Economic Statistics

The tables in Appendix B-1 indicate the total value of farming, ranching, and forestry in the region. Table B.1.1 through B.1.3 profile the economics of farming in the BNR region. Livestock predominates over crop farming, and cattle predominate over other forms of livestock. Table B.1.3 indicates the gross income and net income per acre for farming -- these represent overall averages for all farms, derived by dividing total income by the total land in farms. These figures are used in chapter 2.3 and 3.3 to compare agribusiness to tourism income, and in chapter 7.5 and 7.6 to estimate the costs to purchase or lease conservation acreage.

Table B.1.4 through B.1.6 profile the economics of forestry in the BNR region. We also derive per acre gross and net income for timber. These figures, however, are only rough estimates, becuase the timber industry is heavily "distorted" by taxes, subsidies, and other government interventions. We do not account for the distortions in our income calculations, but they include: a standing timber tax; below-cost timber sales by the USFS; and income tax incentives for clearing pastures after cutting timber. In addition, we found no direct measures of production expenses in the BNR watershed, so we assumed that the ratio of expenses to gross income was the same as that of livestock farming. Forest income is also reported by region; the Ozark region was proportionally reduced to the BNR region, so the product mix actually reflects the Ozarks as a whole. Both of these assumptions do not diminish the accuracy of the figures as much as do the economic distortions -- the distorted market is why forestry survives at all with such low yields per acre.

For our tourism data, throughout this study, we use the National Park Service's public use reports to count visitation and to illustrate trends (detaile in Appendix C). The tables in Appendix B-2, "Economic Impact of Travel," represent an independent count of tourism trends in the region. These tables were made for purposes of analyzing travel and tourism in the state of Arkansas, while the tables in Appendix C were made for purposes of measuring usage of the BNR. We use the average per-trip economic benefits of travel to calculate the economic losses due to BNR pollution in chapter 4.4. We use the figures from the three-county region, per our definition of the BNR watershed, but the economic impact of travel should be interpreted as the economic impact on the Ozark region, not just on the BNR three-county region. The visitation figures from the "impact on travel" model for the whole Ozark region match those of the NPS in Appendix C; that is presumably because travellers to the BNR pass through the rest of the Ozarks, use lodging there, and are measured accordingly.