Many worried that ever-increasing gasoline prices would dampen the critical summer tourist season. Despite the national average for a gallon of gasoline eclipsing the $4 mark, Montana’s nonresident visitation numbers are stronger than ever. The continued growth in the tourism industry is nothing new, the Montana Department of Commerce reports that the total non-resident tourism expenditures doubled from 1995 to 2005. Even in the face of record high travel costs, Montana continues to attract record number of tourists.
Tourism and all its financial benefits might emerge to be the bright spot in Montana’s economy this summer. The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research recently reported that 10.68 million non-resident visitors brought $3.08 billion of economic activity to Montana in 2007, which was a 6 percent increase over 2006. According to ITRR, nonresident visitors directly support over 33,000 jobs with an annual payroll of $710 million in 2007. Last year alone, out-of-state tourism yielded the state over $235 million in tax revenues.
The national parks are just one aspect of the state’s natural amenity based tourism industry; wilderness areas, national forests, wild and scenic rivers and northern steppe prairies all represent integral pieces.
All of these statistics indicate that Montana’s economic paradigm has shifted. Decades ago the state relied financially on the extraction and exploitation of natural resources. Today, Montana’s ever-growing tourism industry feeds on the appreciation and preservation of its natural environment. Rivers are no longer viewed just as waterways to disperse mining waste, but rather critical components of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem that can be fished and floated. Whereas in the past a forest’s primary purpose was to be harvested for timber, now Montana’s expanses of trees are valued as sanctuaries for wildlife and for self-powered recreation.
In the 2007 ITRR report, “The Changing Structure of Montana’s Economy: What is Tourism’s Place?” concludes that, “the principle driving force in this new economy is environmental quality and is based on exploitation of the natural environment as a place rather than a source of raw materials. This applies to both people who have moved to the state and are contributing to the changing population and to tourists who visit the state.”
In other words, the natural amenities that draw tourists to Montana are the same attributes that attract new residents and retain existing citizens despite higher costs of living and lower wages. The compatibility between what non-residents and residents value defines Montana’s evolving economic foundation.
Although the fiscal data and analysis quantify the positive impact of tourism on Montana’s economy, more important is the underlying values that dictate the path we take going forward. Montanans have the opportunity to protect the natural amenities that not only attract lucrative tourism, but also characterize our quality of life. If we choose wisely between preserving our public natural resources rather than exploiting them, then we will have chosen not only to sustain a vital component of Montana’s economy but also to preserve the very environmental assets that define the last best place and why we call it home.
Chris Naumann is co-owner of a mountaineering and outdoor gear and apparel store in Bozeman.
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