"Wilderness locks up the land." “Roadless areas block economic development and result in the loss of jobs.” “You can’t feed your family on scenery.”

These arguments about the value of wilderness have been accepted without debate for years, but recently there has been a shift. Economists are now looking at “wilderness valuation” in an attempt to put numbers to the seemingly intangible value of preserving wild places. The figures they have come up with are striking.

A June 2000 study entitled “Economic Values of Protecting Roadless Areas” conducted by Colorado State University economics professor John Loomis and CSU doctoral student Robert Richardson found that the 42 million acres of roadless forest in the lower 48 states support nearly 24,000 jobs and provide $600 million in annual recreation benefits. Passive values—or what, according to polls, people are willing to pay to protect wild places for the future—added another $280 million per year.

Those numbers alone are impressive, but when Loomis and Richardson started calculating what they call “ecosystem services,” or the value of roadless areas’ natural systems such as water filtering and purifying capacity and carbon sequestration benefits, they came up with a total value of between $1.88–2.38 billion.

The projected value for harvesting all the timber on these same lands is $184 million. Unfortunately, when the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was overturned in 2005, these statistics—although known and generally accepted—were ignored. According to the Bush administration, the only economic benefit of keeping the rule was $219,000 saved from unnecessary road maintenance.

This discrepancy reflects a disconnect between the reality of today’s western rural economy and the myth of that economy that has built up over the years. Thirty years ago mining, timbering and ranching accounted for 20 percent of the rural economy. Today these industries account for only 8 percent.

“Most people’s understanding of the economy lags about 20 years behind reality,” Ray Rasker, an economist with the Sonoran Institute, a conservation group in Tucson, Arizona told Outside magazine in March 2005. “It’s a tough perception to change, because the new economy is often invisible.”

Nonetheless, our understanding of the western economy is being redefined daily in places like Jackson, Bozeman, Park City and Moab. In 1995, the U.S. Forest Service conducted a survey that determined that national forests generated $125 billion in economic activity per year. Recreation accounted for 75 percent of that activity while timber and mining represented 15 percent. In the 11 years since that survey was conducted, recreation has only grown in its importance.

The Lander-based National Outdoor Leadership School, which has a $21.5 million annual budget, depends upon primitive recreation in wilderness and roadless areas. Backcountry Horsemen generate millions of dollars of economic activity exercising their passion for horseback riding in wild, undeveloped places. There are countless outfitters and guides operating across Wyoming offering everything from wilderness hunting trips to river excursions, wildlife safaris, climbing expeditions, and photography outings. These activities do not mesh well with more traditional forest uses such as timbering and mining.

While recreation and tourism do not replace the economic contribution of mining and oil and gas to Wyoming’s coffers, they do represent a significant part of the state’s economy and its identity. Tourism is now the second largest industry in Wyoming. This contribution has to be considered in determining the future of Wyoming’s roadless areas.