In a recent Government report titled GDP Effects of Forest Service Resource Use Activities, the USFS stated that recreation on National Forest lands only contributes $11 billion to the Gross Domestic Product in 2002, compared to a 1997 estimate of $111 billion. While, on the surface this seems to be more ammunition for the extractive industries expansion into the few remaining wilderness areas in the U.S., even with these revised numbers there is a strong argument for recreations contribution to the U.S. economy.
Under the current report, recreation, hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing account for 60% of the Forest Services contribution to the U.S. economy while extractive industries only account for 39%. The remainder is attributed to grazing activities.
This recent report effectively cuts the size of the National Forest Services contribution from 1.1% of the total GDP, or $130 billion, to less than one-tenth of a percent, or $19.1 billion. A revision like this is creating some serious doubts among analysts about the validity of the data.
Frank Hugelmeyer, OIAs president, told BOSS, “We spoke with Ski Utah and they said that Utah ski resorts contribute $800 million to the economy. Colorado resorts are closer to $2.5 billion. Add all national ski areas and that brings the economic impact of ski resorts close to $10 billion. Thats not even counting camping, backpacking, hunting, and fishing ”
The report also claims “There is no secondary economic activity beyond the immediate users (recreation visitor spending) for recreation uses.” According to OIAs recent top-line retail sales report, sales of gear associated with human powered outdoor recreation contributes $20.1 billion a year to the U.S. economy, outstripping the entire GDP contribution of the US Forest Service. This is a significant source of “secondary economic activity” since a vast majority of this gear is used in National Forests.
“We are interested, first in seeing how they can defend these numbers, and second what they will be doing with them,” said Hugelmeyer. “I am very interested in seeing exactly what this administration is going to do with these numbers A very large part, if not all of the recreation community is borderline outraged over this report, and the Forest Service is fighting a bit of credibility gap.”
In spite of this credibility gap, Hugelmeyer points out that recreation contributes the most to the Forest System in terms of dollars and individual users, no matter which administration is reporting the numbers.
>>> BOSS gets the feeling this Forest Service administration will do whatever it wants, regardless of whether the numbers are right or wrong
