The Hill News

The American West has loomed large in our Nation’s imagination ever since Lewis and Clark started sending stories back East about its geography, stunning landscapes, plants and wildlife. Today it is tourists, retirees, adventure lovers and entrepreneurs who are the explorers.
 
Outdoor recreation employed an estimated 6.5 million people and contributed $730 billion to the national economy, according to a 2006 report by the Outdoor Industry Foundation. In 12 of the Western states, outdoor industries employed 1.3 million people and contributed $143 billion to the region’s economy. The economics alone are a good reason to protect the West’s natural assets and enhance tourism, but there is another, perhaps less obvious reason, and that is our nation’s youth.

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