Cathy Cullinane Thomas
Biography
Cathy Cullinane Thomas is an economist with the Fort Collins Science Center Social and Economic Analysis Branch. Cathy specializes in regional economic impact modeling, data collection, survey analysis, and data visualization, and she uses these skills to support Department of Interior agencies with questions about the economic impacts and contributions of programs, projects, and management alternatives. Since joining the USGS in 2010, Cathy has built models to estimate the jobs and business activity associated with National Park visitation, Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Refuge management, and ecological restoration projects. Cathy also has expertise in decision analysis processes and simulation modeling and has used these tools to help researchers develop decision-relevant science and to develop invasive species spread models and scenario analyses.
Education:
- M.S. Colorado State University, Natural Resource Economics, 2010
- B.S. Colorado State University, Mathematics, 2003
Science and Products
About the Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch
The Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) branch is an interdisciplinary group of scientists whose primary functions are to conduct both theoretical and applied social science research, provide technical assistance, and offer training to support the development of skills in natural resource management activities.
Economics and Ecosystem Services
Federal policymakers and land managers are accountable to the public for how they use public resources and for the outcomes of policy and management decisions. Through a variety of economic analyses and custom modeling, SEA economists evaluate how investments and management decisions affect individuals, local communities, and society as a whole.
Jobs and Business Activity
Department of the Interior programs and activities generate and support jobs and business activity in local economies.
Tools for Public Land Managers
Fort Collins Science Center Economists support numerous web applications that convey information and data to specific audiences. An important aspect of many of these tools is to connect practitioners and other stakeholders to resources.
Value of Science
The science conducted across the USGS affects the well-being of hundreds of millions of Americans. However, it is challenging to quantify the value of this science, and better understanding and communication of this value is often needed.
Economics of Ecological Restoration
Beyond the impacts to jobs and business activities, economics can play an important role in understanding the return on project investments by studying the benefits of project outcomes to society.
Economics of Invasive Species
In managing invasive species, land managers and policy makers need information to help allocate scarce resources as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Economics of Outdoor Recreation
Planning and managing recreation areas is a series of choices, and not a day goes by that that manager doesn’t face a question, which at its roots, is often economic.
Support for the Annual Department of Interior Economics Report
The Department of Interior (DOI) produces annual estimates of the economic contributions of DOI programs, activities, and services. Fort Collins Science Center Economists contribute to this report.
Blanca Wetlands Restoration
For thousands of years, much of the San Luis Valley basin of south-central Colorado was made up of a series of lakes, marshes, and shallow playa basins that were integral to the lives of indigenous peoples. By the mid-1900s, the basins had dried up from the diversion of water sources for irrigation and became known as the “Dry Lakes.” In 1965, BLM began a series of wildlife habitat projects to...
Burley Landscape Sage Grouse Habitat Restoration
Characterized by a vast landscape dotted with sagebrush and juniper-clad foothills, the area surrounding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Burley Field Office in Idaho is home to a variety of species, such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), antelope (Antilocapra americana), bighorn sheep(Ovis canadensis), and pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus...
Documenting, Mapping, and Predicting Invasive Species Using the Fort Collins Science Center's RAM (Resource for Advanced Modeling)
The Resource for Advanced Modeling room provides a collaborative working environment for up to 20 scientists, supported with networked, wireless computing capability for running and testing various scientific models (e.g., Maxent, Boosted Regression Trees, Logistic Regression, MARS, Random Forest) at a variety of spatial scales, from county to global levels. Models use various predictor layers...
State-and-Transition Simulation Models of Buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park (2014-2044) to explore ecological uncertainties
This is a spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation model of buffelgrass dynamics in Saguaro National Park, AZ. Buffelgrass is an invasive grass spreading in the park. The model represents uninvaded and invaded parts of the desert ecosystem and includes a connection to a fire behavior model. The model was built using the ST-Sim software platform linked to the FARSITE fire behavior...
Visitors count! Guidance for protected areas on the economic analysis of visitation
The value of protected areas is often hidden from direct view. Once managers understand the number and behaviour of visitors they host, and the revenues and costs they generate, informed decisions on management plans and tourism strategies can be made. Demonstrating the positive impact of protected areas on the local economy can lead to greater...
Spenceley, Anna; Schagner, Jan Philipp; Engels, Barbara; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Engelbauer, Mauel; Erkkonen, Joel; Job, Hubert; Kajala, Liisa; Majewski, Lisa; Metzler, Daniel; Mayer, Marius; Rylance, Andrew; Woltering, Manuel; Scheder, Niklas; Smith-Christensen, Cecile; Beraldo Souza, Thiago 2020 National Park Visitor Spending Effects Economic Contributions to Local Communities, States,and the Nation
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports economic activity within park gateway communities. This report summarizes the annual economic contribution analysis that measures...
Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Koontz, Lynne Economic effects assessment approaches: US National Parks approach
This chapter discusses the data and methods used by the US National Park Service to estimate the economic effects of National Park visitor spending to local and regional economies. Topics covered include a summary of economic effects analyses, required data for analysis (visitor count data, trip characteristics and spending patterns, and regional...
Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Koontz, Lynne Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund for National Parks: Economic impacts of fiscal year 2021 funding
The Great American Outdoors Act of 2020 (GAOA), P.L. 116-152, established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) to address priority deferred maintenance projects on National Park Service (NPS) and other federal lands. For the NPS, the LRF equates to receiving a maximum of $1.33 billion per year for fiscal years 2021...
Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Koontz, Lynne Assessing ecological uncertainty and simulation model sensitivity to evaluate an invasive plant species’ potential impacts to the landscape
Ecological forecasts of the extent and impacts of invasive species can inform conservation management decisions. Such forecasts are hampered by ecological uncertainties associated with non-analog conditions resulting from the introduction of an invader to an ecosystem. We developed a state-and-transition simulation model tied to a fire behavior...
Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Young, Nicholas E.; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Grissom, Perry; Backer, Dana M.; Frid, Leonardo 2019 National park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports economic activity within park gateway communities. This report summarizes the annual economic contribution analysis that measures...
Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Koontz, Lynne
Economic impacts of Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative Conservation projects in Wyoming
Executive SummaryThis report estimates the economic impacts on the Wyoming economy from investments made by the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) on conservation and restoration projects. The WLCI has been working in southwestern Wyoming since 2007 to coordinate science and management decisions among government and private entities...
Huber, Christopher; Flyr, Matthew; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine Estimating visitor use and economic contributions of National Park visitor spending
This chapter provides an overview of the National Park Service (NPS) methods for estimating visitor spending and calculating economic contributions of visitor spending in terms of jobs supported, wage and labor income, and total economic activity. The Visitor Spending Effects model combines visitor spending patterns and trip characteristic data...
Koontz, Lynne; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine
Economic effects of wildfire risk reduction and source water protection projects in the Rio Grande River Basin in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado
Investments in landscape-scale restoration and fuels management projects can protect publicly managed trusts, enhance public health and safety, and help to preserve the many environmental goods and services enjoyed by the public. These investments can also support jobs and generate business sales activities within nearby local economies. This...
Huber, Christopher; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Meldrum, James R.; Meier, Rachel; Bassett, Steven Agri-tourism and rural outdoor recreation in the US: A framework for understanding economic and employment dynamics
Agri-tourism and rural outdoor recreation are positioned at an important intersection between agricultural, natural resource, economic development and rural issues. This chapter summarizes some of the important dynamics of these sectors, including the role of land use, regional drivers, motivations for farmers and travelers, and economic impacts....
Thilmany, Dawn; Hill, Rebecca; Haefele, Michelle; van Sandt, Anders; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Sullins, Martha; Low, Sarah Developing an expert elicited simulation model to evaluate invasive species and fire management alternatives
Invasive species can alter ecosystem properties and cause state shifts in landscapes. Resource managers charged with maintaining landscapes require tools to understand implications of alternative actions (or inactions) on landscape structure and function. Simulation models can serve as a virtual laboratory to explore these alternatives and their...
Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Young, Nicholas E.; Backer, Dana M.; Cline, Sarah A.; Frid, Leonardo; Grissom, Perry National Park Service socioeconomic monitoring pilot survey: Visitor spending analysis
The National Park Service (NPS) is in the process of establishing a formal socioeconomic monitoring (SEM) program that will provide a standard visitor survey instrument and a long-term, systematic sampling design for in-park visitor surveys. The development of the pilot SEM survey provided the opportunity to add to the set of available visitor...
Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Cornachione, Egan; Koontz, Lynne; Keyes, Christopher R.
National Park Visitor Spending Contributed $28.6 Billion to U.S. Economy in 2020, Report NPS and USGS
Visitor spending in communities near national parks resulted in a $28.6 billion contribution to the nation's economy and supported 234,000 jobs in 2020, according to an economics report prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service.
Fort Collins Science Center Scientists Share Expertise at Society for Range Management Meeting
Scientists from the US Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center will be presenting on topics ranging from sage-grouse to invasive plant species at the upcoming Society for Range Management Annual Meeting.