I need info

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Originally Posted by FW

Marianna is a little different, because it is the county, not the state that owns the caves. The local area does get some benefit from cavediving there, lodging, food, the diveshop..
On the other hand, if someone did an analysis, they would see that it is a drop in the bucket, compared to other activities, like swimming for example.

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There is an impact study being done by Dr Bill Huth I believe in regards to Jackson County.

Blue Springs Park(Jackson Blue) is state owned, its just run by the county... Same as Morrison Springs, which is I guess in Holmes County?.

Blue Springs Park closes off to swimmers for half the year, diver presense is pretty consistant throughout the year with a heftier price tag.

"If you want to research this, try to see how much money has gone to Madison County from the divers at Madison blue since it became a state park. If you want actual evidence, get in your car, drive to the court house, ask their financial personel, don't try to get other people to do it for you. Ask the city of Mayo about how much peacock has generated for their local government."

I am in the progress of doing this though i also know that there are fellow divers out there with information gathered that is not accessible by the public and I was trying to get as much evidence as i can to stand by my claim. We also know how fast Local counties work and that i must remind you that this is also a term paper that i have chosen to write and I will probably have been graduated from college before I get information from the counties. Im not seeking others to do research for me; I have lots of information gathered from searching myself though if i can get as much info that I can my claim might have a more convincing standpoint.

stating that cave divers numbers are so small and dont make much of a difference can be argued against. I see what you are stating though look at marianna their budget has increased around 21,000 annually thats just in the park alone. Now look at the big picture of cavers in marianna, buying property that is taxed, renting hotels, eating at local businesses, and even providing volunteer cleanups that the state OR county dosent have to do. Many divers also bring in swimmers and faimly to enjoy the lands and they also provide aid to the budget. In my beliefs small numbers can make a big difference, its just how you plan your battle is what counts.

I just want to tell everyone thank you for your ideas and valuable information wether it be an opinion of oppisition or support.

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Originally Posted by bgillespie82

I just want to tell everyone thank you for your ideas and valuable information wether it be an opinion of oppisition or support.

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Any time buddy!

I am not a local to Cave Country, or an expert on eco-tourism. My comments may not be on-target. So for some free advice ---- as they say, take it for what it is worth:

1. Try the High Springs Chamber of Commerce (if such exists, if not try the County). They may collect data on cave diving (and eco-tourism in general) and its impact on local / regional economy.
2. The larger economic issue may not be cave diving, but the availability of clean water to support a viable local / regional economy. Ex. If you open a dump in one county, it may “flow down” and pollute the ground water 50 miles away…
3. The long-term impact of cave diving may be the knowledge that cave divers bring to the issues of water conservation and pollution. While difficult to quantify in terms of dollars and cents, there is value…
4. You may be able to draw parallels to other eco-tourist pursuits. The Sierra Club, Explorers Club, et all may be able to provide you with economic impact models

There are one or two economists who frequent this site (as well as the decostop). They can probably provide much better ideas.

Good Luck,

H

The local and regional impact of snow skiing was studied for the Lower Catskill Region of New York several years ago.

Basically, snow skiing had a couple of bad years and some of the smaller mountains closed. This caused a ripple effect through the local economies (motels, restaurants, ski shops, rental places, etc). I remember reading about the study and how it was being used as the basis for a proposed economic stimulus package (I think the final outcome was low-interest loans for snowmaking equipment).

Anyway, you can probably use LexisNexis to find the study and get a copy. Much of the economic heavy-lifting for sports-based tourism may already be done and available. You can probably contact the Chamber of Commerce for the lower Catskill Region – they should be able to provide hard data.

H

well here's a paper i did with some others on the economics of the oriskany...this is the us epa ncee version...it will be published soon in Marine Resource Economics:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.n...a!OpenDocument

we did a pilot survey at the nss/cds meeting in marianna and got enough data to build a similar travel cost demand model for jackson blue...we also got expenditure data to do an economic impact estimate...we will be using implan multipliers (from an economic input/output model) and also the remi model, a county level regional econometric model of the state of florida. We might be gearing up for a larger project using more data from the jcso records. That is in the proposal stage. Bill Huth

Thanks for the info Guys!!! Sorry I didnt reply earlier, I recently heard that my father passed and I had to travel to Virginia to see my dad one last time and help my sister with anything that needed to be done.