The U.S. Department of Interior has nearly doubled the economic value it assigns to recreational visits to the federal lands it manages, according to an economic impact report it released last week.
The study estimates that lands managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior hosted 437 million recreational visits in 2010 that supported 388,000 jobs nationwide and contributed over $48 billion in economic activity. Thats twice the $25 billion the Department estimated in a preliminary report it produce in 2009 using 2008 data.
Interior said the higher estimate is at least partly due to the use of new expenditure profiles which reflect larger estimated per day visitor expenses. The study pegs average spending per day at $37.65 for recreational visitors.
That estimate caused Interior to also increase its estimate of recreation related employment to between 15.38 jobs per million dollars spent in Arkansas and 19.98 jobs per million spent in Eastern States. Thats roughly twice the ratio reported per million dollars spent on mineral extraction.
Alternative uses of public lands such as outdoor recreation and conservation have gained in economic importance to rural communities, reads the report. Selling recreation related goods and services such as lodging, guide services, and equipment to public land visitors has become a vital part of many rural economies.
Still, the economic impact of energy development and mining on federal lands remains vastly larger. Energy development and mining on lands Interior manages supported about 1.3 million jobs and $246 billion in economic activity in 2010.
