Building on 2020’s “Economic Analysis of Outdoor Recreation in Washington State”, a coalition of state agencies tasked Earth Economics with a focused assessment of the total visitation, consumer spending, and economic output associated with outdoor recreation on state-managed lands. This analysis improves significantly on earlier efforts by leveraging voluntarily provided mobile device locational data throughout 2019 and 2020 to generate data-driven estimates of the total economic contribution of visitors to state-managed recreation lands, detailed at more granular geographic and temporal scales.
Hipcamp is an online company that offers unique outdoor stays via website and mobile app. Visitors can discover and book tent camping, RV parks, cabins, treehouses, and glamping—everywhere from national parks to blueberry farms—all run by private landowners. Hipcamp partnered with Earth Economics to assess the economic impact of Hipcamp properties in Nevada County, California and the environmental benefits of Hipcamp properties within six counties in California, Colorado, and Utah. The result—big gains for the local economy, including an average $886,000 in annual spending for Nevada County, California, and anywhere from $17 million to $1 billion in environmental benefits each year across various counties.
Across Oregon, there are thousands of recreation sites and opportunities to hike, camp, bike, picnic, hunt, kite surf, and more; and each year, billions of dollars are spent by folks enjoying Oregon’s outdoors. Recognizing that outdoor recreation is a major contributor to the state’s economy, Travel Oregon, the Oregon Office of Outdoor Recreation (OREC), and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) united to commission a study on the impacts of the outdoor recreation economy. This study highlights the meaningful contributions of economic impacts generated by Oregonians and visitors that recreate in our vast and abundant outdoors.
Colorado has long been a leader in innovative funding for recreation. The commission is interested in a larger conversation around long-term funding, with the understanding of changing demographics and increased pressure on Colorado’s recreation lands.
