Bush Means Big Bucks for Local Communities
By Lesley Brown
Evening Grosbeak Photo by Chris Fisher
Eco Tours Photo by Reimer Loewen
Next time you're offered 12 cents a tree for your bush, take another look at the true value of your land... it could be worth a fortune!
As wilderness areas become increasingly scarce, people are willing to pay big bucks to get away from the hectic, smoggy, crowded city life. Nature seekers tend to have higher paying jobs with surplus money to spend. This means local communities can cash in on accommodations, food, local crafts, guide services and more.
Typically, a nature tourist is looking for an authentic country experience. They don't want fast food joints and chain motels - they can get that in the city. So the quaint quality of rural towns doesn't have to be destroyed and most importantly, the average person can get into the action without a big financial investment.
Here are some figures showing, how much money nature tourism could bring to your community:
- A bird sanctuary in Arizona brings three million in tourism and related dollars to a nearby small town.
- A one unit, part-time bed and breakfast operation one-hour east of Edmonton brings in more than $5,000/year.
- Seal watchers pumped $5 million into the Prince Edward Island economy during a two-week span.
- Bird watchers spend 2 million dollars during one month at Ontario's Point Pelee National Park.
But scar the land with uncontrolled housing developments, polluted rivers, clearcuts and endless roads, and tourists will spend their money elsewhere. A long-term money-making opportunity is gone and local people lose big.
Leaving large areas of pristine bush translates into other money-making ventures. Again, as more and more land is chopped and changed by "development", the real-estate value of natural land and nearby areas increases. For example, in Arizona the protection of some caves caused the real estate value surrounding the land to increase 100 per cent. The same will be true of northern Alberta for those people with the smarts to keep wilderness as part of their community.
Of course, leaving bush does not mean "locking up resources". Timber and other resources still can be harvested, but it must be done in a small-scale way, such as selective and horse logging. Here is yet another money making adventure, since people will even pay to experience traditional farming and logging operations. Another bonus is that with small-scale logging operations, the money tends to stay in the community rather than go to foreign multi-national bank accounts.
Added financial benefits of keeping untouched bush include free pollution control, flood control and soil erosion control. The American Forestry Association claims a single 50-year-old tree provides $57,000 worth of services during its lifetime. Just imagine how much free work a forest provides...
Lesley Brown, Department of Forest Science, University of Alberta
