( – promoted by ClubTwitty)
American author Horace Greeley said back in 1865, “Go West, young man”, advising those in crowded eastern cities to head westward for new frontiers and employment opportunities. In their recent report, “West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Jobs and Higher Incomes,” that’s exactly what Headwaters Economics, an independent nonpartisan research firm, found to be true for today’s job seekers.
The full report can be found at http://headwaterseconomics.org… but it’s the colorful and compact infographic summarizing the report that remarkably says it all on one page for job-seekers, businesses and policy makers.
Top-line, the infographic reveals that the West’s popular national parks, monuments, wilderness areas and other public lands offer its growing high-tech and services industries a competitive advantage, which is a major reason why the western economy has outperformed the rest of the U.S. economy in key measures of growth — employment, population, and personal income — during the last four decades.
Communities near protected lands, not only benefit from increased tourism, but also attract businesses that want the quality of life offered by outstanding river, mountain and forest recreational opportunities. As a result, employment in the West has grown by 152 percent since 1970, nearly double that of employment growth nationally. Even more astonishing, towns near national parks and wilderness areas have enjoyed a 350 percent job growth in the same period.
The infographic is also posted on the Headwaters Economics website:
http://headwaterseconomics.org…
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For those of you who don’t like clicking on things ( how inbiting is that?!) here’s a few highlights from the article:
From 1970 to 2010, the West’s employment grew by 152 percent compared to 78 percent for the rest of the country.
This western job growth was almost entirely in services industries such as health care, real estate, high-tech, and finance and insurance, which created 19.3 million net new jobs, many of them high-paying.
Western non-metropolitan counties with more than 30 percent of the county’s land base in federal protected status such as national parks, monuments, wilderness, and other similar designations increased jobs by 345 percent over the last 40 years. By comparison, similar counties with no protected federal public lands increased employment by 83 percent.
In 2010, per capita income in western non-metropolitan counties with 100,000 acres of protected public lands is on average $4,360 higher than per capita income in similar counties with no protected public lands.
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What would Edward Abbey have to say about this?
I love the story of his final days – from Wikipedia:
Edward Abbey died on March 14, 1989,at the age of 62, in his home in Tucson, Arizona. His death was due to complications from surgery; he suffered four days of esophageal hemorrhaging, due to esophageal varices, a recurrent problem with one group of veins.
Showing his sense of humor, he left a message for anyone who asked about his final words: “No comment.”
Abbey also left instructions on what to do with his remains: Abbey wanted his body transported in the bed of a pickup truck, and wished to be buried as soon as possible. He did not want to be embalmed or placed in a coffin. Instead, he preferred to be placed inside of an old sleeping bag, and requested that his friends disregard all state laws concerning burial. “I want my body to help fertilize the growth of a cactus or cliff rose or sagebrush or tree.” said the message.
For his funeral, Abbey stated “No formal speeches desired, though the deceased will not interfere if someone feels the urge. But keep it all simple and brief.” He requested gunfire and bagpipe music, a cheerful and raucous wake, “and a flood of beer and booze! Lots of singing, dancing, talking, hollering, laughing, and lovemaking.”
Thanks!
Thanks, PTF and Twitty. This gets bookmarked for future reference.
I think economic arguments are the best weapons to use in protecting our way of life against intruding economic “interests”. Being a la-de-da dandelion puffer and owl hugger myself, I’m always short on facts and figures. This report is something else in that department. Fascinating, valuable stuff.