The economic argument for protecting public lands
“The public will no doubt be surprised at the economic importance of this industry as (we measure) the impact of activities like boating, fishing, RVing, hunting, camping, hiking and more.”
The speaker is U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The industry goes under the broad name of outdoor recreation. It was a $374 billion business in 2016, accounting for 2 percent of the gross domestic product. Its revenues had grown that year by 3.8 percent, about 36 percent faster than the overall economy.
Without an environmentally healthy and accessible outdoors, the industry’s consumers have no place to recreate. The Trump administration obsesses over how environmental regulations hurt employment in coal and other fossil fuel industries. Let’s now look at how weak environmental policies destroy jobs.
In addition to slashing the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by 23 percent — never mind the perversity of putting the ethically challenged Scott Pruitt in charge — the administration and allied Republicans are hot to turn over public lands to mining and other extractive industries. These include the very places that outdoors people visit.
Angry with Utah lawmakers for trying to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments for the benefit of these industrial uses, Outdoor Retailer, a huge trade show, moved its January event to Denver after two decades in Salt Lake City. Attracting attendees from around the world, Outdoor Retailer brought in $45 million to Utah every year.
Peter Metcalf, founder of Black Diamond, a mountain climbing and skiing equipment company based in Utah, was particularly incensed at his state’s leadership. A stunning environment, he said, helped lure the likes of eBay, Goldman Sachs and Adobe to Utah. “Now you want to be the Ebola state of policies that destroy (public lands)?”
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