Measuring the Impact of America's Outdoor Recreation Economy
______
Introduction
Outdoor recreation is an essential contributor to the U.S. economy in general, and the lifeblood of many state, local, and tribal communities across the nation. The vast opportunities to experience the great outdoors – for both Americans and international visitors alike – provides incentives for businesses across all sectors of the economy to participate in the outdoor recreation industry. The growth of this industry creates jobs and raises incomes, generates tax revenue, and drives consumer spending that is felt across the U.S. economy. According to an independent study funded by the Outdoor Industry Association, Western Governors’ Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Motorcycle Industry Council, Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association, Specialty Vehicle Institute of America and the Outdoor Foundation, the outdoor recreation industry annually generates an estimated $646 billion in direct outdoor recreation product sales and travel-related spending, and supports 6.1 million jobs --- more direct jobs than the oil and natural gas industries combined[i] These direct spending figures do not capture the billions in revenue generated by state and local sales and hospitality taxes, or park permitting and user fees.
Similarly, data collected by the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration demonstrates the massive economic impact of travel and tourism in the United States, which is inextricably linked with outdoor recreation: in 2014, travel and tourism in the U.S. created $1.6 trillion in total economic output and supported 7.9 million jobs. In the same time period, international visitors alone spent over $220 billion in the United States.[ii]
However, despite the fact that the outdoor recreation economy is a critical component of American economic growth and job creation, unlike other major sectors in the U.S. economy, the federal government does not directly track the outdoor recreation sector's contributions to the American economy and its growth. The time has come for this important sector of the U.S. economy to be clearly defined and formally measured by the U.S. government.
The outdoor recreation industry's economic contributions______
Measuring the outdoor recreation economy involves accounting for the seemingly innumerable ways in which recreation takes place in the United States – whether in a national or state park or forest, or on other public or privately-owned lands or waters. For many, the phrase "outdoor recreation" evokes images of rock climbing at Yosemite National Park or hiking along the Appalachian Trail. However, the outdoor recreation industry is far more than our activities in national parks. In reality, the industry touches a vast array of activities on both public and private lands and waterways, as well as the "gateway communities" that serve them. It is only fitting that a measure of the economic output of outdoor recreation features a similarly-wide variety of economic activity.
Accordingly, capturing the true economic impact of outdoor recreation requires casting a wide net across many sectors – from suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers of outdoor gear and equipment to hotels, stores, and other businesses involved in the hospitality and tourism industry. For example, the U.S. Travel Association estimates that leisure travel in and to the U.S., which includes those traveling within or visiting our country to experience American outdoor recreation, generates $621 billion in direct spending each year making tourism the largest service export in the U.S. economy.[iii] This industry's economic impact also extends to local, state, and federal governments that receive both general tax revenues and special tax revenues from hospitality taxes and other sources, as well as registration and license fees, user fees, and admission fees.
Outdoor industry trade associations and some states are breaking new ground with their economic research on the outdoor economy. In addition to the outdoor recreation study cited above, the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association independently compiled detailed information about the economic contributions generated by the industry it represents with data for each state. Additionally, California, Oregon, and New Hampshire are among a growing number of states employing economic benefit analysis to help guide their conservation and recreation investment plans.[iv]
Despite the value of these independent studies of the outdoor industry's economic impact, capturing the full picture is not an easy task. Only the U.S. government and its statistical agencies can conduct the kind of comprehensive, in-depth, thorough, and statistically rigorous analysis that is needed to capture the true value of the outdoor recreation economy.
Some of the economic impact of outdoor activity is easily calculated using existing government economic data. For example, the government already collects data on consumer spending for outdoor gear, equipment, travel, hotels, and other expenses related to outdoor recreation tourism. However, the contribution of the outdoor economy includes more than consumer spending and the jobs that result from it. There is currently no method to incorporate the quality-of-life benefits that attract businesses and workers to communities with outdoor amenities, and other outputs such as health benefits. Economists have recently generated research showing a positive relationship between communities' economic growth and their proximity to open spaces.
Measuring these outputs requires greater reach, broader scope, more resources, and rock-solid credibility. Similar work regarding other sectors of the economy suggests these measurements and the attendant analyses can and should be undertaken by the U.S. government. The federal government has ample information at its disposal to begin calculating the impact of outdoor recreation on the economy. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Affairs (BEA) and Census Bureau, and the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), collect and analyze data on the employment and economic contributions associated with outdoor recreation and travel. The data can be amalgamated with information from other agencies, such as the U.S. Department of the Interior's research on the economic impact that national parks have on surrounding communities and data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Efforts by the U.S. government to collect and report on the economic impact of the outdoor recreation industry can be modeled after a similar effort recently undertaken by the Commerce Department's BEA to better account for the value of arts and culture in the U.S. economy. Information on economic impact can also be obtained through private industry and state Economic Development Organizations. Partnerships can also be established with state Visitor Convention Bureaus and Tourism Bureaus.
The need for comprehensive, reliable, and actionable data about the outdoor economy______
A full understanding of the value and impact of outdoor recreation to the American economy through detailed and defensible data is critical to the development of effective and efficient policies that promote and sustain the outdoor recreation industry. This would be best accomplished with an annual, comprehensive national assessment of the value of the outdoor recreation industry, supported by the resources of the federal government. Estimates produced by private industry trade associations, states, and other independent sources—while understandably narrower in scope—can help to inform this process by highlighting the kinds of economic output created in different areas of the recreation industry. Ultimately, it should be the responsibility of the federal government to take the lead in providing a comprehensive and detailed assessment of the U.S. outdoor recreation economy. In turn, this assessment will allow policy-makers and stakeholders to engage in a better informed discussion about the proper role of this sector in our economy and how it might be expanded, strengthened, and improved through innovation.
A government study of the outdoor recreation sector would help to expose barriers to the sector's success, or opportunities for growth, as well as intersections with other parts of the U.S. economy that might not be readily apparent, but are nonetheless critical to job creation and economic development. Conducting and publishing these government studies annually will allow for a much deeper understanding of trends in the outdoor economy and their root causes. These studies can form the foundation for further research that anticipates developments and economic trends that would allow policymakers to proactively engage with the industry to address future opportunities and risks. In turn, this information can foster smart and sophisticated policy responses that may not be possible given the data that are currently collected by states and industry stakeholders. Provided with the necessary funding and clear objectives, the BEA, Census, BLS, NASS, and the other elite federal statistical agencies are well-equipped for this undertaking.
The solution: an annual report from the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account______
Fortunately, the current administration has recognized the important role that the federal government can play. In Spring 2016, U.S. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell announced a cooperative venture between the Federal Recreation Council and the Commerce Department’s BEA to conduct broader economic analysis covering the outdoor recreation sector through the initiation of an Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account. The Account will establish national and regional level statistics on the outdoor recreation economy. These statistics will capture the many facets of the outdoor recreation industry such as production, employment, compensation, and value added.
The Outdoor Recreation Economic Study, which will be facilitated by the Account and its gathering of relevant data, will document the industry’s value and contributions to the national economy, specifically shedding light on the role of publicly-managed lands and waters. It will also develop a baseline for informing future decision-making, governance and long-term management of public lands and waters. This Outdoor Recreation Economic Study will provide much needed insight into the impact recreation has on the U.S. economy. For this reason, it is essential that it be established in law as an annual report that will continue beyond the conclusion of the current administration.
There are two ways to make permanent both the Account and the Outdoor Recreation Economic Study. First, Congress and President Trump could act together to legally mandate these studies. The Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act (S. 2219/H.R. 4665 in 2016), would ensure that the outdoor recreation economy, which includes a broad array of diverse recreational modes, is measured by the federal government and accounted for as part of gross domestic product annually. The bill directs the Commerce Department's BEA to assess and analyze the outdoor recreation economy of the United States and the effects attributable to it in the overall U.S. economy. In conducting the assessment, the Bureau would be expected to consider employment, sales, contributions to travel and tourism, and other appropriate components of the outdoor recreation economy.
The Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act (H.R. 4665) passed the House of Representatives in November of 2016, while companion legislation in the Senate was approved at the committee level earlier in the summer. Both houses of Congress and the president should build on this momentum and pass this legislation as early as possible in the 115th Congress. The bill is supported by dozens of organizations and businesses, including sportsmen, conservation and parks groups, the motorized recreation community, and other recreation advocacy groups.
Second, if Congress does not act, the president should. Building on Secretary Jewell's announcement this year, President Trump should issue an executive order directing the Commerce Department's BEA, in cooperation with all of the relevant statistical agencies and the departments and agencies with authority over federal public lands, to establish an Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account and publish annually an Outdoor Recreation Economic Study. In addition, the president's executive order should direct BEA to determine how this information might best improve its measurement of gross domestic product, as well as direct all involved agencies to take the Account and Study into account in their policy-making and policy implementation and to foster additional research about developments and economic trends in outdoor recreation, as well as opportunities, risks, and possible policy responses to them.
1
[i] Outdoor Industry Association, “The Outdoor Recreation Economy” (2012), available at https://outdoorindustry.org/pdf/OIA_OutdoorRecEconomyReport2012.pdf.
[ii] http://travel.trade.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/Fast_Facts_2014.pdf
[iii] U.S. Travel Association, “U.S. Travel Answer Sheet” (2014), available at http://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/page/2009/09/US_Travel_AnswerSheet_March_2014.pdf.
[iv] Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, “SCORP: Ensuring Oregon’s Outdoor Legacy” (2013), available at http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/PLANS/docs/scorp/2013-2018_
SCORP/2013-2017_Oregon_SCORP.pdf; New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, “New Hampshire Outdoors Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan” (2013),
available at http://www.nhstateparks.org/whats-happening/news-events/press-release-details.aspx?newsid=132.; California State Parks, “California Outdoor Recreation Economic
Study: Statewide Contributions and Benefits” (2011), available at http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/795/files/CA%20Outdoor%20Recreation%20Economic%20 StudyStatewide% 20Contributions%20and%20Benefits%202011.pdf.