Trout fishing creates major revenue stream.

• Position: Western

Anglers cast for rainbows and brownies, but the trout in western North Carolina waters are all green: Fishing for them has an economic impact of $174 million a year, including motel rentals, guide fees and tackle sales, a state Wildlife Resources Commission study estimates. "Probably the vast majority of people don't appreciate the revenue it provides year after year," says Kent Nelson, inland fisheries program manager.

The commission asked for an economic-impact study to help it concoct better trout-management plans. In the process, it dug up data that shows about 93,000 people a year--more than three-quarters of them North Carolina residents--fish for trout in western counties, supporting nearly 2,000 jobs. Many are in small businesses such as Asheville Drifters LLC, which has five guides running trips on trout streams and rivers such as the Watauga, Tuckasegee and French Broad.

The survey, conducted by Virginia-based Responsive Management Inc. and Florida-based Southwick Associates Inc., found that Transylvania, Watauga, Haywood, Cherokee, Henderson, Jackson and Ashe counties attract the most anglers and that they spend freely--$65 a day for in-state fishermen and $158 a day for those from out of state. The...