Benefits of Wilderness

 

As research on federally designated Wilderness areas expands, it becomes increasingly evident just how valuable these protected areas are for recreation, economic growth and ecological services.  Not only are these areas beautiful to hike, fish and hunt in, they purify water, help control flooding and regulate our climate. These protected forest areas also provide the scenic backdrop important for the economic vitality of our local communities.

 

RECREATION AND TOURISM

People seek wilderness areas for many reasons, including recreation, solitude and even for proximity to a new home.

 

• A nationwide study showed that 72% considered wilderness a major factor in their decision to move to that county. (Rudzitis &Johnson 2000)

 

• Tourism related to wilderness areas and other wildlands benefits numerous sectors of local economies. The average visitor spends about $30 a day in overall expenses, such as gasoline, food, film and other supplies.  (Loomis & Richardson 2000)

 

• U.S. Forest Service (USFS) economists have found that users place a substantially higher value on recreation activities undertaken in wilderness areas.  (Haynes & Horne 1997)

 

• Wilderness areas provide excellent opportunities for hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing.  These activities brought over $1.6 billion to Illinois businesses in 2001, according to the 2001 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation in Illinois.  All of these activities are allowed in wilderness areas.  These statistics do not even include hikers, backpackers, bicyclists, canoers, rock climbers, etc. (U.S. Department of Interior 2001)

 

THE RURAL ECONOMY

Wilderness area plays a role in diversifying a county’s economy.

 

• Outdoor recreation in national forest contributes nearly $100 billion a year to our nation’s Gross Domestic Product and 2.5 million jobs. (USFS website)

 

• Counties with a higher percentage of wilderness have faster growth in total income, employment, per capita income and population than counties without wilderness. Total employment in wilderness counties grew 65% faster than in non-wilderness counties. (Lorah 2000)

 

• Wilderness enhances nearby private property values.  In the area near the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, land prices are higher near wilderness, and decrease with distance (Phillips 2000)

 

• Between 1990 and 1995, the federal government lost $4,278,000 on timber sales in the Shawnee National Forest. The cessation of logging in 1996 has given private timber owners the freedom to sell their timber without the pressure of subsidized, below-market cost Shawnee National Forest timber sales. (O’Toole)

 

• Counties with national forest land receive an annual payment from the federal government based on national forest acreage to compensate for the lack of property tax revenue.  Wilderness designation will not affect this source of local revenue because the payment is no longer dependent on the national forest timber harvest levels.  In fact, the payments to counties within the Shawnee have nearly doubled since 1995, that last year of commercial timber sales on the Shawnee. (BLM Web site)

 

ECOSYSTEM VALUES

Wilderness areas contribute crucial services to the environment that economists are just beginning to understand and quantify.

 

• Ecosystem functions - such as carbon storage, nutrient cycling and waste treatment - for temperate forests like Illinois’ provide tremendous value: $122 per acre per year.  Forests retain carbon, which helps regulate the climate by reducing carbon dioxide, and clean the air of pollution.  (Costanza et. al 1998)

 

• Over 84,000 people get their water from water systems that include Shawnee National Forest lands in their watershed - from Cedar Lake, Lake Kinkaid, and Lake of Egypt.  Many other people in southernmost Illinois rely on Shawnee Forest lands to help keep their well water clean.  (EPA website 2003)

 

• Local water treatment plants and highway departments save money because of the ecological services natural areas provide, including flood control and water filtering.  This benefit was estimated to range from $130,000 to $260,000 annually for one town located adjacent to a relatively small national forest of 631,000 acres.  (Loomis 1988)

 

Sources

Bureau of Land Management. PILT web site (www.blm.gov/pilt).

 

Costanza, et al. 1998. The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services. Ecological Economics 25: 3-15.

 

Environmental Protection Agency. 2003. Haynes, R. and Horne, A. 1997. Chapter 6: Economic Assessment of the Basin, in An Assessment of Ecosystem Components in the Interior Columbia Basin and Portions of the Klamath and Great Basins. Portland, OR: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service.

 

Loomis, J. 1988. Economic Benefits of Pristine Watersheds. American Wilderness Alliance, Denver, Co.

 

Loomis, J. and Richardson, R. 2000. Economic Values of Protecting Roadless Areas in the United States. The Wilderness Society.

 

Lorah, P. 2000. Population Growth, Economic Security and Cultural Change in Wilderness Counties, in Cole, D. and McCool, S. Proceedings: Wilderness Science in a Time of Change Conference (May 1999). Proc. RMRS-P-15-Vol. 2, 2000. Ogden, UT: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

 

Phillips, S. 2000. Windfalls for Wilderness: Land Protection and Land Value in the Green Mountains. The Wilderness Society Ecology and Economics Research.

 

O’Toole, R. Director and Senior Economist at the Thoreau Institute, Bandon, OR

 

Rudzitis, G. and Johnson, 2000. The Impact of Wilderness and Other Wildlands on Local Economies and Regional Development Trends, in Cole, D. and McCool, S. Proceedings: Wilderness Science in a Time of Change Conference (May 1999). Proc. RMRS-P-15-Vol. 2, 2000. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

 

U.S. EPA. 2003. Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) at EPA website address: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/sdwis/sdwis_query.html

 

USDI. 2002. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, Illinois.USDA Forest Service. March 2001. Summary of Timber Sale Revenue and Expenses on National Forests in the Southeast, Fiscal Year 1998. Timber Sale Program Information Reporting System.