Topline Findings from 2023 Report Produced by BBC Research & Consulting
This independently conducted report explores the economic effects of designating public lands within Luna County in the Florida Mountains, Cookes Range, Tres Hermanas, and Good Sight Mountains as a new Mimbres Peaks National Monument.
The report’s results use economic modeling and visitation rates to other national monuments in the southwestern United States to estimate the economic impact of increased visitation to Mimbres Peaks in jobs, economic output, and tax revenue under three visitation scenarios (low, medium, and high).
- The report finds that visitation to a Mimbres Peaks National Monument could reach between 122,500 and 220,500 visitors annually within the next five to ten years.
- New non-local visitors to the national monument could directly spend about $10.2 million per year under the medium visitation scenario ($7.3 and $13.1 million, respectively, under the low and high visitation scenarios) per year on goods and services.
- When combining new non-local visitor spending with a monument operations budget and factoring in secondary impacts as that money circulates in the local economy, the total annual economic impact could be about $11.8 million under the medium visitation scenario ($8.7 and $15.0 million, respectively, under the low and high visitation scenarios).
- This would create 88 new jobs under the medium visitation scenario (64 to 113 new jobs respectively, under the low and high visitation scenarios) in tourism and recreation sectors like accommodations, restaurants, gas, other services, and retail sales.
- The spending by non-local visitors would also support $653,175 in new annual tax revenues for state, county, and local governments under the medium visitation scenario (and $480,044 and $826,305, respectively, under the low and high visitation scenarios).
- A national monument would help preserve the local ranching economy by protecting public lands used for livestock grazing. Ranching has continued, including motorized access, on BLM-managed national monuments such as Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Doña Ana County and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument outside of Taos. Proclamations establishing national monuments include language ensuring that BLM’s management of ranching is not impacted by the monument designation.
