Study Predicts Economic Benefits of Proposed Globe Scenic Area

Story by Kathleen McFadden

Researchers at Colorado State University released an economic study this week stating that the creation of the proposed Grandfather National Scenic Area (GNSA) would attract an estimated 1.5 million visitors a year, result in the creation of 724 new jobs and generate an additional $38.4 million in annual revenue for Avery, Caldwell and Watauga counties.

The proposed scenic area would encompass 25,500 acres of the 510,119-acre Pisgah National Forest along the Blue Ridge Parkway from Grandfather Mountain to Blowing Rock and would apply scenic protections only to public lands currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Environmental organization Wild South commissioned the study. In response to the question of why Colorado State performed the study, Wild South’s Chris Joyell responded, “We initiated the study with Colorado State because that’s where Professor Stephan Weiler resides. He has developed a number of studies interpreting economic impacts that come with the renaming of federal lands, and he was willing to supervise the study, as he felt it had academic merit. Otherwise he would have just recommended a consultant.”

Basis of the Projections
The researchers based their projections on previous work by researchers who have estimated the per-acre value of visitation of several different types of natural areas across the United States. Not all of these analyses showed favorable economic impact because of the variability of factors included in the analysis, including previous land use (a change from cultivated farmland to protected land, for example, has shown in some studies a negative economic impact), location and natural recreational opportunities.

Currently, the United States has nine national scenic areas managed by the U.S. Forest Service. National scenic areas are designated by act of Congress and are areas that ensure the protection and preservation of scenic quality, water quality, natural characteristics and water resources. These areas protect wildlife and fish habitat, protect areas that may develop characteristics of old-growth forest and provide a variety of recreation opportunities.

“Parkways and Trails can be important in terms of visitation to other protected areas and their surrounding communities,” the report states. “These areas often link together different protected areas (for example, the Blue Ridge Parkway connects Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee), which could potentially increase visitation to other areas along the route.”

The reports adds, “The development of the Grandfather NSA will help protect some of the scenic views that are available to those individuals traveling along the Blue Ridge Parkway.”

According to the most recent data from the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development, tourism currently accounts for $312.09 million and 4,190 jobs in the three-county region. According to the Colorado State study, the national scenic area designation would increase High Country tourism revenue and jobs by more than 10 percent.

Types of Effects
Direct effects are “first-round” effects occurring in the industry that is directly affected by a change. Indirect effects are changes that occur in industries that are directly related to the industry that felt the change. Induced effects occur through linkages between the affected sector and households in the model. These impacts occur from labor links between households and other economic sectors, as well as other effects resulting from additional changes in household spending based on changes in wages.

Visitation Projections
The study projects 1.5 million visitors annual to the GNSA. This number includes some of the current visitors to the Pisgah National Forest because the researchers had no data on current visitation to use as a baseline.

Job Growth
The direct effects of the GNSA are estimated to result in 573 additional jobs in the region, with another 151 jobs resulting from indirect and induced effects, for a total employment impact of 724 jobs in the three-county region.

The projected job growth is approximately 1 percent of regional employment.

Economic Impact
Calculation of the economic impact is based on a conservative $17.36 per-acre value of each visitor as determined in previous studies for national wildlife refuges and national recreation areas. As a point of comparison, the value per visitor to the country’s national parks is significantly higher at $34.58.

The principal beneficiaries of the direct economic impact of $26.1 million would be food and drinking places (35 percent), gasoline stations (32 percent), hotels and motels (24 percent) and recreation (9 percent). Indirect effects are estimated at $4.9 percent and induced effects of $7.4 million for a total economic impact of $38.4 million. That total impact is about 0.6 percent of the total output of the three-county region.

“This is an economic stimulus in its own right—and it costs taxpayers nothing,” Hanes Boren, owner of Footsloggers, said in a release.

Background
The concept for the GNSA was borne from a controversial Forest Service logging project in the Pisgah National Forest one mile south of Blowing Rock.

In the 1980s, a series of Forest Service logging project left a legacy of scars throughout the Globe Forest clearly visible to Blowing Rock’s residents and tourists. Sediment from the projects also eliminated brook trout populations from a number of mountain streams.

In the wake of these unpopular clearcuts, the U.S. Forest Service promised the community that they would not log in the area again. However, the agency returned in February 2006 with plans to harvest timber in the Globe Forest again.

More than 1,800 citizens submitted comments to the agency opposing the project. The Blowing Rock Town Council followed suit and called for the creation of the Grandfather National Scenic Area in a unanimous resolution. The Boone Town Council and Watauga County Board of Commissioners also passed unanimous resolutions endorsing the scenic area.

The scenic designation requires a congressional act in order to be realized. The Scenic Area proposal, which extends across the 5th and 10th congressional districts, has drawn support from the High Country’s community and business leaders; however Rep. Virginia Foxx (5th District) and Rep. Patrick McHenry (10th District) remain uncommitted.