The Lander-based National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) added nearly $19 million to the state's economy last year, according to a new study conducted by the University of Wyoming (UW). Most of that money was generated in Fremont County.
The school takes students on backcountry trips around the world, teaches wilderness medicine courses and has campuses domestically and internationally. The organization got its start in Sinks Canyon 60 years ago and has since grown to employ around 150 people in Wyoming with a $40 million annual budget.
The recent report also zeroes in on the school’s impacts to the local community. Morgan Holland is an economist with the Jay Kemmerer WORTH Institute at UW and co-authored the study.
“ We found that they're one of the top 10 employers, so they have a pretty big impact on [Fremont] County, even though they're just a school doing their thing,” he said.
The research team also found that NOLS employs 142 people in the county, and pays, on average, $8,400 more than the area’s median wage.
The economic analysis takes into consideration direct impacts, indirect impacts and induced impacts. Direct impacts include things like employee salaries and spending for supplies. Indirect impacts include suppliers reintroducing that spending into the economy, and induced impacts include NOLS employees going out and spending their salaries.
Holland said the school’s contribution is one small piece of Wyoming’s larger outdoor recreation industry, which generated $2.2 billion in 2023, according to another recent report from the university. That’s about 4% of the state’s GDP.
“ Because of the classes and the other things that they do here in the state, they bring a lot of people back into the state,” he said. “People who go on NOLS courses end up coming back and spending time in the Wind River Range and places like that.”
Rich Majerus is the vice president of expeditions at NOLS and said the school has been interested in better understanding its economic impact and relationship to the local community for years.
“ We're a global business operating in Wyoming and really focus on Wyoming-based partnerships,” he said. “It's a priority for us, but we never understood quite the extent of it.”
Majerus echoed the sentiment that NOLS has a way of bringing people to Lander, many for the long term.
“ I think NOLS has had a role in the growth of Lander, bringing more people to town, not just to take a course, but who ultimately develop a connection to the place and may move back,” he said.
NOLS has been digging itself out of a budget deficit for the last few years. In 2024, the school cut 60 positions and suspended operations on three of its campuses in the U.S.
Majerus said the financial situation is on the up and up, which is promising for the longevity of its mission.
“What [the study] in part emphasizes to me is the impact and importance of NOLS in our local community and in the state and … the obligation that we have to ensure that it continues for another 60 years, both to serve our students and to serve our community,” he said.
NOLS is currently setting up an AmeriCorps program set to launch next fall, with a focus on workforce development for outdoor recreation and tourism in the state. Majerus said the school also wants to get more Wyoming students out on courses.
Editor’s note: The author of this article has led expeditions for NOLS in the past.
