Study: Rural Utah needs rec jobs more than urban areas

Economy ? Tourism and related industries are labor godsends.

Utah?s rural counties rely on recreation and tourism to provide jobs and boost economies more than their urban and suburban counterparts.

So says a newly released report commissioned by the conservation group Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development and produced by Southwick Associates.

?

Percent of workforce in 2009

Rural Urban/Surburban

Retail trade 18.4% 13.8%

Recreation/tourism 14.8% 11%

Health care/social assistance 10% 11.8%

Mining, energy extraction 10.1% 0.4%

Source: ?Rural Jobs in Utah Associated with Tourism and Recreation?

In fact, recreation and tourism account for 14.8 percent of the workforce in rural Utah. Only retail trade, at 18.4 percent, supplied more jobs in those counties.

By contrast, recreation and tourism in Utah?s urban/suburban counties make up 11 percent of the jobs, with manufacturing (11.3 percent), health care (11.8 percent) and retail (13.8 percent) providing more labor opportunities.

Statewide, recreation and tourism is the third biggest jobs generator, accounting for 11.1 percent of 2009 employment.

"If our goal is to support and grow local economies in rural Utah, we should be striving for a balanced land-use policy, which focuses on growing and protecting recreation and tourism," said Bob Dibblee, president of the Utah State Council of Trout Unlimited. "In particular, fishing and hunting bring more than $700 million to the Utah economy each year. These hunting and angling opportunities need active protection and support, or we?ll lose economic benefits now and future opportunities for our children and grandchildren."

The report is the first state-specific study to emerge from a larger report released in May.

That study, "Conserving Lands and Prosperity," focused on the economic benefits of preserving fish and wildlife populations and natural/scenic areas in the Rocky Mountains.

Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development touted that report to show that, at least economically, recreation and tourism should be viewed with equal attention as energy development when it comes to land-use decisions.

"The important thing to recognize about recreation and tourism is that you are not exporting anything to bring in money," said Tom Allen of Southwick Associates. "Recreation and tourism in rural Utah counties bring in new money like any export sector would."

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According to the latest report, mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction provide 10.1 percent of jobs in rural counties.

"The extraction industries are very important to rural economies, there is no denying that," Allen said. "To have true multiple-use lands, things have to be done in a certain manner."

brettp@sltrib.com

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/54397169-79/rural-tourism-recreation-utah.html.csp

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