The role of forests as amenities in the Southwest United States

Forests in the Southwest United States may play an important role in the regional economy beyond what is indicated by non-market and market values. Regional variation in forests may affect where people live in the region, which jobs they take, and how they interact with other community members. This work examines the hypothesis of a deeply-ingrained role for forests in the region's economy using three empirical approaches.;The first chapter argues that information about how forests affect regional and local economies is useful for policymakers when managing multiple-use public lands. The second chapter undertakes a comparative analysis of the natural characteristics of the landscape and the regional economy in the Southwest. The conclusion is that the Southwest economy fits well within the story of the New West, which posits that recent economic growth in the greater Rocky Mountain West is dependent on the preservation of natural features.;Chapter 3 estimates hedonic housing and wage equations to calculate the marginal implicit prices of forest and other location-specific characteristics. Results show that people pay between ;Chapter 4 estimates a conditional logit model of location choice to examine whether people make decisions about where to live based on access to forests. Results show that the probability of selecting a location is positively related to forests and other natural characteristics. There also appears to be an age effect; workers increasingly seek out amenable locations as they age, but the effect becomes negative after retirement.;The overall conclusion is that forests impact regional and local economies in a way that is not accounted for in value calculations. In general, forests and other natural features appear to be determinants of who lives in the region, where they live, and how much they earn. This information is potentially useful for public lands policymakers who must satisfy a diverse set of public interests.