Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands Generates $351 Million a Day
New report highlights the massive economic value of America’s national parks, forests, and waterways.
Outdoor recreation on federal public lands and waters contributes an estimated $128 billion annually to the U.S. economy — or roughly $351 million every day — according to a new report from the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), as reported by Fast Company.
The first-of-its-kind analysis underscores the long-term economic power of outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, and boating on public lands — and contrasts that sustainability with resource extraction like drilling and mining.
“Access to recreation is this economic powerhouse,” said Whitney Potter Schwartz, ORR’s senior vice president of communications and operations. “It delivers compounding returns year after year for the economy.”
An Economic Engine Built on Access
The ORR report — produced in partnership with Southwick Associates — combines data from multiple federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service. Together, these agencies manage more than 640 million acres of public lands nationwide.
The findings reveal that outdoor recreation tied specifically to these federal lands:
Generates $128 billion in annual economic activity
Contributes $11 billion in combined federal, state, and local tax revenue
Supports one million jobs — roughly one in five of all U.S. outdoor recreation jobs
Drives $72 billion in direct visitor spending each year
Outdoor recreation as a whole is now a $1.2 trillion industry, supporting more than five million jobs across 110,000 businesses.
Sustainable Value vs. Finite Extraction
The report also highlights a crucial distinction: while resource extraction like oil, gas, and mineral mining can generate revenue, those activities are finite. Once the materials are depleted, so are the associated jobs and tax income.
“When the oil, gas, or minerals are gone, so are the associated jobs, income, and tax revenues,” the report notes. “Furthermore, the land may require remediation before it is fit for other uses or it may never return as a revenue-bearing asset.”
By contrast, outdoor recreation represents a renewable source of economic value — one that depends on conservation and continued public access. Visitors return year after year, sustaining local economies and small businesses that thrive around national parks, forests, and recreation areas.
According to the report, outdoor recreation generates more economic returns from U.S. Forest Service lands than any other activity, supporting 161,000 jobs compared to the 103,000 combined from forest products, grazing, mineral extraction, and energy production.
Public Lands as Living Assets
The findings arrive at a time when debates over the use of public lands are intensifying. Some policymakers have proposed expanding drilling and mining on federal lands as a way to generate revenue, while others argue that the country’s “natural assets” are most valuable when preserved for recreation, tourism, and habitat.
The ORR study suggests that protecting access to public lands isn’t just an environmental decision — it’s an economic one.
As Schwartz put it, outdoor recreation is “a sustainable and appreciating asset.”