NORTHWEST PER-CAPITA CONSERVATION SPENDING

The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the most beautiful natural landscapes on Earth - containing some of the most desirable land for agriculture, recreation and living. Valuing Idaho’s recreational outdoors and public lands is vital for businesses, our state’s economy and our quality of life.

Graphic Courtesy of: Idaho Business for the Outdoors

The historical lack of detailed state-specific data regarding outdoor recreational activities continues to handicap Idaho, our private and public sector, as well as our state overall. With an abundance of outdoor amenities and public lands (63%), our Idaho way of life and diverse state economy depends on our ability to maintain our lands. More data helps us plan, grow, and properly fund the outdoors as a dynamic and vital part of our Idaho economy. IBO decided to take the first step towards attaining some of this data through researching conservation funding in the Pacific Northwest.

Our preliminary findings report Idaho averaging $4.11 over the last 3 years in per-capita conservation spending while Montana averaged $35.34. Montana residents are accessing almost 9 times the benefits of their outdoors than neighbors just across the Clearwater River. Falling behind in conservation funding means missing out on millions of dollars of revenue from our greatest natural resource - our outdoors. These revenues help increase restoration and conservation of our natural resources to ensure long term and sustainable economic gains, while also benefiting our State’s education system and establishing a healthy and invigorating environment for our communities.

For more information on our methodology and full findings, click here.