Study highlights economic impacts of ‘quiet’ recreation
By Amy Joi O’Donoghue, Deserest News
SALT LAKE CITY — Some quiet time in the great outdoors in a portion of Utah delivered a sizeable chunk of change to local economies, with an estimated $17 million in impacts logged in one year alone.
A first-ever study devoted to an exclusive analysis of “quiet recreational activities,” looked at what was taking place on 2.1 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands in Iron and Beaver counties, or those lands within the purview of the agency’s Cedar City field office.
The report released Thursday details that out of 492,000 recreation visits logged in 2015 by the BLM, 364,000 — or 74 percent — were for quiet recreation that includes hiking, hunting, biking, fishing, camping or wildlife viewing.
Quiet recreation is generally nonmotorized activity that excludes off-highway vehicle use, power boating, snowmobiling or driving for sightseeing.
