The Chalk Hills Valley Grasslands Heritage Wilderness Proposal

Economic Factsheet

Recreation and Tourism Industry on the Rise

• As the new economic reality shifts long-term from extractive industries toward recreation, tourism, the service sector and information technology, evidence shows increasingly that grazing, mining and drilling are rarely the most economically beneficial uses of public land. (Barcott, Outside magazine, March 2005)
• Sources of new jobs, additional income, and incremental government tax revenues are quite different now from sources of local economic vitality 20 or 30 years ago. (Tom Power, Return of the Wild, 2001)
• Wild, undeveloped places are the economic backbone of the outdoor recreation industry. (Peter Metcalf, Black Diamond Equipment CEO, quoted by Barcott, Outside, 2005)
• Economic value refers to willingness to pay for wilderness, either for direct or indirect use, or simply to know that the wilderness exists (passive-use value). Economic impacts are the sales, jobs and income generated from wilderness visitation. (Rudzitis, “The Impact of Wilderness and Other Wildlands on Local Economies…,” 2000)
• Truly wild places -- roadless and unexploited because of their remoteness, ruggedness and sparse commercial values -- are unique, non-reproducible “gifts of nature” that are increasingly scarce and therefore of increasing value, economically and otherwise. (Power, Return of the Wild, 2001)

Benefits to Hunting and Fishing Operations

• The proposed Chalk Hills Valley wilderness areas are known for their excellent hunting opportunities. Hunting and fishing outfitters gain commercial benefits from wildlands by providing a primitive environment for their clients. (Morton, Wildland Economics: Theory and Practice, 1999)
• Nearly two in ten (18.7 percent of) South Dakotans hunt annually, and together with visitors to the state, spend $194 million on hunting each year. Pheasant hunting alone brings in $93 million.
• Fishing activities bring in $173 million to the state's economy annually, and 22 percent of SD residents over the age of 16 fish each year.
• Nearly half of South Dakota residents (47%) engage in wildlife-watching each year, and together with non-residents spend $92 million annually in these pursuits.

Wilderness as a Business Amenity

• Wilderness pays in direct income from recreational use; in quality-of-life benefit attracting new business and residents; and in passive-use value of maintaining the opportunity to visit wilderness or pass it on to future generations. (Barcott, Outside, March 2005)
• Many economists are now tracking the “lifestyle dividend,” the idea that protected wildlands act as strong economic lures. Businesses deciding their locations are finding they can pay skilled, educated employees somewhat less than national rates because people are willing to trade off a little of their dollar wage for “the nature wage” -- higher quality living environments. (Barcott, Outside, March 2005; Ray Rasker, Sonoran Institute economist)
• Lifestyle amenity factors including higher quality living environments form a key component of the total package that attracts workforce talent, non-recreational businesses and retirees, generating economic growth. Protected wildlands play a key role in attracting a new rural population. (Power, Return of the Wild, 2001)
• As entrepreneurs and businesses place greater importance on amenity and environmental factors in their decisions to locate, developing and promoting a community’s unique character can be an important economic development strategy. (Rudzitis, “The Impact of Wilderness and Other Wildlands on Local Economies…,” 2000) Communities near the first and only prairie grassland wilderness in the nation, in addition to the Badlands and the Black Hills, would have one-of-a-kind promotion appeal.

Quality of Life Benefits

• The actual presence of wilderness serves as a magnet attracting people to the areas, with one study reporting that 72 percent considered it a major factor in their decision to move to their county. These new people increasingly bring incomes and create new non-resource related jobs. (Rudzitis, “The Impact of Wilderness and Other Wildlands on Local Economies…,” 2000)
• Studies find that people are moving to areas near federally designated wilderness and other wildlands because of the environmental amenities associated with such areas. These population increases are having dramatic impacts on the ongoing structure of local and regional economies. (ibid.)
• The Black Hills is a lifestyle-amenity area attracting visitors, new residents and economic activity with its scenic and recreational values, Custer State Park, a forest wilderness and a nearby badlands wilderness area. Adding the first and only prairie grassland wilderness area in the nation would increase the amenity value.

Benefits to Local Economies

• Economic research has repeatedly shown that areas with high-quality natural environments protected as wilderness or parks attract higher levels of economic activity. (Power, The Economics of Wildland Preservation, 2001)
• Counties containing land in wilderness, national parks or monuments experience job growth and income growth higher than the average for non-metropolitan counties. (ibid.)
• A positive correlation exists between the amount of wilderness, national park or monument within 50 miles of a rural county’s center, and growth in income and employment. (ibid.)
• Inventoried roadless areas within 50 miles of a county’s center are positively correlated with employment and income growth. This growth correlation increases in rural counties. (ibid.) The areas of this wilderness proposal contain the largest area free of roads in the entire Great Plains.
• Wilderness resource protection positively affects businesses: outfitters, services to visitors and outdoor recreationists, irrigators, municipal water users, etc. (Power, Return of the Wild, 2001)
• The spending average of wilderness visitors is $30-$40 a day. (ibid.; Loomis, Economic Values of Wilderness, 2000; Rudzitis, “The Impact of Wilderness and Other Wildlands on Local Economies…,” 2000)
• Wilderness areas attract visitors who spend money, and sustainable jobs are tied to outdoor recreation. (Kem Hunter, former mayor of Index, Wash., destination of city kayakers, climbers and campers, quoted by Barcott, Outside, 2005)
• Wildlands are a highly valued part of local quality of life in an area’s economic base. Permanent wildland protection thus strengthens the current and future economic base, and likely sources of additional future jobs and income. (Rudzitis, “The Impact of Wilderness and Other Wildlands on Local Economies…,” 2000)

Increased Property Values

• Wildlands serve as valuable scenic backdrops for resorts and residences on adjacent lands, enhancing property values and tax revenues. (Morton, Wildland Economics: Theory and Practice, 1999)
• Designated federal wilderness enhances nearby land values. (Power, The Economics of Wildland Preservation, 2001; Phillips, Windfalls for Wilderness, 2000)

For more information, contact:

Cheryl Warren, South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition, 605-673-3281
Jim Margadant, Sierra Club, 605-342-2244
Chris Hesla, South Dakota Wildlife Federation, 605-222-1002
Carrie Sandstedt, Campaign for America’s Wilderness, 775-329-9453