Challenges for the New West: Economic impacts of wilderness in Nevada\u27s rural counties

Public lands designated as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System are removed from multiple-use management for protection of their natural condition. Opponents argue that locking up the natural resources on these lands through designation will undermine the rural economies in the west that are dependent upon extractive industries such as mining and logging. Proponents argue that the Old West reliance on extractive industries is declining and, in the New West , wilderness promotes economic development in rural communities by preserving the amenity values that draw population and employment to the region. Characteristics of Nevada\u27s economy, population and land challenge the ideas of the New West. This thesis examines the economic impact of wilderness on rural counties in Nevada. These potential impacts are studied utilizing a simultaneous-equations model, based on Duffy-Deno (1998), to test for determinants of population and employment growth for the period from 1990 to 2000