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The article below quotes the head of Headwaters Economics Ray Rasker, who happens to be a former board member of the Sonoran Institute. A board member of the Sonoran Institute is Jerry Grebenc, while another board member for Headwaters is coincidentally Deb Grebenc. The article also notes that Chris Mehl, a left-leaning Bozeman City Commissioner, is a board member as well.
We can see that Headwaters shares a connection the Sonoran Institute. And, if there is a personnel connection there is likely an ideology connection. And what is that ideological perspective? If you poke around the Sonoran website you'll find leftist buzz words like sustainability and smart growth., while the Headwaters website similarly adopts the same political perspective.
We see this kind of ideological nepotism frequently, where over and over the very same people populate all sorts of foundations and study groups as board members. I think the idea is to create the perception that there is a broad level of support and intellectual weight that really isn't there.
We can see that Headwaters shares a connection the Sonoran Institute. And, if there is a personnel connection there is likely an ideology connection. And what is that ideological perspective? If you poke around the Sonoran website you'll find leftist buzz words like sustainability and smart growth., while the Headwaters website similarly adopts the same political perspective.
We see this kind of ideological nepotism frequently, where over and over the very same people populate all sorts of foundations and study groups as board members. I think the idea is to create the perception that there is a broad level of support and intellectual weight that really isn't there.
The reason I'm mentioning all this is because the website for Headwaters describes itself as engaging in "independent nonpartisan research." So it is fair to conclude that Headwaters is hardly non partisan. We should therefore understand their pronouncements through the lens of left-leaning politics and environmentalist perspectives.
A quick review of the Headwaters report mentioned in the article allows us to conclude that Headwaters is essentially equating correlation with causation. They assert that employment increased at a higher rate because of the existence of public land. This is likely to resonate with Montanans, who are used to wide open spaces and low density of population. Of course, it is clever strategy to manipulate this attitude for policy advocacy.
However, the report mentions nothing regarding other important economic factors, like tax policy, zoning, housing costs, the impact of the colleges, or tourism. In fact, these words are not even found in their report. Yet it concludes that the sole factor that draws people to places like Bozeman is open spaces. It seems that the conclusion was established first, and the report was created to prove the conclusion.
It is then a quick jump to conclude that legislative action to create more open space is desirable, based on the faulty conclusion that such actions will drive prosperity. This is agenda-driven advocacy wrapped up in a scientific veneer.
It also seems clear as one reads the article that reporter Jason Bacaj accepted the Headwaters report uncritically and without any research. In fact, the whole article reads like a press release. Mr. Bacaj approvingly interjects an editorial comment in this "news" story: "It appears Bozeman residents are ahead of the curve, having approved a 20-year bond that will give the city up to $15 million to create more public parks, trails, athletic fields and natural spaces in town." Herein is contained the whole purpose of the story, that is, to cheer-lead for more taxation for trails and athletic fields.
Mr. Mehl, Headwaters board member and city commissioner, is quoted: "As the economy changes, hopefully our elected officials will change as well. It's really a question of what the elected officials do with this data to make the state as a whole more competitive." With breath-taking glibness, he asserts that the report produced by his own organization is authoritative, and ought to be adopted by the government which he presides over! And reporter Jason Bacaj glosses completely over this glaring conflict of interest.
There is much else that could be pointed out in the Headwaters report. However, I think I've mentioned enough to call it and its conclusions into question.
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However, the report mentions nothing regarding other important economic factors, like tax policy, zoning, housing costs, the impact of the colleges, or tourism. In fact, these words are not even found in their report. Yet it concludes that the sole factor that draws people to places like Bozeman is open spaces. It seems that the conclusion was established first, and the report was created to prove the conclusion.
It is then a quick jump to conclude that legislative action to create more open space is desirable, based on the faulty conclusion that such actions will drive prosperity. This is agenda-driven advocacy wrapped up in a scientific veneer.
It also seems clear as one reads the article that reporter Jason Bacaj accepted the Headwaters report uncritically and without any research. In fact, the whole article reads like a press release. Mr. Bacaj approvingly interjects an editorial comment in this "news" story: "It appears Bozeman residents are ahead of the curve, having approved a 20-year bond that will give the city up to $15 million to create more public parks, trails, athletic fields and natural spaces in town." Herein is contained the whole purpose of the story, that is, to cheer-lead for more taxation for trails and athletic fields.
Mr. Mehl, Headwaters board member and city commissioner, is quoted: "As the economy changes, hopefully our elected officials will change as well. It's really a question of what the elected officials do with this data to make the state as a whole more competitive." With breath-taking glibness, he asserts that the report produced by his own organization is authoritative, and ought to be adopted by the government which he presides over! And reporter Jason Bacaj glosses completely over this glaring conflict of interest.
There is much else that could be pointed out in the Headwaters report. However, I think I've mentioned enough to call it and its conclusions into question.
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All the parks and trails in and around Bozeman are more than just nice to look at: They're main drivers of the local economic engine, according to a new report by a local nonprofit economic research group.
The group Headwaters Economics says that over the last four decades, non-metropolitan counties in the West with more than 30 percent federally protected lands increased jobs by 345 percent. Much of that job growth has come in service industries like health care, real estate and high-tech. Similar counties with no protected land increased jobs by 83 percent.
Gallatin, Madison and Park counties fall in the former category, with each having at least 45 percent of its land set aside as public, according to Headwaters data. And the area is seeing growth in many of those service industries, particularly high-tech and real estate, said Ray Rasker, executive director of the nonprofit research group. The. time frame studied stretches from 1970 to 2010, but he said the local real estate industry is rebounding and contributing positively to the economy, even though the study period included the housing collapse.
"What people are doing is using the lifestyle of the West as a way to attract talent, and it bears out in the numbers," Rasker said. "The structure of the economy has changed tremendously."
Headwaters Economics focuses its research on community development and land management decisions and has delved into the topic of land and its economic value in the past. Rasker said they decided to jump back into the topic because of the recession, to "reeducate ourselves about what's driving the economy." Lance Trebesch, CEO and co-owner of event ecommerce company TicketRiver, said public land and recreational opportunities along with highspeed Internet connections have allowed him to build a successful technology company based in Bozeman and Harlowton. The key to it, he said, is attracting talent; and talented people are now able to pick and choose where they work, which amplifies the importance of an area's quality of life.
Rasker said Headwaters attributed the nearly two to-one job growth experienced in the western U.S. compared to the rest of the country solely to public lands, rather than other developments or area improvements, because of the number of data slices and models the nonprofit was able to incorporate into its analyses.
It appears Bozeman residents are ahead of the curve, having approved a 20-year bond that will give the city up to $15 million to create more public parks, trails, athletic fields and natural spaces in town.
The group hopes the Legislature will take a look at the study and consider what open land contributes to the economy by itself, in addition to the value of what can be extracted from it.
"As the economy changes, hopefully our elected officials will change as well," said Chris Mehl, policy director at Headwaters Economics and Bozeman city commissioner. "It's really a question of what the elected officials do with this data to make the state as a whole more competitive."
Jason Bacaj may be reached at jasonb@dailychronicle.com 582-2635.
The group Headwaters Economics says that over the last four decades, non-metropolitan counties in the West with more than 30 percent federally protected lands increased jobs by 345 percent. Much of that job growth has come in service industries like health care, real estate and high-tech. Similar counties with no protected land increased jobs by 83 percent.
Gallatin, Madison and Park counties fall in the former category, with each having at least 45 percent of its land set aside as public, according to Headwaters data. And the area is seeing growth in many of those service industries, particularly high-tech and real estate, said Ray Rasker, executive director of the nonprofit research group. The. time frame studied stretches from 1970 to 2010, but he said the local real estate industry is rebounding and contributing positively to the economy, even though the study period included the housing collapse.
"What people are doing is using the lifestyle of the West as a way to attract talent, and it bears out in the numbers," Rasker said. "The structure of the economy has changed tremendously."
Headwaters Economics focuses its research on community development and land management decisions and has delved into the topic of land and its economic value in the past. Rasker said they decided to jump back into the topic because of the recession, to "reeducate ourselves about what's driving the economy." Lance Trebesch, CEO and co-owner of event ecommerce company TicketRiver, said public land and recreational opportunities along with highspeed Internet connections have allowed him to build a successful technology company based in Bozeman and Harlowton. The key to it, he said, is attracting talent; and talented people are now able to pick and choose where they work, which amplifies the importance of an area's quality of life.
Rasker said Headwaters attributed the nearly two to-one job growth experienced in the western U.S. compared to the rest of the country solely to public lands, rather than other developments or area improvements, because of the number of data slices and models the nonprofit was able to incorporate into its analyses.
It appears Bozeman residents are ahead of the curve, having approved a 20-year bond that will give the city up to $15 million to create more public parks, trails, athletic fields and natural spaces in town.
The group hopes the Legislature will take a look at the study and consider what open land contributes to the economy by itself, in addition to the value of what can be extracted from it.
"As the economy changes, hopefully our elected officials will change as well," said Chris Mehl, policy director at Headwaters Economics and Bozeman city commissioner. "It's really a question of what the elected officials do with this data to make the state as a whole more competitive."
Jason Bacaj may be reached at jasonb@dailychronicle.com 582-2635.
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