Economic Contributions of the Yellowstone River to Park County, Montana

On August 19, 2016, Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) instituted a temporary emergency closure on a large extent of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries between the northern Yellowstone National Park boundary near Gardiner, MT and Laurel, MT, about 183 miles downriver. The closure applied to all water based recreation uses on the affected rivers and streams. FWP’s actions followed the identification of the presence of an invasive parasite known to cause proliferative kidney disease in mountain whitefish. FWP’s decision to institute the temporary closure was based not only on the observed presence of the parasite, but also a number of confounding conditions that may threaten longer term impacts if not effectively addressed. The temporary closure is likely to significantly impact both the recreational fishing and the guided river excursion industries, as August and September are both busy seasons. This white paper provides a summary of the contribution of water based activities (fishing, rafting, floating, canoeing, and kayaking) to the Montana economy in general, and a preliminary estimation of the potential impacts the 2-3 week Yellowstone closure had on the Park County economy

Using Tourism to Recruit New Business: Tourism’s Role in Economic Development

The purpose of this study is to unveil the additional benefits that tourism brings to the state beyond the direct spending of the visitor. To achieve this purpose, we draw on two separate survey efforts. The first, and primary, effort is an online survey of business owners and managers in Montana. The second survey is a random intercept of Montanans asking some similar questions regarding their perceived importance ratings of a variety of factors related to living in Montana and, if they own a business, to their decision to operate in the state. Quality of life, and in particular outdoor recreation and cost of living are among the most important factors contributing to business location decisions in Montana

A Longitudinal Study of Montanans’ Intrastate Travel Residents’ Monthly Reporting of Travel

The purpose of this report was to provide complementary data and information to the Resident Travel Study (Report 2018-6) by following a panel of 285 Montanans for the whole of 2017. This panel based study allowed for a deeper look at the traveling habits of the respondents through a series of monthly surveys administered online. This report highlights travel frequency, purpose, spending and destination characteristics

Visitor Characteristics and Economic Analysis of Northeast Montana

The northeast region of Montana receives by far the least amount of nonresident visitation to the state and is slowly losing population. While the oil boom related to the Bakken Shale improved the economic outlook for a few counties between 2010 and 2014, its sustainability as a consistent economic driver is questionable as demonstrated by the substantial drop in production since 2015 when oil prices globally declined. This paper reviews the current socioeconomic trends in northeast Montana - Montana’s Missouri River Country - in comparison to the state as a whole and identifies the current state of the counties in the region. Further, we identify where tourism fits into the region’s economy and suggest opportunities for its potential

Economics and Characteristics of Alpine Skiing in Montana - 2018-2019 Ski Season

Skier visits to Montana ski areas have seen year over year growth for the past four years and a generally positive trajectory for at least the past 30 years. This study surveyed skiers and snowboarders at 6 of Montana’s ski areas to collect information on skier demographics, characteristics, and spending behaviors. Montana ski areas as a whole are seeing increasing proportions of nonresident skiers. These skiers generated nearly $177 million in economic contribution and 1,970 jobs in the 2018/19 season

Analyzing Economic and Social Opportunities and Challenges Related to Bison Conservation in Northeast Montana

This report provides a review of the current socioeconomic trends in northeast Montana in comparison to the state as a whole, followed by an economic analysis of the potential impacts of an expanded recreation amenity. The amenity is characterized by a large, intact grassland prairie ecosystem replete with a large bison herd. Results suggest significant latent demand for nonresident visitation to the region. To begin to capture this demand and ensure continued vitality of other economic sectors will require collaborative efforts between conservation proponents, tourism professionals, and the community at large

Montana Tourism Trends and Forecasting

This report presents the development of a Montana tourism forecasting model. We forecast not only annual nonresident visitors to the state, but also forecast recreation visits to both Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Monthly data between 1992 and 2014 are used in a General to Specific Modeling approach to establish regression coefficients that are then used to ex post forecast 2015-2017, and ex ante forecast 2018-2020 for Montana and 2018-2019 for the National Parks. The forecast models perform well and better than base comparisons using Naïve 1 and Naïve 2 methods as evaluated by Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE). Monthly forecasted values may be interactively viewed in relationship to previous years’ trends on ITRR’s interactive websites for Montana nonresident visitors and both National Parks

The Montana Expression 2017: 2017’s Costly Fire Season

Montana, along with many western states, experienced a severe fire season in the summer of 2017. According to the Northern Rockies Coordination Center (NRCC), fires consumed 1,276,456 acres of Montana lands. Nearly half of these lands are U.S. Forest Service owned (Table 1). The severity of the fire season led Montana’s Governor, Steve Bullock, to declare a state of emergency at the beginning of September. At this time, the state had already exceeded the $30 million in its firefighting fund by$14.5 million.1 The NRCC estimates the total costs of fighting Montana’s wildfires topped $390 million.2 The combination of extreme firefighting costs and lower than expected revenues, generated a$200 million shortfall with the state government.

Trail Usage and Value - A Helena, MT Case Study

The Mt. Ascension and Mt. Helena trail network provide a valuable outdoor recreation amenity to residents of, and visitors to, Helena. This report identifies the use and value of the trail system. Though 78 percent of trail use is by local residents, visitors to the region who used the trail system for hiking or biking spent over $4 million in the local area in the summer of 2017 (May-September)

Social Media and Its Impact on Travelers to Montana

News, real or not, travels faster than ever with the rise of social media platforms. Nearly everyone, everywhere, is capable of generating and disseminating information to large volumes of potential consumers. This information is often out of the direct control of the destination, business, or other entity for whom the news relates; it is unowned media. When a destination receives a flurry of attention from these various sources, either good or bad, several important questions arise in attempting to understand their impacts: (1) how long do these impressions last in potential visitor’s minds? And, (2) do these events/images influence travel planning? The overall purpose of this study is to build a better understanding of the degree to which unowned media, particularly social media, influences traveler behavior and perceptions of Montana, whether positive or negative. A secondary purpose is to provide specificity to the level and type of social media use that some visitors to Montana engage in (i.e., what platforms are they on, how does this vary by age, how often do they use specific platforms, etc.)