http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?ctg=9&csfd=1

$6.7 Billion.

“What is the value of the qualities – environmental and otherwise – that Jackson Hole comprises?” Today I’ll try to answer that question.

Three caveats. First, I recognize that, for many people, putting a monetary value on Jackson Hole’s environment is blasphemy. For those who believe the environment is ineffable, assigning a dollar value to it is like assigning a dollar value to religion or love or family – some things transcend mere mammon.

Second, for reasons ranging from methodology to assumptions, no valuation of Jackson Hole’s environment can be precise. Instead, I have two hopes for this exercise. One is to put an order of magnitude on the value of all that Teton County comprises; the other is to do so in a way that allows us to compare our situation with other communities’. I do this because if we can kinda-sorta begin to make an apples-to-apples comparison between Teton County and other places, maybe we can kinda-sorta begin to develop a new and deeper appreciation for just how fortunate we are to call Jackson Hole home.

Third, because I want my methodology to be simple to grasp, easy to use and broadly applicable, I’ve based it on the amount of investment income earned by residents of a given county. The strength of this approach is that it can be used in every county in America. Among its weaknesses is that, rather than valuing the environment per se, it values the entire bundle of assets that a given locale comprises. In the case of Teton County, my sense is that much of what residents value is a function of our environment. However, with this methodology, there’s no way to test that assumption.

This article is missing the charts that are found in the original paper version.

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