Research eco.mont – Volume 9, special issue, January 2017 ISSN 2073-106X print version – ISSN 2073-1558 online version: http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/eco.mont 35 https://dx.doi.org/10.1553/eco.mont-9-sis35 The opportunity costs of worthless land: The nexus between national parks and glacier ski resorts in the Alps Marius Mayer & Ingo Mose Keywords: national parks, glacier ski resorts, Alps, opportunity costs, worthless land hypothesis Abstract Profile This paper discusses the development of national parks and glacier ski resort in high Protected area mountain landscapes of the Alps formerly regarded as wild, and therefore worthless, lands. Surprisingly, both land uses are often located in direct neighbourhood, indi- Hohe Tauern and cating that they share the same spatial requirements. While national parks aim at the preservation of unspoiled landscapes free from human influences, glacier ski resorts represent a high-tech type of tourism to extend the skiing season (summer skiing). As Vanoise NP these land-use options appear mutually exclusive, sometimes sharp conflicts resulted from their spatial collision and raised questions about their pros and cons. Against Mountain range this background this paper investigates why, where and when such land-use conflicts occurred in the Alps, how they were handled and how the situation looks today. Us- Alps ing the two case studies of the Hohe Tauern (Austria) and the Vanoise (France), both of which experienced highly controversial and emotional debates at a time, we trace Country the different solutions pursued, including the total ban on infrastructure development in favour of conservation as well as the partial violation of national parks by glacier Austria and France ski resorts. However, such conflicts did not arise in every glacier ski resort and have receded since the 1980s anyway as a result of a fall in demand for summer skiing and the closure of several resorts. Introduction what extent tourism depends on unspoiled landscape, but also how tourism could contribute to landscape In the high mountain landscapes of the Alps there conservation (Krippendorf 1975; Mayer et al. 2011; could hardly be a harsher contrast than that between Siegrist et al. 2015). the wildernesses of national parks (NPs) and the high- Not surprisingly a vast amount of literature is avail- tech landscape of a glacier ski resort (GSR). While able on protected areas (PAs) in the Alps, especially on NPs seek to preserve natural dynamics from human NPs and the challenges they face (Hammer et al. 2016; influences, GSRs adapt to the impact of climate Job et al. 2003). In contrast, scientific literature on the change and tourism trends by strong man-made in- development of GSRs appears fairly limited (see May- terventions. Given this stark contrast it is surprising er 2012 for a recent overview), while GSRs were at that some GSRs are even situated in the core zones the core of popular criticism from the 1970s onwards. of Alpine NPs (Table 1). This fact and the observa- However, hardly any literature seems to focus on the tion that these mutually exclusive land-use options are often interlinked development of GSRs and NPs and often located in immediate neighbourhood (see Fig- the resulting conflicts, with the notable exception of ure 2) indicate that GSRs and NPs share the same spa- Laslaz (2009). tial requirements, which has occasionally led to major Against this background, it is the purpose of this land-use conflicts in the past. However compared with article to analyse why, where and when such land-use other land-use conflicts in the Alps, the controversies conflicts did occur, whether they have been resolved resulting from the parallel development of NPs and in the meantime and, if so, how. We first present theo- GSRs have been less well documented and reflected. retical considerations that provide a consistent fram- This is especially interesting as a number of cases ing for our investigation. Secondly, we describe the gained great public attention (e. g. the Affaire Vanoise in methods used. Thirdly, we provide an overview of the France 1969–1971, Carlier 1972). However, as much development of conflicts resulting from the collision knowledge about these conflicts seems to have been of GSRs and NPs in the Alps. Fourthly, we look at two lost today, investigation into their present state and the case studies in more detail, Hohe Tauern NP, Austria ways in which conflicts may have been solved seems and Vanoise NP, France. Both cases are prominent ex- even more valuable (Wich et al. 2013). The conflicts amples of the conflicts we are addressing and repre- between Alpine NPs and GSRs are also a culmination sent the Eastern as well as the Western Alps with their point in the long-standing debates whether and how differing tourism development paths. We close by dis- high mountain areas should be opened up for tour- cussing the findings and drawing general conclusions. ism, what impacts tourism has on the landscape, to Research 36 Theoretical background 2015a). The validity of the worthless land hypothesis for Alpine PAs is proven by the clear overrepresenta- Several concepts contribute to a consistent fram- tion of high-alpine zones if one compares the altitudes ing of our subject. Coming from different disciplinary of NPs with the Alps as a whole (see Figure 1). These backgrounds, they support better understanding of worthless lands were identified as an ideal target for the the processes and determinants: a) the worthless land implementation of PAs such as NPs. Thus the first Al- hypothesis, b) changing human valuations of glaciers pine NP, founded in 1914 in the Swiss Alps, represent- leading to varying opportunity costs, and c) competing ed the wilderness of Alpine landscapes (Kupper 2012). concepts for regional economic development. Ad b) In agrarian societies people thought of gla- Ad a) First, Runte’s (1973) worthless lands hypoth- ciers as wastelands. They avoided them and feared their esis offers orientation. According to Runte high-alpine surges, which often led to floods or threatened farm landscapes can be regarded as worthless land and land. This perception changed following the birth of therefore have become the subject of conservation alpinism (Bätzing 2015a). Cabins, huts and hiking trails to a higher degree than other elevation zones. This is were constructed. The period of Belle Époque moun- because traditionally there was no economic interest in tain tourism showed for the first time that high-alpine these areas. Runte’s argument is based on the Ameri- areas have at least some economic value. However, it can experience: “National parks protected only such areas as was only during the post-WW2 boom of Alpine tour- were considered valueless for profitable lumbering, mining, graz- ism that plans for the development of GSRs came up. ing or agriculture” (Runte 1973, 5). Similar observations Targeting much of the same areas of hitherto worth- could be made about the Alps. As much of the alpine less land, their development meant a striking change cultural landscape is owed to traditional forms of land in attitudes towards the wild landscapes of the Alps. use (farming, forestry), hardly any interest in the use The concept of opportunity costs explains this change of higher elevation land due to its limited accessibility, in human valuation, referring to the forgone income natural hazards and rough climatic conditions (Bätzing of alternative land-use options (Dixon & Sherman 0% 0% >4 000 m 0% 0.0156% 0.0184% 0% 3 751-4 000 m 0.0003% 0.0307% 0.56% 0.04075% 3 501-3 750 m 0.3% 0.1% 4.48% 0.8% 3 251-3 500 m 1.6% 0.3% 12.33% 3.88% 3 001-3 250 m 4.7% 0.8% 24.54% 12.15% 2 751-3 000 m 10.1% 2.0% 27.48% 21.75% 2 501-2 750 m 15.6% 3.7% 20.3% 23.1% 2 251-2 500 m 16.3% 5.3% 8.39% 18.33% 2 001-2 250 m 13.6% 6.5% 1.49% 10.77% 1 751-2 000 m 10.9% 7.6% 0.27% 5.69% 1 501-1 750 m 8.4% 8.8% 0.12% 2.73% 1 251-1 500 m 6.8% 10.6% Vanoise NP 0.02% 0.76% 1 001-1 250 m 5.5% 12.2% Hohe Tauern NP 0% 0% 751-1 000 m 3.9% 14.1% Alpine NPs 0% 0% 501-750 m 2.0% 15.3% Alps (Alpine Convention demarcation) 0% 0% 251-500 m 0.3% 10.0% 0% 0% 1-250 m 0% 2.5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Figure 1 – Share of altitudinal zones of the Alps as a whole (Alpine convention demarcation) compared with all Alpine NPs, Hohe Tauern NP and Vanoise NP. Source: Authors’ own ArcGIS analysis based on ASTER 2011 and shapefiles provided by Alpine NPs Marius Mayer & Ingo Mose 37 1991; Job & Mayer 2012; Mayer & Job 2014). Whereas situated in the Eastern and the other in the Western high-alpine land would previously not have offered Alps with the highest number of GSR (projects), economic benefits from traditional forms of land use, making them prominent examples of the conflicts trends in tourism and technological progress suddenly we are addressing. Furthermore, Hohe Tauern and opened up GSRs as a profitable land-use option. High Vanoise illustrate the outcome of different tourism expectations were often raised regarding the economic development paths (decentralized, driven by private benefits for local communities, particularly in periph- investment in Austria vs. centralized, state-driven in eral areas that lacked other development opportunities France, see Bätzing 2015a). The regions of the case (e.