Kosciusko Lakes and Streams has recently found that sport fishing in Kosciusko County is a $27.8 million annual industry.The organization says it is directly affected by water cleanliness.According to KLAS Director Dr. Nate Bosch, other states, including Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Ohio, have done similar Lake Economic Impact studies, yielding findings that show water cleanliness as the most important factor in influencing where people choose to spend leisure time. Bosch says that New Hampshire found lakes had a $1.8 billion impact annually, and Maine found this value to be $6.7 billion.The Minnesota and Ohio studies demonstrated that lake property values were closely linked with water quality.With this in mind, Grace College has commenced an economic impact study on the lakes of Kosciusko County.Two on-campus groups – Kosciusko Lakes and Streams, as well as the Gordon Institute for Enterprise Development – will complete work on the project. Laurie Renier, Kosciusko County Assessor, and Bill Holder, Kosciusko County GIS director, have also agreed to help out with the project.Bosch said the initial idea for developing this project came from conversations had with George Robertson, executive director of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation, and from the group project as part of the Kosciusko Leadership Academy, which included Elaine Bultemeier, Beth McHaffie, Stacy Thomas, and Bill Watson.We want to explore the relationship between abundant, clean local water resources and the area’s economy.As a preliminary example of this analysis, KLAS looked at one portion of the lake’s total economic impact – sport fishing.Using data collected by Purdue University, KLAS found that Kosciusko County contains 15,740 acres of standing surface water (lakes and ponds).According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, each acre of surface water is fished for 100 hours on average, and the average fishing trip lasts three hours. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fishing surveys report that an average of $53 is spent per fishing trip. Using this data, KLAS estimates that sports fishing in Kosciusko County is a $27.8M annual industry.Other areas of the study that will be explored include lake-related tax revenue, boating, tourism, property values, retail sales, and restaurants.
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