Graduate Abstract

Lesley Regina Argo
Fall 2001

Challenges for the New West: Economic Impacts of Wildernesson Nevada's Rural Counties

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the

Master of Science Degree

Department of Environmental Studies
Greenspun College of Urban Affairs

Graduate College
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Fall 2001

by

Lesley Regina Argo

Dr. Helen Neill, Examination Committee Chair
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

ABSTRACT

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's 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.