August 2004 Economic Development Report, No. 10 Page 1 August 2004 EDR 0410 Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Fort Collins, CO 805231172 http://dare.colostate.edu/pubs • Tourism directly accounts for 1/3 of the Gunnison County economy and 40% of the job base • Gunnison’s public open space and private working landscapes contribute to the quality of winter tour ism experience • Wholesale conversion of local ranch lands to tour ism infrastructure and second homes may reduce winter tourism by as much as 40% • The impact of such a change could reach $14 mil lion and 350 jobs per year Introduction The quality of the natural resource base is an important economic driver in Rocky Mountain communities. First miners, then ranchers and now recreationists are attracted by the native resource endowments and raw beauty of the mountain environment. Over the past century, the Rocky Mountains have attracted new resi dents and visitors at an auspicious rate. In part due to the uniqueness of the Rocky Mountain environment, millions of acres of western lands are managed by the federal government. As a result, the remaining private land, mostly located in the valleys, must accommodate practically all human activity in the region, including commercial, residential, and agricultural land uses. Community economic health is dependent upon deci sions made by both public and private land managers. Neither federal public lands management decisions nor individual private land use decisions necessarily take into account the community or county level implica tions of their actions. However, county and municipal leaders are often faced with evaluating what land use decisions are most likely to allow the locality to reach its economic development and quality of life objec tives. Like much of the Rocky Mountain region, the vast pro portion of private lands in Gunnison County, Colorado is managed as low intensity cattle ranches. Cattle ranches are managed by ranchers in order to generate economic returns to beef cattle production. However, this low intensity land use of the Gunnison River Val ley may simultaneously contribute to water quality, fishing quality, flood control, wildlife habitat, floral and faunal diversity, and the rural lifestyle in the county. Ranchers may be thought to jointly produce these important goods and services along with beef, but they do not typically receive compensation or other direct incentives to continue or nurture their provision. Increasingly, ranchers in Gunnison County face strong financial incentives to subdivide and develop their vast acreages into higher density uses to serve new resi dents, second home and tourism development (i.e. condominiums, allinclusive resorts, residential WINTER TOURISM AND LAND DEVELOPMENT IN GUNNISON, COLORADO Adam Orens and Andrew F. Seidl 1 1 Research Assistant and Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO 805231172. Seidl is the contact author: andrew.seidl@colostate.edu , 9704917071. Extension programs are available to all without discrimination.