filed under: economics of trails

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Small Business Owners Along the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) Say Trails are Vital to the Economy

The Continental Divide Trail Coalition surveyed 200 small business owners along the CDT and found that 86% say trails are vital to the economy of their communities.

The Continental Divide Trail Coalition has released a press report to accompany this survey, which states, "A new survey of 200 small business owners along the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) shows overwhelming agreement that protection of public lands is important to the economies of small, rural communities in the Rocky Mountain West. Release of the survey results comes as the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee prepares to vote Tuesday on a bill that would permanently provide full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) - a measure that is supported by 98% of the survey's respondents. The answers provided by these small business owners provide strong evidence that the CDT and the people that use it are a vital and growing part of the economic activity in towns along the 3,100-mile National Scenic Trail – and that business owners see the economic value in protecting the Trail and the public lands it traverses."

Highlights from the report include:

• 97% believe that protecting, promoting and enhancing public lands is important to the well-being of their community’s economy
• 88% have seen growth in business in their community in the last five years due to use of the CDT
• 58% have seen growth in their business in particular in the last five years due to use of the CDT
  

You can read the full report by downloading the PDF.

Published November 2019

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