Economic Impact Data Department Workgroup

5 September 2014

(Brent Rudolph notes)

ROLL CALL

Participants:

Brent Rudolph, Wildlife

Brian Klatt, MNFI (welcome!)

Jody Simoes, Marketing and Outreach (welcome!)

Erik Eklund, Finance and Operations

Larry Leefers, MSU

Frank Lupi, MSU (silent - in another meeting)

Tracie Bonner, Minerals Management

Donna Stine, Policy Coordinator

Jason Fleming, Parks and Recreation Division

Dave Neumann, Forest Resources Division

John Cherry, DNR Performance Management

Not Participating:

Sandra Clark, History (traveling)

Gary Whelan, Fisheries (in another meeting)

FIRST STEPS

Inventory Existing Economic Data:

Catalog of existing reports, studies, and data; describe their relevance to the tasks in our charge

DEFINITIONS
Impacts = the economic effects of a new or proposed activity or program/policy change
Contributions = the overall effects of direct economic activity of an industry or sector or other activities linked to it
Values = the market and non market values individuals receive (often measured in $, but not always)
Benefits = the net values to people, above what they spend

FEEDBACK ON FRAMEWORK

MI Econ Impact and Value Data.xlsx

worksheet includes 3 tabs. I'd propose we eventually start filling in the "Data" tab with the items on both of these lists plus all others we identify. The "Data Fields" tab provides brief descriptions of what each column in the "Data" tab is intended to capture. The "Economic Relevance" tab provides even more detail about the column under this heading on the "Data" tab. It is a rough, heirarchical list of the sectors or activities that should be kept in mind during our cataloging, with the nested sub-headings keeping us cognizant of one of the key points Larry made: the impacts/contributions of an industry or sector is not the same as those of our Department (or of Department lands, facilities, or programs),

COMMENTS:

  • Historical data as well - how far back?
  • probably limit to ≤10 years old, perhaps older for foundational reports (especially anything that is documented well enough that it could be replicated)
  • What about emerging trends, especially with clubs or even events on their own (e.g., disc golf, specifically permitted events)? These may not currently be significant, but contributions/benefits could grow - if that appears likely, these should probably be included
  • Under Activity/Industry, should add dispersed recreation: orienteering, geocaching, off-trail hiking/walking/gathering, wildlife watching
  • Might need to add “Type of Resource” e.g., timber
  • Should we add a field to capture the kind of data? E.g. fire program captures number of structures saved, but we don’t estimate values (yet this could be captured as values if we made the effort to do so)
  • May need to ID if any of any reports or data sources provide information that could be further analyzed

REVIEW LISTS AND THOUGHTS ON OTHER REPORTS

Economic Impact Information one page.doc

List of relevant reports and data that mostly reflect impacts (or perhaps contributions?).

DNR Information Collection Worksheet.pdf

Worksheet primarily identifies various efforts to survey or poll Department stakeholders. Most of these efforts don't explicitly capture economic data, but many might be used as an index (such as the relative volume of hunting activity inferring the amount of spending occurring by year or location) or be modified to collect such data.

LEARNING CONFERENCE CALLS

Donna would also like to arrange a few other "learning" conference calls, such as to bring in potential users of some of this information (e.g., legislators, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, regional government councils) to provide their perspective. This might replace or be in addition to our regular calls.

WORKGROUP CHARGE

We'll periodically revisit the workgroup charge, both to ensure we're on track and determine if we need to suggest edits

OTHER

DNR Interns

  • Jason Fleming has an intern starting next week who will begin filling in the spreadsheet and looking for auxiliary studies to some of the recreation groups to determine gaps in our analysis.
  • Donna may be able to get assistance from interns to help our workgroup in general

FUTURE MEETINGS

I will periodically ask others to coordinate calls, or to cover for me when I’m not available. Appointments will be updated with call-in information. Our report is due to the Resource Deputy by December 1st, 2014, but I’ve added proposed meetings for several weeks afterwards to debrief or address any final needed edits.

NEXT WEEK

Brent will be on the road next week, but should be able to call in. Somebody else may need to step in toinitiate the conference call and moderate if necessary.