Colorado Wildlife Federation Colorado Parks and Wildlife has released a report, “The Economic Contributions of Outdoor Recreation: A regional and county-level analysis.” Southwick Associates conducted the 2013 study for CPW.
“The total economic output associated with outdoor recreation amounts to $34.5 billion dollars, contributing $19.9 billion dollars to the Gross Domestic Product of the state. This economic activity supports over 313,000 jobs in the state, which represents 13.2% of the entire labor force in Colorado and produces $12.4 billion dollars in salaries and wages. In addition, this output contributes $4.9 billion dollars in local, state and federal tax revenue.”
Wildlife viewing, angling and hunting generated more than $5 Billion. Wildlife viewing contributes $2.2 Billion. Hunting and fishing generated 2.8 Billion. Here is the link to the Report:
cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Commission/2014/May/ITEM21-2013COEconImpactReport.pdf