A Comparison of Federal Land Oil & Gas Revenue with America’s Outdoor Economy

A Comparison of Federal Public Land Oil and Gas Production Revenue with America’s Outdoor Economy

With energy development policy on federal public lands attracting so much attention over the past several months, it’s time for us hunter conservationists to do our homework and educate ourselves as much as possible when speaking with our representatives about the importance of public lands to America’s significant outdoor economy and recreation sector.

I’m trying to learn more about the process and scope of federal oil and gas lease programs and then better understand how that compares to the $887 billion outdoor industry economy – which is in large part supported by public lands and the 140 million American’s who recreate on them each year.

America’s Outdoor Economy

The Outdoor Industry Association’s webpage is a great resource for conservation advocates. You should check it out. $887 billion in economic impact, 7.6 million jobs, and $65 billion in federal tax revenue. While the reported figures go beyond hunting and angling and include camping, motorcycle riding and snow and water sports, this is an incredible resource for outdoor advocates and it breaks down the economic impact, employment and federal and state tax contributions of the outdoor industry by state. Bookmark this site and reference it often.

To look at the OIA website and report figures click here

Here are two related facts from OIA’s report that you might find interesting:

• National parks, national wildlife refuges, national monuments and other public lands and waters account for $45 billion in economic output and approximately 396,000 jobs. Outdoor recreation on Forest Service lands alone add $13 billion to the economy and 205,000 jobs.
• Nearly 331 million Americans visit National Parks each year, that’s almost one visit for every American.

Federal Land Gas and Oil Production

To learn more about federal oil and gas production, I referenced ballotpedia.com which reports to be a web resource that is like a non-partisan political encyclopedia . This source breaks down a lot of information related to oil and gas extraction on federal public lands up to 2015 – everything from lease sale figures to the permit application process to inspections and revenue by state. Its worth checking out. Click on the link to this page here

Here are four interesting points taken from ballotpedia.com that relate to federal land gas and oil output that are interesting from a hunter conservationist perspective:

• As of 2015, the federal government managed roughly 700 million acres of mineral rights, half of which contain oil or natural gas reserves.
• New Mexico produced the most oil from federal lands as of 2014 —57,991,603 barrels. They also had the highest revenue from oil and gas activity on federal lands – $1.16 billion. Compare that to the $9.9 billion in consumer spending that New Mexico’s outdoor economy generates according to OIA’s report.
• Wyoming was first in natural gas production on federal lands in fiscal year 2014 and oil and gas related revenue from federal lands in WY was reported just over $1 billion. Wyoming’s outdoor economy is reported at $5.6 billion which supports an estimated 50,000 jobs.
• In FY 2014, $29.38 billion was collected in royalty fees for onshore oil and natural gas production on federal lands. The OIA report attributes $45 billion of the entire American outdoor economy is directly to federal public lands. That’s nearly 50% higher than the reported oil and gas revenue figures generated on the same.

Gas and Oil Production by State – Beyond Federal Lands

Looking beyond federal lands to general industry figures, check out the following link to a report compiled by a group called Resources for the Future which you can find by clicking here. It provides an overview of the top 16 oil and gas producing states’ overall production – not exclusive to federal lands. I thought it would helpful to understand this in relation to the OIA outdoor-economy numbers.

Concluding Thoughts

In a brief attempt to put some  of this data into context, see the table below compiling information from all three websites plus some additional internet searches related to job numbers by state in the oil and gas industry:

A couple of things to keep in mind when looking at this data –

1. The OIA employment figures and consumer spending takes into account retail and consumer spending impacts like gear, accessories, vehicles, and trip and travel expenses. The figures for the oil and gas industry I found may be more related to direct production and employment and not to the downstream spending – in other words, this comparison might not exactly be an apples to apples but I’m hoping it provides some context for the major role that our outdoor economy brings to the table.
2. States like Alaska, New Mexico and Wyoming have economies and work forces that are heavily related to oil and gas production. Its no wonder their elected representatives look out for those interests. What’s staggering to me is Utah – they’ve been one of the most pro-federal land transfer states in the entire nation and outdoor recreation appears to exceed gas and oil production revenue and employment by leaps and bounds.

As a society, the US is the world’s largest consumer of oil and natural gas. I drive my car thousands of miles each year like everyone else, travel by airplane to distant places and am not against responsible energy extraction as long as its done in the right places, under the right planning parameters and is in balance with other considerations like habitat protection, wildlife, clean air and water, and the common good. That being said, how can we ignore the potential danger and detriment involved with the current federal land policy that appears to be prioritizing traditional energy development as the main objective of federal land management? Its a near-sighted and short term path with potentially devastating and nefarious impacts to habitat and the wildlife that depends on it – sage grouse, big horn sheep, pronghorn, mule deer and many others.

An interesting take home point here is that when compared to the $889 billion outdoor economy and the 7.6 million jobs that these same public lands help support in the recreation-related sector, it seems incredible that the oil and gas industry has always had so much more lobbying and political ‘pull’ than the outdoor industry with many politicians.

This can probably be best explained in terms of  historical consolidation. In other words, up to this point in history, the outdoor industry has generally been considered a fragmented, ‘disorganized’ economy from a political clout perspective. Unlike the oil and gas industries, its a ‘big business’ run by thousands of small businesses. This voice and organization is beginning to solidify as organizations like OIA and their conservation partners are stepping up big time. When you think about the scope of these numbers, its apparent that the outdoor industry is thriving, significant and robust. This is a relevant and necessary talking point to keep in your toolbox when you’re having these conversations with your representatives.

Todd Waldron is a Hunt To Eat Ambassador from New York’s Adirondack Mountains and a life member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.