**Acknowledgements**

*Perspectives on Economic Development - Public Policy, Culture, and Economic Development*

pay here appears to have been growing in recent years.

**6. Developing together energy and amenities**

economic growth, several key findings emerge:

they tend to follow different cycles.

resources when possible.

best option.

amenities.

large number of jobs.

accommodation alone [32].

**5.4 Development strategies**

character and resources.

not been adjusted for inflation. Since 2008 wages have remained fairly static for this sector. Though limited data is available for the agriculture sector, average annual

In 2012 Teton County collected almost \$41 million in taxes from retail, trade, accommodation and food services sectors, nearly \$11.7 million of which came from

Teton County has developed a vibrant community with well-known amenities that attract millions of tourists each year. The Teton County Commission believes, however, that the county would benefit by diversifying the tourism industry that has grown out of what was once a small ranch community [60]. In order to maintain their community's roots and grow the economy, officials have developed a plan for growth that focuses on ecosystem stewardship, growth management, and quality of life [60]. Officials are using existing policy tools to protect wildlife habitats, natural skylines, and sustainability programs. Additionally, county officials work closely with towns to ensure that there is affordable housing and "year-round lifestyle-based tourism" that will create a more insulated economy [60]. Diversification of the economy would create jobs valuable to the local community [61]. Teton County demonstrates that county economic growth can occur in a way that is consistent with the community's

The factors that lead to economic growth at the county level are not always easy to identify or explain, though surely both energy and amenity resources can influence county growth. However, there are many other factors that can also influence growth, such as amenities in surrounding counties, the specifics of oil and gas development, and land-use policies. In examining the factors that affect county

This study examines how counties balance energy extraction and development of amenities on their lands. It is important to note, however, that a county possesses only limited authority with respect to development issues; many dimensions of development lie outside of the county domain at the state or national levels.

Finding One: Counties tend to develop both energy extraction and amenity

Finding Three: Energy extraction can directly advance the development of

Finding Four: The energy and amenity sectors can both be cyclical, although

Finding Five: Energy extraction operations offer higher-paying jobs, while hospitality and recreation operations employ greater numbers of people. A county's economic well-being depends on having both high-paying jobs and a

Finding Two: In cases in which a county focuses exclusively on either energy or amenity development, it is usually because of constraints beyond the control of that county (e.g., a lack of natural amenities or land-use policy that prohibits energy exploration) and not because the county considers exclusivity the

**34**

I would like to acknowledge the collaboration of Dr. Randy T Simmons on earlier reports that this chapter is drawn from and to Kayla Dawn Harris that lead a team of student research assistants that were invaluable in helping gather the data and information on which this chapter is based. Those students included Nicholas Hilton, Jordan Carl Hunt, and Justin Larsen.

### **Author details**

Ryan M. Yonk1,2\*

1 North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, United States of America

2 Rural Policy and Public Lands Institute, Utah, United States of America

\*Address all correspondence to: ryan.yonk@ndsu.edu

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
