Study shows national monuments support stable local economies

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho, via Flickr

A new study by Headwaters Economics finds that national monument designations promote stable and diversified economic growth in nearby communities. Opponents of national monuments often claim that the limitations that national monument designations place on future uses of the land will disrupt local economic growth. But this latest analysis by Headwaters Economics shows that this is not the case.

The Headwaters Economics study analyzed 30 large national monuments in the West designated between 1982 and 2022, and evaluated nearby communities according to economic indicators measuring jobs and income before and after each monument's designation. This analysis found that national monument designation is associated with a stable economic trajectory, continued job and population growth, and slight increases in incomes following the designation.

In addition, the study examined five national monuments designated since 2022 and created economic forecasts for those monuments based on the results of the 30 pre-2022 monuments. These forecasts predict similar stable economic trajectories for those communities.

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@zionnps

Not all birds head south for the winter – some, like this Steller’s jay, are here all year!

Steller’s jays are omnivores, which means that they eat all kinds of food based on what’s available: they forage for nuts, seeds, bugs, berries, and more. They will then store some of these foods in caches to be eaten later, like in the winter when food is less abundant. It’s kind of like when you buy groceries for more than one meal and put them away for later – except you probably aren’t burying individual chips around your yard (we hope).

Like their relatives in the Corvidae family, Steller’s jays are very smart. They can stash food all over the place and remember the location of each cache for long periods of time.