The Impact of Selected Changes in Management of Public Lands on Functional Demand Areas in Utah

• Main Author: Dixon, Eldon W.
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 1971
• Subjects: Management of Public Lands; Functional Demand Areas; Utah; Federal Grazing Policy; Economics; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1675; https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2674&context=etd

Income and employment impacts associated with changing federal grazing policy were evaluated within functional demand areas. Changes in federal land policy do have employment and income effects on the functional demand areas. But whether they are significant or not is open to debate. The percentage of total employment lost for each functional demand area ranged from. 0159 percent for Region 2 to 4. 031 percent for Region 7. This was the maximum employment loss or gain to the demand areas. All other gains and losses in employment within functional demand areas were between this maximum and minimum. Income changes followed a similar pattern. It seems likely that very little actual migration of labor will take place because of the policy changes studied in this paper. More likely, the loss in employment or income due to the pricing and reduction in grazing changes will res ult in a higher degree of underemployment in each of the functional demand areas, thereby generating even higher unused manpower capacity. The amount of unemployment would probably increase by some small amount also. This entails a waste of a human resource. In the case of the increase in productivity change, it seems likely that the gain in employment or income will not create an influx of migration labor. Instead, the underemployed or individuals with unused capacity could absorb the new jobs, in which case most of the increase would show up as increased productivity. If still more labor was acquired in the area, the unemployed would be provided with new opportunities for employment.