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Study: Wild areas help economy Forest industry disputes report about benefits of monuments By Paul Fattig A study requested by two Oregon-based environmental groups concludes that wilderness and other protected areas such as national monuments boost local economies. Conducted by Southwick Associates, an independent research group based in Florida, the study released Thursday indicates that communities with nearby protected areas have witnessed increased economic growth during the past 30 years. The growth was attributed to increased tourism, small businesses and retirees drawn by a region�s natural amenities and outdoor recreational activities. However, a timber industry representative questions those conclusions. The study looked at income and employment data from 1969 through 1997 in 410 counties in the West. Jackson and Josephine were among nine counties studied in Oregon. In Jackson, income and employment generated by extraction industries dropped from 19.1 percent in 1969 to 8.2 percent in 1997, yet total incomes generated by activities associated with nature-based tourism and recreation climbed from 23.7 percent in 1969 to 33.5 percent in 1997, according to the report. In Josephine, the income and employment figures related to logging and similar work dropped from 17.5 percent in 1969 to 4.8 percent in 1997. In contrast, the percentage of total income generated by nature-based tourism, recreation and similar activities rose from 28.1 percent in 1969 to 39.9 percent in 1997. Overall, growth in employment and incomes in the West attributed primarily to expansion of jobs in health care, tourism and services increased from 18 percent in 1969 to 28 percent in 1997, while extraction industry jobs and income dropped from 13.5 percent to 5.1 percent during that period, the study said. The study was paid for by the Oregon Natural Resources Council and the World Wildlife Fund�s Klamath-Siskiyou Regional Program. "What this study shows is there is a new shared bottom line: the economy and the environment is joined at the hip," said Dominick DellaSala, director of WWF�s Klamath-Siskiyou Regional Program. Erin Madden, grassroots coordinator for the ONRC, agreed. "The report supports what many people have been saying all along: A healthy economy and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand," she said. The report�s conclusion comes on the heels of a similar observation made by Langdon Marsh, director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, during a visit to Southern Oregon. But Dave Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, isn�t convinced that setting aside more monuments and wilderness areas will benefit the economy. "I really don�t see how a national monument or wilderness area can generate much income at all," Hill said. For instance, he said, the 52,000-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument created by President Clinton in June would need major development before it would attract paying patrons. "And I don�t think Dave Willis wants to see a lodge on top of Soda Mountain," he said, referring to an environmental activist credited for helping bring monument status to the area located in the mountains immediately southeast of Ashland. "They would have to provide tours, some sort of concession and/or lodging," he added. "But the proponents of those monuments don�t want to see them that highly developed." "One significant timber sale would produce more income than one year�s recreation in a monument area," he said. He believes that extraction activities such as logging can be done alongside outdoor recreational activities. "You can have both," he said. But DellaSala counters that people want to live near and visit untrampled areas, not logged-off sites. "Nobody wants to live next door to a clearcut or go see one," he said. "This study reflects the transition that is happening from the old West dominated by resource extraction to the new West influenced by the amenity-based economy," he said. "It also shows it�s spinning off a lot more jobs than the extraction industries." Jobs attracted to areas which offer ample outdoor amenities include high-tech positions, health care, recreation and tourism. "It�s not just flipping burgers," he said. "This study is one of three new economic studies, all done independently, that show there is an economic shift underway whether we like it or not." One of the authors of the study released Thursday, Paul Lorah, a professor of geology and environmental studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., also sees an economic shift occurring. "This isn�t a jobs-versus-the-environment debate," he said. "There has been a rural shift in economics to service, high tech, retirement and tourism. A lot of studies have shown that extraction is not as important as it used to be. "That doesn�t mean there won�t be a few communities that won�t be hurt," he added. "But there will be a lot more winners than losers." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA