More protection for the Rogue makes economic sense

The Rogue supports the current economy through recreation and salmon and steelhead runs.

In 2008, at the request of the Save the Wild Rogue Campaign, I conducted two economic analyses concerning the Wild & Scenic Rogue River. The first examined the importance of recreation on the Rogue to the local and state economies. The second examined the economic value of the Rogue's salmon and steelhead runs to residents of the West Coast.

The economic benefits associated with the Rogue are immense. In 2007, recreation on this section of the river generated $30 million in economic output, 440 jobs and $15.5 million in income within the state economy. And the value society derives from the river's fish far exceeds its recreation value.

West Coast residents enjoy more than $1.5 billion in economic benefit each year from Rogue River salmon and steelhead runs. Most of this value is associated with non-anglers who derive economic benefits through what economists call "non-use values" — the monetary value people place on the existence of a natural resource, the ability to pass it on to future generations, and the option to use it in the future.

The Rogue River is not only one of the Pacific Northwest's natural treasures ranking up there with Mount Hood, the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake, it is the spawning, rearing and migration route for about 100,000 salmon and steelhead each year — second only to the Columbia in the state of Oregon.

The Rogue River was one of the original eight rivers included in the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, which intended to protect from development or degradation certain rivers or river segments deemed of particular importance to the nation. Although the act does not speak to the market-oriented economic values we most easily measure and most often concern ourselves with, it does address other values such as scenic, recreational, wildlife and cultural values long recognized by society — and even by economists.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden recently proposed legislation to designate 40 tributaries flowing into the Wild Rogue as Wild & Scenic Rivers. This would provide permanent protection to streams that are increasingly critical to maintaining the strong salmon and steelhead runs in the Rogue that benefit all Oregonians. With each passing year, the relative biologic and economic value of these streams grows higher as commercial and residential development in the Rogue Valley increasingly degrades many of the river's other tributaries, their water quality and quantity and the spawning grounds they provide.

In light of the economic downturn currently facing the state and nation, the need for public investments with large, positive returns has never been greater. Investments in the protection of salmon habitat in the Rogue River will provide economic benefits to society today and for many generations to come.

Policymakers should take steps now to further protect the Wild & Scenic Rogue River so that society may begin enjoying the benefits of enhanced protection today.