Broughton-Call to Washington Residents

(post from Laurie Lyman Balmuth, of Hood River)

Washington Residents, it is time to contact your representatives and let them know that Destination Resorts are bad for the Scenic Area and bad for local economies. If you are not a Washington resident please forward this message to at least one Washington resident if you can.

If the Gorge Commission is questioning the wisdom of allowing destination resorts in the Scenic Area why are Jim Jacks, from Gov. Chris Gregoire's staff http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact ; U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; http://murray.senate.gov/contact/ Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash http://www.house.gov/baird/contact/contact.shtml pushing hard to allow them? Why, after the Gorge commission listened to, and heeded, the public outcry against it, is the Gorge Commission Staff being pushed hard to produce an amendment to the Act by the October deadline ? Is it a cynical dismissal of the bottom end of Washington State and its residents now that timber income and Federal timber payments have dried up? Is it simple pandering to big money developers who stand to make many millions of dollars from the resorts? Or is it willful ignorance of the fact that From Colorado to the Caribbean it is no secret that destination resorts and a reliance on tourism dollars Is bad for local economies and the environment and does not provide family wage jobs.

The theme of development, totally recreation-oriented, with the accent on resorts and second homes, creates problems associated with densely populated cities: sewage and garbage disposal problems, traffic congestion, air and water pollution, and overall environmental decay. The Citizens of Skamania and Klickitat Counties deserve a real economic development plan that will provide year round family wage jobs and a solid tax base. The study reproduced in part below outlines Summit county Colorado’s experience. Scroll down to read relevant parts of articles on Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Cooperative Extension, Colorado State University http://dare.agsci.colostate.edu/extension/pubs.html

This report provides an overview of a study that estimates The role of ski tourism in the Summit County economy. In addition to providing original research insight On Summit County, a classic ski tourist economy, the method should also aid other Scholars and development practitioners in their attempts to understand tourism and its Impacts on local economies.

Summit County: Mining drove Summit County’s economy for the first century from its original Settlement. Like much of the mountainous region of Colorado, Summit County’s population fluctuated with the mining industry’s substantial booms and busts.However, over the past half century, the local economy has responded to another Boom -- recreation. The potential negative aspects of a recreation-led economy in Summit County were noted almost three decades ago (Ulman 1974), underlining the importance of understanding this, Potentially unique, economic growth process in informing local decision-making. The theme of development, totally recreation-oriented, with the accent on Resorts and second homes, is creating problems associated with densely populated Cities: sewage and garbage disposal problems, traffic congestion, air and water. Pollution, and overall environmental decay. Only through a reversal of present trends. Can stress be reduced, thereby preserving some measure of environmental quality. (Ulman, 1974, 55)

The same natural amenities that attract tourists are fueling a high rate of population growth only tangentially related to skiing. As technological innovation allows people to become less tied to the physical location of their workplaces and as these same people are acquiring substantial wealth, second home purchasers and younger, more active retirees are flocking to the Rocky Mountains. Colorado’s population is growing at twice the national rate, and Summit County is growing half again as fast as Colorado (Census, 2001). Summit County continues to outstrip official projections for its growth, and depends on substantial inflows of commuters to maintain labor market balance Part-time seasonal labor drives the local labor market. The combination of escalating living costs and relatively low wage employment opportunities within Summit pose challenges for county employers to find workers. The labor shortage is so problematic that the observed minimum wage in the county is approximately double the federal standard, the ski companies make ample high season use of foreign laborers, and affordable housing planning is becoming critical to the continued economic vitality of the ski economy.

The county’s mountainous terrain and land tenure exacerbate local planning challenges brought on by population growth and the county’s economic portfolio. Only about 1/4 of Summit’s 396 thousand acres is privately owned. More than 307 thousand acres are under federal management, mostly U.S. Forest Service. Thus, non-local land use decisions are likely to have important local economic in order to work toward federal biological diversity preservation objectives. Consistent underestimation of Summit growth trends hinders the ability of local officials and principal employers to anticipate future labor, housing, and public service demands. This also places the county at a considerable disadvantage in attracting new and diversified resources to the area.

Some Jamaicans Feel the Islands Majority of All-Inclusive Resorts Shuts Out Local Business By Melanie Eversley, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Sep. 22, 2003 - NEGRIL, Jamaica -- In the United States, Jamaica is promoted as a sunny playground of sandy beaches and azure water, featuring all-inclusive resorts that cater to people looking for a tropical escape. But critics say the resorts II that dot the island are neglecting local culture and perpetuating a kind of separatism that keeps tourists and Jamaica’s residents from mingling.

"There is a hostility to tourism and tourists because they perpetuate the relationship of servants and master in Jamaica," Barnett said. "When the all-inclusive came in, it then denied people local access to the economic benefits of tourism, and again segregated and separated the tourists away from the local people, the way the whole plantation economy did."

Resort owners say they are providing jobs in the financially ailing country. One-third of Jamaica's 2.7 million people live below the poverty line. Clayson Payton of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, which represents hospitality workers, said the pay --- ranging from $60 to $90 per week --- is about average for Jamaica and that the jobs at the all-inclusive resorts are sought after.

Something else has evolved in these last two decades, too: the Jamaican economy's increased dependence on tourism. Since the 1970s, Jamaica has taken out a series of international development loans to stay afloat. Today, the country is $53 billion in debt. At the same time, global trade liberalization has spread, increasing competitive pressure on traditional Jamaican products. The effect has been a greater reliance on vacationers. About half of Jamaica's foreign exchange now comes from tourism, according to the Jamaica Tourist Board. In 2000, 2.2 million visitors spent $332.6 million on the island. The popularity of the all-inclusive resorts has stoked resentment among some locals as other means of income have disappeared. Jamaicans who aren't employees are not allowed inside.
Laurie Lyman Balmuth
Hood River, OR