2005, the last for which data was available.

"Given the current drilling boom, oil and gas contributes a remarkably small percentage to personal income in the Rockies," says Haefele. "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."