At Odds with the Outdoor Economy: Comparing Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation and Oil & Gas Industries
Bolstering the outdoor recreation industry through economic development, tax, and employment incentives could help ease the pain of shifting away from oil & gas, and towards a more environmentally sustainable economy.
Given global, federal, and state greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, states with communities that produce oil and gas are being forced to consider how they will diversify economically. In our previous report, CFI enumerated the costs and benefits of the oil and gas industry to contribute to that discussion. But if the state is going to shift away from oil and gas production, what fills the gap? Colorado could boost its outdoor recreation industry.
Colorado is known for its skiing, mountain climbing, biking, fishing, rafting, and camping – but can this really replace oil and gas in terms of economic output, jobs, and sales tax revenue? How does it compare? And how reliant are we already on the outdoor recreation industry? This report aims to shed light on those questions.
In Colorado, the outdoor recreation industry is responsible for:
- $11.6 billion in GDP
- $6.1 billion in wages
- 4.3% of Colorado’s total employed population
- 25% of the country’s GDP related to snow activities
Economic development, tax, and employment incentives for outdoor recreation could bolster the shift away from oil and gas towards a more environmentally sustainable economy.
