Dinosaur Monument Tourism Outpaces Mining in Moffat County Economy

Steamboat Springs —Will national monuments save your property taxes?

The short answer is yes, but not in the way you think. They won’t lower your bill directly. Instead, they are propping up a local economy that is currently the only thing keeping the lights on in parts of Moffat County.

The Vail Daily ran an opinion piece by Lien this week laying out the hard numbers. The argument is simple: Dinosaur National Monument in Moffatt County is a cash cow, and it’s getting bigger.

Tom Kleinschnitz, the Moffat County director of tourism, provided the data that makes the case. He told U.S. senators and representatives in Washington, D.C., earlier this year that his county has a population of about 13,000 people. Dinosaur National Monument attracted over 315,700 visitors in 2025.

Read that again. One visitor for every person living in the county, and then some. That is not a hobby. That is an industry.

Lien joined a group of stakeholders for a four-day float down the Green River through Dinosaur in August. The group wasn’t just one type of person. It included hunters, anglers, banking executives, mining executives, a local rancher, small-business owners, and marketing professionals. They were sponsored by Visit Moffatt County and the National Park Service.

The point of the trip was to figure out how these conflicting interests coexist. The common denominator, Lien wrote, is a desire for sustainable management. But the threats are real and they are accelerating.

The piece cites a January 2026 report from Headwaters Economics titled “Economic performance of communities near national monuments.” The report documents that these protected areas are vital to local economies. They power rural economies and support the hunting, angling, and recreation heritage that defines the region.

The scale of this industry is massive. Nationwide, outdoor recreation accounts for $788 billion in annual gross economic output and generates 5.2 million jobs. In Colorado, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates the economic output of outdoor recreation at $13.9 billion.

That figure surpasses mining, utilities, farming, and ranching. Make no mistake: the people who come to watch a canyon or cast a fly are bringing more money into the state than the people who dig it out of the ground.

Lien notes that threats to public lands have increased significantly. He points to proposed sell-offs, rapidly accelerated oil and gas leasing with limited public input, and growing year-round recreation.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ran an editorial on Aug. 21 highlighting the tension. It noted that recent lease sale proposals in North Park, Moffat County, and Routt County have generated concerns from landowners, sportsmen, conservation organizations, and state wildlife managers. The fear is potential impact to wildlife migration corridors, outdoor recreation, and the local economies that depend on healthy public lands.

The editorial was cut off in the reporting, but the concern is clear. The Bureau of Land Management is moving fast on leasing.

Lien’s argument rests on the idea that these groups are not enemies. The bank executive and the angler both want the land to remain valuable. The mining executive knows that a healthy ecosystem supports the tourism dollar that now outpaces extraction.

The Vail Daily piece doesn’t shy away from the conflict, but it insists on unity. The float trip was designed to show that these interests are intertwined. You can’t have one without the other in a sustainable way.

The numbers drive the point home. $13.9 billion in economic output for recreation in Colorado is a fact, not a projection. It is the current reality.

When officials talk about "unprecedented pressures" on public lands, they are talking about a shift in economic power. The extraction model is being challenged by the experience model.

For folks in the valley, this isn’t abstract. It’s your commute. It’s the price of a coffee in Vail or Steamboat. It’s whether the town you live in has a viable tax base next year.

The 315,700 visitors to Dinosaur in 2025 are not just tourists. They are the economic engine of Moffat County.

The question isn’t whether national monuments drive growth. The data says they do. The question is what happens when the lease sales hit North Park and Routt County.

Lien’s group floated down the Green River to find answers. They found that the interests are diverse, but the goal is shared: keep the land working for everyone.

The BLM is moving on lease sales. The public input window is limited.

That’s worth watching.