SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. Department of the Interior says it supports more than two million jobs.
The Interior Department is releasing a study that says it contributes $385 billion to the U.S. economy.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says his department supports tourism, outdoor recreation and energy development on public lands along with support for tribal communities.
The study covers Interior Department activities on 780,000 square miles of public range lands, national parks, some national monuments and wildlife refuges.
The study doesn’t measure considerable economic activities on national forests, which are managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Interior says it contributes $13 billion to the Utah economy on lands that support 21,000 recreation jobs and more than twice as many energy-related jobs.
