Impact of Wildfires on Recreation in the US West: A Study
Fire is transforming the US West’s public lands – research shows overlooked cost to recreation
The Conversation
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Research indicates that large-scale wildfires in the western United States significantly reduce visitor numbers to affected public lands, while prescribed burns can have the opposite effect. The study highlights the long-term economic and social repercussions for communities reliant on outdoor recreation.
- 01Wildfires in Colorado and California have led to significant declines in visitation to affected public lands.
- 02In Colorado, visitation dropped by 8% on average in the year of a wildfire, with higher severity fires causing declines of 15% to 20%.
- 03Prescribed burns can increase visitation by about 8% in Colorado, while in California, they may decrease it by 3%, but impacts are short-lived.
- 04Communities dependent on tourism, such as Grand Lake and Durango, face economic threats from persistent declines in outdoor recreation.
- 05The research emphasizes the need for land managers to consider the recreational impacts of wildfires in their planning.
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A recent study reveals that wildfires in the western United States, particularly in Colorado and California, have drastically reduced visitation to public lands. The Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires in Colorado burned hundreds of thousands of acres in 2020, leading to an average decline of 8% in visitation in the year of the fire, with higher severity fires causing declines of 15% to 20%. In contrast, prescribed burns, which are intentionally set to manage forests, have shown to increase visitation by 8% in Colorado, though they decreased it by 3% in California. The long-term economic implications for towns reliant on tourism, such as Grand Lake and Durango, are concerning, as persistent declines in visitation threaten local businesses and community infrastructure. This research highlights the importance of understanding how fire impacts recreation and the need for land managers to incorporate these factors into climate impact assessments and conservation planning.
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The decline in visitation to public lands due to wildfires threatens the economic stability of communities that rely on outdoor recreation, impacting local businesses and infrastructure.
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