Economic Facts about the Illinois River, Lake Tenkiller and the OSRC

Knowledgeable law enforcement officer Dan Garber (retired) put it succinctly:

“Because of the popularity of the Illinois River among Oklahomans, in no small part due to us being a tourism destination, a law enforcement presence is vital for the safety & enjoyment of visitors and local residents alike.

I have worked as an OSRC River Ranger and as a Cherokee County Deputy and I can assure you that the Sheriff's office cannot replace the job done by the rangers.

It would require an auxiliary Sheriff's staff just for the calls & emergencies, something the county has never been able to afford. The job of the OSRC Rangers simply would not get done without OSRC staff. And, of course, the supervision of the mission should be located as close to the river as possible to be effective for the staff and our citizens.”

Lake Tenkiller hosts almost 2 million visitors per year. It is the 3rd most visited lake in the region encompassing Oklahoma, southern Kansas and northern Texas. Visitor spending at Lake Tenkiller alone resulted in an economic impact of $30 million dollars and supports 549 jobs locally. Lake Tenkiller is the attraction for five of the top twenty parks within the inventory of the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers office, encompassing Oklahoma, the southern half of the state of Kansas and the northern half of the state of Texas.

Tahlequah Mayor Ken Purdy said the city, chamber of commerce and Scenic Rivers Commission are working on a report to the Legislature on the economic impact the budget cut could have on the local economy. "The Illinois River is a major draw for tourism," he said. "We get half a million visitors annually."1

There are about ten major outfitter businesses covering the 60 rivermiles.2

Tourism visits to the Illinois River range in the neighborhood of 400,000 direct visitors, of which about 200,000 float the Illinois River. Float trips generated a direct economic impact of $12 million dollars into the local economy at last count. These dollars are re-spent locally. The outfitters pay workers who patronize the local businesses who in turn pay workers, and so forth. Tourism dollars have a greater multiplier3 in the geographical area than if the economic draw was commerce/shopping or other activities that depend heavily on imports.

Individually, each floater puts an averaged $60 of ‘new money’ into the local economy. Thus, two couples floating the river would infuse, on average, about $240 in the Tahlequah area in the form of purchasing fuel, paying for their float, buying food and lodging and spending on souvenirs and other entertainment such as the NSU Playhouse, a concert or museum visit. If the primary reason for their visit were ‘no longer there’ then not just the outfitters would suffer an economic decline— the abundance of surrounding restaurants and fuel stations, stores and lesser incidental attractions such as museums and playhouses would also suffer an economic decline.

But the economic losses caused by lost confidence in float trip safety would not just be a short term and temporary impact. It would have a greater-than-one-for-one impact on the future of the area. (And in fact, even the hint or risk that the Illinois River would be under new management gives rise to a bit of lost confidence in the river adventure float experience.) In the past, businesses have relied upon having a predictable tourism future, as they made decisions about putting in restaurants and hotels, improving their guest services, adding more amenities in anticipation of meeting the coming Summer’s capacity for earnings from floaters. Businesses asking whether Tahlequah would have the capacity to sustain a successful economic enterprise might be discouraged by the lack of predictability. Successful business forecasting depends in large part on the ability to make assumptions about the future, based upon historical information. Would the new paradigm have the ability to insure that floater safety is up-front and taking place at every opportunity in advance of putting amateurs out on a wild river? Would there be a Ranger to call when a swiftwater rescue is needed? Would the new administrators have the knowledge to successfully gage floating conditions from afar? Would the risks to floaters go up if there is no one working on Sunday afternoons? Would guests perceive a bad aesthetic experience if the public lands are not kept litter-free, even if each of the outfitters does a fine job of their own properties? These are subtle factors that have, in the past, been satisfied by a refined management methodology that have grown tourism, grown river education, grown a solid cohesive way of thinking about shared utilization of the resource for multiple use. The existence of a steady-state economy has been an assumption upon which much of Tahlequah’s enterprise has been assumed. Changing the assumptions about whether the river will continue to draw tourists, would have long-term negative implications for Tahlequah’s future.

Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission makes contact individually or online with about 500,000 potential river visitors who either visit the OSRC office, call with questions, receive safety talks before floating, participate in training, receive information by mail or brochure, or visit the website. Note: It is critical to public safety that recreationists have access to OSRC, know the rules, and feel assured that help is available. A regulatory presence in Oklahoma City is not an adequate substitute for local presence to sustain peoples’ confidence in floating.

It would be valuable for some of the obvious concerns influencing economic viability of the proposed alternative to be researched before a decision was made either way. Advance planning (more than a few months or even a year) would be needed to address issues such as operating rescue dispatch from OKC or contracting it to an inexperienced and unqualified law enforcement agency lacking in familiarity with the river’s characteristics, as a sideline. You can measure in human lives saved, the level of expertise being tapped to manage and perform lifesaving activities on this river. Likewise, safety education in advance of putting people out on the river is a key onsite, hands-on, preventive piece that can’t be solved with remote management and a 51.9% budget cut. An old Oklahoma adage is “The Devil Is In The Details.” It would be difficult if not impossible to reinvent a wheel which has been in design refinement for thirty years, on less money, with less information, from further away. Site-specific expertise and specialized skills are two of the assets intrinsic to successful river tourism management.