Increasingly, recreational boating and its supporting industries are being affected by governmental policy and regulatory and allocation decisions. Clearly, those charged with making these decisions cannot understand the impacts of their decisions on related business, individuals, and their livelihoods without possessing some knowledge of the general linkages between boating and local economies. This initial estimate of the economic impacts of boating in Virginia is a first step in that direction. Hopefully, a better knowledge of the nature, recent growth and present magnitude of boating in the Commonwealth will insure that decisions made which influence its existence will be\u27based on the best information possible
