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“THE PAST IS PROLOGUE” – EVOLUTION OF OUTDOOR RECREATION MANAGEMENT AND FUTURE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Intro Slide 1 Past is Prologue - Perspectives on 50 years in the OR business and thoughts on implications for future research -Jordan asked me to provide a little retrospective on the evolution of outdoor recreation management and the role of research over the decades – and some provide a few thoughts on what I think the future holds for future research.

Thank you to Jordan and the Basecamp team for organizing this forum and inviting me to share some thoughts on what has turned out to be a lifetime working, stewarding and playing in and around the outdoors.

The words of Jerry Garcia come to mind – “What a long strange trip its been” indeed. It has been an extraordinary journey. I have no regrets but there are a few things I wished I had done differently. Hind sight is 20x20.
First a thought about the power and importance of Basecamp: I think gatherings like these are so essential for sharing ideas and research, networking with and learning from each other. In this day an age of internet and virtual meetings
Meeting face to face is especially important. It gives us the chance to meet new folks and an opportunity to forge lifetime relationships -and friendships - with colleagues in our chosen field and profession. That networking has been one of the most important and valued things in my career.
I am especially humbled to be here with so many brilliant and forward-thinking people – many of you whom I have known and respected for some time. We need thinkers, researchers and managers like you all to help guide the future of sustainable outdoor recreation in this country and the world.
I am so very impressed with the energy, enthusiasm, wisdom, and diversity in this group. I look forward to hearing so much more this week about the amazing research, management recommendations, ideas and innovations that you all will be sharing. It is heartening to see how our field of study and our profession has evolved and matured over the years.
Our friend and longtime academic OR thought leader, Dr. Glen Haas once said– “the past is prologue”. Knowing the past and how far we have come gives us perspective
and that knowledge can help guide us on the path ahead.

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Slide #2– Outhouse on raft. Yup that’s me doing outdoor recreation management years ago – this image pretty much sums up - its seems like I have spent my entire career navigating hazards and pitfalls of outdoor recreation management – and most of it dealing with people’s crap….from digging outhouse holes to national policy and politics! One thing I want you to remember from this talk – if people tell you something can’t be done just think of think of this picture.

The person with real courage in this photo is that guy with the white knuckles in the bow. He was my boss – He said “well if this ship is going to sink – I’d better be on it” – that’s leadership – letting people take calculated risks.
What I am about to share is more of a story – a few thoughts on what I observed and experienced over the five decades of my career as an outdoor educator, outfitter/guide, ranger, outdoor recreation professional and leader.
A half century seems like a long time but As I drove into Moab yesterday my mind was filled with memories – memories of a life spent mostly in the west and much of it in Utah – exploring its vast public lands, finding adventures, and forging lifetime friendships.
At the same time, it seems just like yesterday – the landscape seems much the same but its how people use it that has changed a lot. We have lived through so much challenge and change in the world of outdoor recreation over the years. Both good and not so good.
It was exactly 50 years ago that I first came into this valley – I spent my very first night sleeping under the stars a few miles south of town in Spanish Valley near the Pack Creek road turnoff. The valley had only a few ranches and little or no development then.
I was with a small group of college students from that “hippy” school - Prescott College. We had just spent about a dozen hours or more sitting in the back of an open stake bed truck, sitting on rafting and camping gear, driving through the vast and empty deserts. Through rain, blazing sun, deep darkness and starlit skies.
We were headed into our “freshman orientation” - 3 weeks in the wilderness -the old Outward bound education model– experiential education they called it – learning by doing. Prescott’s use of the outdoors as a classroom attracted me from my home in suburban NJ – (sopranos country)- lured to the west by the promise of the freedom of adventure and the thrill of exploring the outdoors.
Growing up a privileged kid in the 50s &60s– I did a lot of hunting, fishing, and scouting. I now realize how fortunate I was – how lucky I was to have those opportunities – I’ll say more about equity and diversity in the outdoors in a bit

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Slide #3 Moab in the 1970s

Back to my first night in Utah – slept out on the ground on a little turn out on the highway – on a wafer-thin ensolite pads & cotton sleeping bag w/ hunting dogs &pheasant’s pattern. Woke up at first light a clear fall day. I was stunned by massive cliffs, blue sky & desert - I especially noticed the silence. I found little white worms in my hair crawling over me- wondering -I lifted my sleeping bag and found I had been sleeping on a maggot filled rabbit
Welcome to Utah I thought this is going to be some kind of trip…but little did I realize I was just starting a journey of a lifetime. So began my very own outdoor recreation transformational experience…Its here I began to understand that the value of the outdoors was more than just having fun.
I went on to study outdoor education in undergrad- later leading courses for outward bound here and across the west. Was a river guide, ski patroller & ranger – doing anything to keep me outside.
I went to grad school to study outdoor recreation and resource management, a newish field then. I was thrilled to learn that OR mgt could be a career &profession – not many at then thought the study of OR was actually a real thing! years later – my uncle the Dr. asked “hows that camping degree working out for you” not bad I would tell him now, not bad.
Moab was a small, quiet ranching and mining town then – recovering from the collapse of the uranium boom– had few family owned guide/outfitting businesses & a couple of hotels, cafes, tourist shops & gas stations but no brew pubs or bars or bike shops– could buy a house for <$5,000. But thankfully city market and Milts are still here! Its good that some things don’t change. jeep safari (still going) and the friendship cruise (Cat Canyon sign)
Arches National Park was here, the road just paved; Canyonlands was just designated despite much local opposition. Lake Powell still filling up – covering Glen Canyon - the place no one knew. Ed Abbey had been a seasonal park ranger and had completed his book Desert Solitaire just a few years before. Though Abbey then was one of the first to warn us of the threat of industrial tourism - the idea that outdoor recreation could be a central force in Utah’s employment and economy was not even a considered a possibility. Arches had less than 150,000 visitors then – now its 10 times that. Demand & number of visitors continues to climb – there seems to be no end in sight.
However - at the same time, we have come a long way in understanding why, how, when and where people recreate outdoors. Our collective research has guided land planning & management strategies, programs & policies;
We have learned and documented a wide range of social benefits of the outdoors and access to nature and; we know much more about how the recreation/tourism economy works.

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REMINDER: MANY EARLY CONSERVATIONISTS �WERE FIRST RECREATIONISTS!

Rachael Carson

David Brower

TR & John Muir

Bob Marshall

Aldo Leopold

And it’s the same for future conservationists…

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FOR OVER A CENTURY WE HAVE RECOGNIZED THE �CONSERVATION/RECREATION CONNECTION AND CHALLENGE

“The national parks are more than the storehouses of Nature’s rarest treasures. They are the playlands of the people, wonderlands, easily accessible to the rich and the humble alike” Stephen Mather, first NPS Director 1917

“our parks…should be closed and sealed, held in trust for a more enlightened future” Bernard DeVoto, Harpers Magazine, 1953

Slide # 5 -I wanted to provide a quick review of the history and growth of outdoor recreation in the US: As you all learned in rec 101 - In the late 1940s and 50’s America turned to the outdoors as a place of healing and rejuvenation – in numbers never before seen - a place to heal from the trauma & want of the depression & a world war. It accelerated with affordable cars and gas, new interstate highway system & propelled by marketing campaigns like “see the USA in your Chevrolet”.

It all helped build that sense of identity and discovery as a nation – it laid the foundation for modern recreation & the expectation of freedom to visit public lands where & whenever we wished.
The post-war visitor surge spawned much public debate and political interest in the outdoors & a growing recognition that parks and special places were being neglected and loved to death. The tension between protection and recreation use is not new & been around since the very beginning..
Utah author, Bernard Devoto’s controversial article in Harper’s magazine in 1953 suggested that we should just close our national parks because they were so poorly funded and poorly managed. He said the parks “should be closed and sealed, held in trust for a more enlightened future”. This shocking perspective spurred congressional interest and action. A few of you may recall that Mr Devoto was investigated during the McCarthy era because of his progressive and so -called anti-American views eerily similar to some of the stuff going on today – but he was a thought provoker and rabble rouser helping lead the way for many of our other Utah authors like Abbey, Wallace Stegner, Terry Tempest Williams and others.
However, even during the dark and polarized times of McCarthyism and the beginning of the cold war (today it seems like it’s deja vu all over again). Then the nation’s leaders from both sides of the isle found common ground and agreed that we had to invest in and care for protect places to provide for the kinds of outdoor recreation experiences they all enjoyed. Yet its still common ground.
Most importantly it has been through the work of people like you - researchers and managers alike – that have helped us understand it and guided us as we experimented and developed strategies and policies to best manage it.
As we will talk about this week -Balancing outdoor recreation with the conservation of natural and cultural resources is central to what we do. Informing how to best sustainably manage recreation use is why we are here. It pretty much defines all that we do.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF MILESTONES FOR �OUTDOOR RECREATION 1950-1990

1940s/50s – National awareness of recreation: debate on overuse & carrying capacity and Outdoor Recreation Review Commission Report (ORRRC)

1960s – Recreation/conservation legislation & investment: National OR Act; LWCF & Mission 66; Wilderness, Trails & Rivers Acts and; Bureau of Outdoor Recreation

1970s – Environmental acts, agency policies & urban parks: NEPA, FLPMA & Forest Mgt Act; urban parks & Alaska acts; first motorized rules/executive order

1980s – Recreation planning, management & research: President’s Commission On Americans Outdoors, ROS/LAC frameworks; permit & allocation systems; minimum impact camping; Agency Research Centers & university degree programs

Slide #6 Quick History of recreation and conservation milestones by decade – highlighted are major advancements in recreation management

2. Recreation research in turn has helped inform policy, and guide and support recreation management policy and investment.

50s -The Outdoor Recreation Review Commission first ever national inventory of recreation resources & report recommendations led to a greater interest in protecting special places.
60s 1963, President Kennedy signed the first of many recreation and conservation related acts – the Outdoor Recreation Act (you all should read it – its just a page long) -codified the right to recreate, enjoy and benefit from our nation’s heritage of outdoor places and nature. Also called for comprehensive planning & coordination between agencies and states.
OR Act ushered in a period of significant investment in outdoor recreation – starting with the establishment of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the LWCF Act, SCORP planning - that we rely on today. thanks Mo and Stew Udall and other westerners &progressive leaders like Frank Church, Cecil Andrus, Bruce Babbitt and many others (many I got to meet in my career).
Mission 66 provided a huge influx of funding for parks – to build capacity and infrastructure – much still in use today and left a legacy not unlike the CCC of the 1930s.
These were quickly followed by the Wilderness Act, the WSR act and National Trails Acts, the National Environmental Policy Act, clean Air act and much more.
70s the urban parks efforts helped bring some level of equity to where parks were located – popular parks in cities Like NYC, San Fran, Boston, Delaware Water Gap in NJ/PAwere created. They were and still are today- all about access, equity and opportunity for outdoor recreation and connection to nature near where folks live
Also land agency policy changes recognizing recreation as a resource to be managed - were made in the land agencies through acts like National Forest management Act and FLPMA - directed FS, BLM and other agencies to sustainably manage for recreation equally & on par with commodities and other resource uses
This slide covers 80s to today - the span of my career– Recreation planning frameworks, management strategies have evolved significantly
However -Recreation studies and research started as early as the 50s and into the 80s – especially within the land grant institutions that had forestry, range and natural resources programs & close connections to land agencies. Early in my career – advanced degree programs focused on outdoor recreation began to emerge at major universities – Any U of I folks?
Research and training initiated and fueled wide adoption of planning and management policies and frameworks ideas like carrying capacity, ROS, LAC benefits-based or outcomes-focused management These planning frameworks are still valid fundamental principles we use today and are still valid concepts

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BRIEF HISTORY OF MILESTONES FOR �OUTDOOR RECREATION 1990 -2020

1990s – Growth of sustainable recreation strategies: Fee demo/funding; stewardship & LNT/TL!; first “national recreation strategies”; OHV/bike/travel management

2000s – Understanding benefits, economy & VUM: Ecosystem Services/Benefits-based mgmt.; IVUMCC, reservations/Rec.gov; America’s Great Outdoors & FICOR/ agency coordination, youth engagement & measuring the outdoor recreation economy

2010s – Focus on access, health & community resilience: Health/Park RX; accessibility for all; Urban & Climate Agendas; Conservation Corps; tourism “destination management”; State Offices of Outdoor Recreation;

2020s – Improving equity/environmental justice, & balance: DEIA, accessibility, Recreate Responsibly/Covid, sustainability strategies; balancing recreation with conservation; Great American Outdoors Act & infrastructure investment

Slide #6 Quick History of recreation and conservation milestones by decade – highlighted are major advancements in recreation management

2. Recreation research in turn has helped inform policy, and guide and support recreation management policy and investment.

50s -The Outdoor Recreation Review Commission first ever national inventory of recreation resources & report recommendations led to a greater interest in protecting special places.
60s 1963, President Kennedy signed the first of many recreation and conservation related acts – the Outdoor Recreation Act (you all should read it – its just a page long) -codified the right to recreate, enjoy and benefit from our nation’s heritage of outdoor places and nature. Also called for comprehensive planning & coordination between agencies and states.
OR Act ushered in a period of significant investment in outdoor recreation – starting with the establishment of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the LWCF Act, SCORP planning - that we rely on today. thanks Mo and Stew Udall and other westerners &progressive leaders like Frank Church, Cecil Andrus, Bruce Babbitt and many others (many I got to meet in my career).
Mission 66 provided a huge influx of funding for parks – to build capacity and infrastructure – much still in use today and left a legacy not unlike the CCC of the 1930s.
These were quickly followed by the Wilderness Act, the WSR act and National Trails Acts, the National Environmental Policy Act, clean Air act and much more.
70s the urban parks efforts helped bring some level of equity to where parks were located – popular parks in cities Like NYC, San Fran, Boston, Delaware Water Gap in NJ/PAwere created. They were and still are today- all about access, equity and opportunity for outdoor recreation and connection to nature near where folks live
Also land agency policy changes recognizing recreation as a resource to be managed - were made in the land agencies through acts like National Forest management Act and FLPMA - directed FS, BLM and other agencies to sustainably manage for recreation equally & on par with commodities and other resource uses
This slide covers 80s to today - the span of my career– Recreation planning frameworks, management strategies have evolved significantly
However -Recreation studies and research started as early as the 50s and into the 80s – especially within the land grant institutions that had forestry, range and natural resources programs & close connections to land agencies. Early in my career – advanced degree programs focused on outdoor recreation began to emerge at major universities – Any U of I folks?
Research and training initiated and fueled wide adoption of planning and management policies and frameworks ideas like carrying capacity, ROS, LAC benefits-based or outcomes-focused management These planning frameworks are still valid fundamental principles we use today and are still valid concepts

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EVERY PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION HAD CONSERVATION AND�RECREATION INITIATIVES�

Carter – Alaska Acts/Antiquities Act; National Outdoor Recreation Plan; Nat. Park and Rec Act; Youth Conservation Corps

Regan – President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors; Oregon Wild & Scenic Rivers Act Interagency Wild & Scenic River Coordinating Council

GH Bush – Sport Fishing Restoration Act; Scenic Byways System; Challenge Cost Share ; Public/private partnerships & Take Pride/Volunteers; Fee demo and fee retention

Clinton – Grand Staircase/NLCS; roadless rule & range reform; Rec.gov/One Stop; Fee Demo; NW Forest plan; Spotted Owl; OHV strategies; National Trails E.O.; Stewardship LNT and TL!

GW Bush – Cooperative Conservation/4C’s, DOI Office of Youth; National Trails Council; LWCF policy; mt biking strategies; Comprehensive Travel Management

Obama – AGO/ FICOR; Every Kid in a Park; Urban Agendas; Visitor Use management/IVUMCC; Recreation Economy/BEA; Protected Area Mapping –PADUS; Health/Park RX

Trump – Great American Outdoors Act; E-bike policy; Rec. Industry Advisory Council; USGS Trails mapping; 21^st Century Cons. Corp Act; Rec.gov 2/ Online Reservation Systems

Biden – America the Beautiful/30x30; FICOR 2; Environmental Justice; Equity & DEIA; Accessibility; #RR -Recreate Responsibly/Covid; Bipartisan Infrastructure & Inflation Reduction Acts

Congress Acts and Executive Orders Dept/Agency Recreation Initiatives Other Related Initiatives

Slide #9 Presidential Administrations Recreation initiatives - Outdoor recreation has been and will continue to be a political priority: (not meant to be easy to read – and its just the ones Bob worked on or implemented – green are major conservatioin acts, blue are presidential initiatives or exec orders and and yellow are agency initiatives )

Every presidential administration since President Eisenhour has had some sort of outdoor recreation related initiative –(I’ve worked on the last 5 of them).
While recreation is a primary driver of the conservation movement, the most important thing to note – especially from the perspectives of politics today – is that the recent conservation investments would not have happened without the support of outdoor recreation interests.

Aligning conservation and recreation interests remains important for ongoing advocacy and moving forward with land conservation and protection efforts. It was and still is overwhelmingly bipartisan.
The outdoor recreation and outdoor sports caucuses are some of the largest in Congress. The power and influence of outdoor recreation to generate support for conservation cannot be denied but it also must be guided by the principle that it has to be sustainable.
Informing and influencing policy is why recreation research is absolutely critical.
One the largest was the Presidents Commission on America Outdoors –during the 1980s under President Regan – its curation and accumulation of research, trends, needs assessment and recommendations was on par with the ORRCC report.
Each of those efforts have led to decades of investment in public land agencies, recreation, trails and even more designation of parks, wilderness and special areas.
However Federal spending that benefits recreation has increased 22% while the overall federal budget for all purposes has increased 76% in the last two decades. Less than half of federal outdoor recreation spending is from general revenue sources (49% in FY 2022). Fifty-one percent of federal outdoor recreation spending comes from other sources including fossil fuel taxes (16%), recreation fees (13%), excise taxes (12%), other receipts (5%), and consumer fuel taxes (4%) 49% GENERAL REVENUE 16% FOSSIL FUEL 13% RECREATION FEES 12% DEDICATED EXCISE TAX 5% OTHER RECEIPTS 4% CONSUMER FUEL TAX
Federal outdoor recreation budget needs to increase by 74% by 2042 just to maintain today’s standards of funding to keep pace with inflation -

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1990’s NW Forest Plan and the “God Squad ” hearings
2000’s Utah Oil/Gas Lease protests and OR industry advocacy

Recreation values are used to justify conservation

Slide #8 in the 90s with BLM in Oregon with spotted owl and later the Utah oil and gas leases.

When working in western Oregon - I testified for god squad hearings on rec values of NW forests - if trees were left standing

AGAIN WHEN IN dc PROVIDED TESTIMONY AND POLICY SUPPORT FOR BALANCED APPROACHES IN CONSIDERING RECREATION ECONOMICS – LED TO MY INTEREST IN DEFINING THE REC ECONOMY – TO HELP SUPPORT CONSERVATION

In the mid 2000s - I and others provided testimony to Congress on behalf of BLM about the importance of the growing outdoor recreation economy and was ridiculed by your very own Rep. Bishop – then chair of the house natural resource committee. At the time I used agency and OIA economic numbers to prove my point – but Rep. Bishop dismissed them as ‘industry generated” not to be trusted. It was then I set my sights on working to define and measure the full value of the outdoor recreation economy in a way that could not be disparaged. It became clear we needed to develop a systematic and credible way to measure the value of outdoor recreation economy so it could be placed on par with and measured in the same way as energy, agriculture, ranching, manufacturing and other segments of the economy.

2000S ALSO MARKED

Outdoor Recreation Economy and Growing political advocacy for outdoor recreation interests:

Simultaneously and not coincidentally – the outdoor recreation industry began to consolidate lobbying efforts and coordinate advocacy of environmental and conservation causes as well as increased investment in recreation.
Most in this room recall the issue during the Bush administration of oil drilling and well leases in Utah. Where the Outdoor Industry organizations challenged Congress and the governor of Utah over its positions on oil drilling vs protecting natural resources that support the outdoor recreation economy. They threatened and eventually did move the famous OR show out of Salt Lake City.

Recreation joined with conservation interests again to protect special places create new parks and public lands

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1980-90S RESEARCH OFFERED MODELING FOR RECREATION TRENDS, DEMAND & PLANNING

Agency projections were made in 2000 for 2020 based on:

Population growth and density
Economic potential and activity
Outdoor recreation demand��

National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, USDA FS, Southern Research Station

Research predictions were mostly right!

Slide #10 80s-90s Tension between

conservation and recreation – Beginnings

of Sustainable Recreation :

Like everything else – the challenges became more complex and interests more polarized. Outdoor recreation interests began competing with each other – and with other land uses. Many, many lawsuits, court challenges have happened.
More Use levels were established, permit and allocation systems were put in place – then as now – it was controversial. Limiting when and where one could recreate seemed to fly in the face of the freedom of choice& was OFTEN considered essential part of the outdoor experience.
The inherent tension between recreationists and the impacts they have on the places we recreate – will always be at the heart of our work & defines much of that we do. The ongoing challenge between the growing demand for access and services versus use restrictions, limits on visitor numbers and protection of natural and cultural resources
During the 90s the agencies implemented more active and direct recreation management strategies and monitoring– including improving the monitoring, counting visitors, greater enforcement of rules, improved scenic/visual resource management guidelines, and improving planning approaches and collaborative public engagement frameworks that incorporated greater consideration of recreation resources
Most of these however focused on the balancing of protecting places for people to enjoy with the traditional commodity uses such as forestry, mining, and grazing.
Building capacity within the agencies: During this period too saw agency increases in hiring more social scientists and outdoor recreation planners. supporting networking, sharing research and information of the human dimension of land management would help build capacity – so we initiated HD.gov and other efforts.
Collectively we improved visitor use and satisfaction monitoring – such as continuing the long running National Survey on Recreation and the Environment NSRE and the FS’s National Visitor Use Monitoring NVUM program –
SORP, NPRA, RMS, NERR- establishing professional organizations like RMS and SORP to help support and enhance the quickly evolving fields and interdisciplinary work of agency staff dealing with outdoor rec mgmt. increased demand and advent of new technologies
In later 2000s, we pushed for building capacity, consistency and coordination of visitor use management strategies and research - and we established the Interagency visitor use Management Coordination Council IVUMCC for coordinating sustainable visitor use and management practices –still provide valuable information on the state of the art.

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RESEARCH INFORMED AND GUIDED AGENCIES IN MANAGING ACTIVITIES, USE OF TECHNOLOGY, AND MONITORING �INCLUDING SPECIAL EVENTS�

Managing activities from sledging to zorbing, base jumping to cave diving, mountain biking to slack lining, glamping to vanlife
Large events like Burning Man, Imperial Sand Dunes
Policies for geo-casheing, ebikes, rock crawling, drones, powered paragliding, rough terrain vehicles (RTVs) and even rocket launching

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2000’s - Growing awareness and research connecting outdoor recreation with Health, Youth and Community Wellness

Health: Documenting physical, mental and emotional benefits of outdoor recreation for public health = Park RX, Healthy Parks/Healthy People, CDC/NRPA partnerships

Youth: Engaging the next generation of citizen stewards = “Last Child in the Woods” and Every Kid in a Park Pass, “Play, Learn, Serve and Work” & Americorps and reinvigorating the Conservation Corps

Community Access and Accessibility: Understanding disparities for access to nature = Access for All, ADA Outdoor Guidelines and Mapping of underserved communities

Slide # Health, Youth and kids benefits of the outdoors:

During the early 2000’s much more awareness and research emerged regarding the benefits of outdoor recreation and access to the outdoors for public health and children. We worked with NRPA, CDC EPA and many others on promoting research and information about the health benefitsof nature.
Every kid outdoors pass - I worked with the the GW Bush and Obama administrations on promoting getting kids Richard Louve’s book “Last Child in the Woods”, the Children and Nature Network and the Outdoor Alliance for Kids helped spur greater recognition of the developmental, educational, physical benefits of the outdoors– later codified into law as the popular every kid outdoors program.
Research of all kinds supported what every mother has always known – that being outside is good for you. Of course this idea was not new either - I recall my own mother telling my brothers and sister to stay outside and not come home unless it was dark or we broke a leg….
Building awareness of the health benefits of nature and the lack of equity and diversity in the outdoors: One of the most important things that has evolved in agency policy and research work is an understanding and emphasis on equity and diversity in the outdoors. It is interesting that the agencies first began to proactively address DEIA though the outdoor recreation lens. led to efforts by land agencies to create & facilitate greater access to the outdoors in underserved communities – urban, rural and tribal.
Environmental justice -This has led to deeper research and analysis about environmental justice issues in general – health being at the top of the list. TPL & others had been at it for a long time – w/community park score as a proxy for nature access. Now apps like nature score and nature serve rates your community related to the health benefits of nature.
FICOR, CDC, Health Providers, Park RX and others have been working together with app developers to promote opportunities for researchers and health care and recreation practitioners alike in better understanding of the health benefits of being in nature.
FUTURE RESEARCH needs Promoting research on the health benefits of nature –is now a valued & high potential aspects of OR. We are improving our understanding every day about the health benefits of nature and being outdoors – from neurology to longevity. Years ago I would have said “ it’s about the economy stupid”. Now I say it is as much about individual and community health and wellness.
Researchers can continue to document and link human health to OR –we can get to the point where outdoor recreation and access to nature is actually part of the health delivery system & grow the view that investment in parks and recreation is an investment in improving human health and reducing health medical costs – it will be game changing to our profession. This is the one of the biggest opportunities in the years to come. Public spending and investment in outdoor recreation is only a small fraction on what we spend on both preventative therapies, drugs and medical care. What would that be like if we had 1 percent of what is spent on medical care to spend on spend on parks and conservation?

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2000’S – RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR BETTER COORDINATION -�ONE THING IN COMMON: ALL LAND AGENCIES ARE IN THE� OUTDOOR RECREATION AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT BUSINESS

Public lands are major attractions and assets for both Rural and Urban Areas

Economy, health, transit & livability
Environmental sustainability
Resiliency & vibrancy

1/3 of US is public land
1.3+ billion visitors annually
2 - 4+% growth in participation
Over half of Americans recreate outdoors

Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR)

#10 Quick review of OR in US -1/3 of US = public land

All land agencies have one thing in common. They are in the OR and tourism business, While Different agencies have differing roles/niches for recreation that can compliment one another.
Recreation is everyone’s challenge. Growing awareness public lands and openspace are a critical assets for communities environmental and social resiliency and vibrancy and livability
The 2000s saw the evolution of more sophisticated planning that incorporated consideration of economic and experience benefits or outcomes-focused management managing for experiences of residents, communities and visitors. It had management considering fuller range of ecosystem services benefits as well as better monitoring of recreation resource impacts.

2008-16 FICOR 1.0- Coordinating Outdoor Recreation Management. Interest by the Obama administration – greatly accelerated investment in major strategic efforts to expand access to the outdoors for all – I worked on the President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors – or AGO initiative – elevated consideration and policy changes that helped give outdoor recreation interests a voice and build recreation as a key element of agency missions. We created the first FICOR Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation &intentionally designed to be headed by the agency directors themselves.
This was not a new idea – it was first contained in the Outdoor Recreation Act of 1963 recommending that state and federal agencies should work together to plan for and support outdoor recreation. To this day it is the only national interagency forum where land agency leaders gather to discuss any topic.
GIS experts helped us better map outdoor opportunities and access to nature PADUS, USGS Trails projects
Improved use of technology tools and apps like recreation.gov to allow for improved and more seamless reservation and information systems for agency campgrounds and things like river permits (yes like you I apply every year and don’t get any…I have applied for a Selway river permit for the last 48 years straight without luck…I am running out of time and I need your help in designing better systems that prioritize perseverance. Indeed, our efforts made it easier to apply and that has increased competition but that is what equity looks like.

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2010’s -Outdoor Recreation Economy: �Research led to a major shift in �local, state and national political support ��

Reserch has improved understanding of the importance of outdoor recreation and tourism and has changed the national policy paradigm:

Established outdoor recreation as a major economic sector
Fundamentally shifted state & national conservation policy debates
Justified increased investment in park and conservation
Drove creation of state offices of OR & local rec economy priorities
Led to passing of thousands of local park bond measures
Stimulated awareness of other related ecosystem services benefits such as health, education, environment, youth and transportation

“The Experience Economy is the business of making memories”

Contributes $1.1 trillion to US Economy
2.2% of GDP
Top 3 economic sectors in nearly every state
3.2% of all employees with 5 million jobs
Bigger than domestic oil/gas or RX drugs

Economy also drives policy. “EXPERIENCE ECONOMY”

YOU ALL KNOW OF THESE NUMBERRS NOW. BECAUSE OF FICOR

The paradigm shift =This work has fundamentally changed the way policy and decision makers think about parks and recreation

Finally Defining the Outdoor Recreation Economy: As chair of the FICOR – I had a chance to define the outdoor recreation economy. We worked with researchers, economists & the Bureau of Economic Analysis to create the Outdoor Recreation Economy report to document the undeniable economic value of rec to the nation.
Though it’s a mile wide and in inch deep – it accounts for 2.2 % of the nation’s GDP – bigger than fossil fuels or prescription drugs.

The report changed everything in the eyes of many congressionals, agency leaders, state governors, and conservation and business groups alike – and helped lead to the strong support for passage of full funding for LWCF and major recent recreation related investments such as the Great American outdoor Act and bipartisan infrastructure funding.

It is expressly why communities have passed bond measures, state offices of rec were established and getting bipartisan support in Congress for funding as well as BIL, American Great Outdoors act, Inflation Reduction Act, Rural economic assistance and backlog maintenance

The pending EXPLORE act will also significantly effect recreation management into the future

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2010’S - CONFLUENCE OF STATES – �OFFICES OF OUTDOOR RECREATION AND�GREATER BIPARTISAN STATE AND �REGIONAL COORDINATION

“The Confluence of states is a bipartisan alliance and national platform to grow the outdoor recreation economy, protect our nation’s wild places and support conservation for prosperity.”

�1. CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP - Work with the public, private, nonprofit sectors, and tribal governments to promote conservation and stewardship of land, air, water, and wildlife, and for responsible public access to them.

2. EDUCATION & WORKFORCE TRAINING - Engage with educators to support environmental and outdoor learning opportunities for all in early and life-long outdoor activity, career development, workforce training and advocacy for outdoor recreation.

3. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - Collaborate with all stakeholders including underrepresented and all communities to establish and improve sustainable outdoor recreation economies, infrastructure, and funding.

4. PUBLIC HEALTH & WELLNESS - Partner with health & wellness stakeholders to determine shared values and common goals, quantify the impact of outdoor recreation access and related social determinants on individual and community wellbeing.

5. OPPORTUNITY & EXPERIENCE Reduce barriers and promote accessible, safe and inclusive opportunities for outdoor activities close to places where people live, work and play.

24+ States

Nurturing the idea and recognition of the need

for coordinated efforts on the state

or landscape scale – the evolution of

State Office of Outdoor Recreation:

States began to see the value of not managing or planning in silos – Utah was progressive in creating the first office of OR. I must take a moment to recognize the wonderful work of Utah and your office of outdoor recreation – as the very first state to have one and a model many other states aspire to. Now thee are over 20 of them.
The Confluence of states, National Governors Association Outdoor Learning network to guide and support these principles. Principles that focus on the key elements of our work – not only promoting the recreation economy and jobs but also conservation and stewardship, as well as benefits to community health, youth and quality of life provided by parks and recreation.

They have helped shift tourism strategies from destination promotion and marketing to destination management and stewardship
These 5 pillars – themes are central to how most management agencies view OR management – and have guided research
USU BASECAMP and the GNAR INITIATIVE are examples of where States and Universities - also have leaned into facilitating regional approaches to Outdoor Recreation management: The last decade has seen significant state level interest in aligning state agencies and communities’ efforts to promote and sustainably manage outdoor recreation and tourism.
The outdoor industry lobbied long and hard to help governors and state recognize and focus efforts on supporting outdoor recreation. We worked with a few fledgling state offices of recreation,
Moab again pioneered cooperative development of needed recreation infrastructure – working with partners like federal and state highways to construct bike trails that connect to public lands like the bike trail to Arches or the management of Sand Flats and slick rock trails as well as managed camping areas to accommodate the growing number of visitors.
This in turn helped protect and limit development of core high value areas and parks.

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WHY GREATER INVESTMENT IN �OUTDOOR RECREATION RESEARCH IS CRITICAL ��

Values and Benefits: Documents the full range of benefits to people, communities, and the environment

Access and Opportunity: Determines why and how to improve equity and better connect all people to nature and the outdoors

Trends, Sustainability and Balance: Identifies social & environmental trends & thresholds of recreation use levels, monitoring practices and allocation decisions to better protect natural and cultural resources

Cooperation, Coordination and Collaboration: Encourages collaboration and national, regional and landscape-scale approaches for cooperative recreation planning and management

The trail ahead: However, though we have indeed come a long way, found success and learned much over the decades, our greatest challenges lie ahead. Our management, monitoring, planning, research strategies– all have evolved significantly. To a large degree we have made immense progress and managed to largely maintain high quality outdoor recreation experiences on the public lands while meeting the ever-growing demand --- and for the most part we have done so while protecting and conserving resources.

But as we all know – our outdoor, natural and cultural resources are finite - they are not limitless. Issues have become more acute with each passing year and strategies for effective management even more complex – and illusive.

Implications for current and future research: it is integral and important role in the evolution of recreation management. It has informed and guided public land, and now millions of acres of private land trusts too, in their recreation and visitor management strategies.

Lastly, I wanted to spend a few moments on what I think the future holds before we open it to questions. What can we look forward to as researchers, practitioners and land managers? Well, it’s a lot – and I can tell you unequivocally it won’t be easy. As my grandfather once told me “One thing is for certain – “they will keep making more people but they ain’t making more land” … I think he wanted me to get into real estate – but I got into land conservation instead.

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Three focus areas of current needs and opportunities for research and management�

1. Expanding the field of recreation ecology and human dimensions

Exploring new cost effective recreation/VUM monitoring techniques and technical applications. (big data, cellular data, remote monitoring, real time visitor information)

Developing equitable and fair access, allocation and permit systems. (weighted, seasonal)

Determining thresholds of human disturbance and improving ways to monitor resource conditions in real time. (Impacts to natural, cultural and wildlife resources)

Evaluating impacts of different types of recreation activities. (Both social and environmental)

Assessing visitor satisfaction and the effectiveness of recreation management strategies. (are strategies resulting in desired outcomes?)

Streamlining approval processes for data collection, surveys and visitor monitoring. (Efficient ways to collect social data and information, OMB requirements, partnering with universities and communities)
Increasing public and private investment in recreation related research. (partnering with industry, states, foundations, health and transportation interests, conservation organizations)

Three key focus areas for emerging opportunities for research and management:

1. Further development of the field of recreation ecology and human dimensions. Including:

Exploring new recreation monitoring techniques and applications. Research of cost-efficient and effective monitoring of visitor use and visitor use patterns, use of technology and cell data to better understand who, where, and how people recreate outdoors.
Development of equitable and fair access systems including ways to improve reservation and allocations systems, evaluating current allocation efforts, permit system practices, timed-entry and other ways to optimize recreation access while protecting resources.
Determining thresholds of human disturbance and improving ways to monitor resource conditions in real time.

Determining differing impacts of types of recreation activities. Further research is needed comparing the effects of different kinds of recreation activities on wildlife and resources – like impact of ebikes vs. traditional bikes

Visitor satisfaction and assessing the effectiveness of recreation management strategies – we need help in determining if agency recreation management strategies are resulting desired outcomes. We need to find ways to work around OMB requirements when we can with universities and community partners to better understand user needs, desires, factors of what constitutes the quality of the experience and ways to improve visitor satisfaction.

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2. Research to promote�partnerships and cooperative management �

Improving planning and collaboration at state and regional scales. (evolving systems approaches with states/regions for recreation planning and management planning - SCORP 2.0, new NSRE?)

Enhancing our recognition and understanding of cultural values and indigenous knowledge in planning and management. (working with tribes to protect cultural landscapes and uses - especially as it relates to recreation)

Promoting sustainable funding strategies for outdoor recreation. (Growing and diversifying funding sources for parks and recreation)

Creating livable, healthy communities and

sustainable destinations (moving from destination

marketing to destination management and stewardship -

Including affordable housing and social services

in gateway communities)

2. Research and collaboration in promoting partnerships and cooperative management: Including:

Collaboration at a state scale -All recreation is ultimately local and place-based. We need research, innovation and experimentation with states in regional recreation planning and management by reviving and reinvigorating the importance the original LWCF statewide comprehensive outdoor recreation planning SCORP concept is still very relevant and valid.
Enhancing our recognition and understanding of cultural values and indigenous knowledge and incorporating it into land management strategies – for us specifically as it relates to recreation. We need successful models in cooperating with tribal nations, and other non-profit partners in real, power sharing cooperative management and decision making.
Promoting sustainable funding for outdoor recreation: Growing and sustaining public funding sources is absolutely critical but the in the future we must also focus on best practices for expanding the role of philanthropy, use of conservation corps and partnering with friends or stewardship groups in the day-to-day monitoring and management of recreation resources.
Creating affordable housing and social services in destination communities. Recreation researchers and managers mut work closely with communities to ensure destination communities have housing and support services, such as health and food services, for both seasonal and permanent recreation and tourism workers as well as those who live and work in the community.

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3. Research that address disparities and environmental justice�health, livability, accessibility, diversity and outdoor equity

Determining best practices for park and recreation in community design and regional planning (Climate resilience and mitigation, active transportation, energy use efficiency, maintenance free designs, repurposing of urban spaces and post-industrial infrastructure)

Understanding bias, inequities and disparities in access to nature and community livability. (Barriers to close-to home nature and active recreation access)

Enhancing technical assistance to improve outdoor accessibility and access for all (Use of adaptative technology, access planning and mapping)
Documenting health benefits of nature-based recreation.

(Incorporating parks/recreation in the health delivery system)

3. Research on ways to enhance community health, sustainability, livability, accessibility, diversity and outdoor equity including:

Case studies and best practices for imbedding park and recreation in community design, climate resilience and regional planning, improving energy use and efficiency, sustainable maintenance free designs, climate change mitigation, repurposing of urban spaces and post-industrial infrastructure into recreation and green infrastructure like rails to trails, the highline in NYC, converting parking lots or industrial brownfields to parks and greenspaces.

Research to better understand inequities of access to nature and community livability factors. We need to dive deeper in understanding how our park and recreation efforts can better consider where and how people can have the opportunity to recreate every day in nature, near where they live.

Research and technical assistance to improve outdoor accessibility and the sustainable use of adaptive technology. Mapping, recreation site and trail assessment practices

And as I mentioned before – Expanding and improving our understanding of the nexus and connection of the health benefits of the outdoors – for example I volunteer to take people with Parkinsons climbing – which turns out to be an effective therapy. a

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WHAT’S NEXT FOR RECREATION RESEARCH �CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEXT 50 YEARS: �BALANCING USE AND CONSERVATION

Evolving the art of sustainable recreation and VUM
Developing national/regional cooperative planning & management strategies (SCORP 2.0)
Creating equitable allocation, reservation & permit systems
Exploring emerging technologies applications for visitor information, mapping & monitoring
Determining thresholds for wildlife habitat impacts of recreation, human dimension & recreation ecology
Incorporating recreation as part of the health delivery system linkages to health benefits & community wellness outcomes
Promoting youth participation and engagement in outdoors
Creating innovative fee, sustainable funding and cooperative partnership strategies for management and infrastructure
Greening resilient cities for nature access &climate change as well as effects to recreation opportunities
Improving equity, diversity & accessibility in and to the outdoors

Review key research opportunities for the immediate future – needed now

Evolving the art of sustainable recreation and VUM
Developing national/regional cooperative planning & management strategies (SCORP 2.0)
Creating equitable allocation, reservation & permit systems
Exploring emerging technologies applications for visitor information, mapping & monitoring
Determining thresholds for wildlife habitat impacts of recreation, human dimension & recreation ecology
Incorporating recreation as part of the health delivery system linkages to health benefits & community wellness outcomes
Promoting youth participation and engagement in outdoors
Creating innovative fee, sustainable funding and cooperative partnership strategies for management and infrastructure
Greening resilient cities for nature access &climate change as well as effects to recreation opportunities
Improving equity, diversity & accessibility in and to the outdoors

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�RESEARCH NEEDED NOW FOR CURRENT POLICY CHALLENGES

Powered mobility and outdoor accessibility guidelines

Drone use

Fixed Anchors & management of sport climbing

E-bikes & e-mobility

Shifting our concepts of what accessibility to the outdoors means. Also as part of our past work, we recognized that access and accessibility are two different things – access is where and how people can get to and use public lands or recreation resources.
Accessibility is about making that access as available and open as possible to all - regardless of abilities. Think of it in these terms – we are all getting older – and as a friend once told me – we are all temporarily able bodied – think of what that means every time you go visit your favorite places or participate in your favorite recreation activity.
Accessibility is far more that ADA or ABA requirements – its about recognizing and understanding what technology and research has done for human mobility. For recreation management that has meant making often simple changes or improvements to campgrounds, trails and rivers that can better accommodate designs and provide places to use new technology often beyond what is required by law for the built or highly developed environment.
This debate will be a challenging one – as highlighted in the book Mountains without handrails nearly 40 years ago – the question remains – when is development or access improvements enough? Yes, we can build a chairlift to the bottom of the Grand Canyon – but the question will continue to be - should we?

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THE FUTURE?�WHAT’S AHEAD FOR YOU!

Air Travel OHV?

Pop up parks/

urban camping?

Exoskeletons & E-powered

hiking/trail running?

Robotic pack mules?

Underwater drones & submarines?

Role and use of technology applications and emerging technologies – We thought we had it rough when we had to deal with the advent and growth of mountain biking, whitewater rafting, climbing, powered para gliding, base jumping, heliskiing/boarding, OHVs, ebikes and other new tech.

Just wait... Drones – including those that carry people, e assisted power hiking and running, and personal submersibles are in your outdoor recreation management future!

AI and bots are already wreaking havoc with and hacking online permit systems.

Data and monitoring. We each have a tracking device in our pockets – soon we will be able to count most if not all visitor in real time.

Privacy issues and expertise in recreation field will be critical.

Satellite imagery geospatial analytics will be even more valued tool for managers

but will instant communication everywhere at any time be a challenge? – just ask your local search and rescue team member if it’s a problem now.

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WHAT REALLY GIVES US HOPE?� OUR KIDS – ENSURING QUALITY RECREATION �FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

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Thank you! for what you do each and every day.

Your collective work makes the world a better place!

Questions?

Bob Ratcliffe

We have come far in the last half century yet we have much more to learn – especially from each other – and opportunities like basecamp provide a place to gather and share, network, guide research and build knowledge and the science of outdoor recreation.

Lastly, I want be sure to thank you all for what you do each and every day – your important work enhances the lives of people, engages children in the outdoors, improves access and accessibility to nature for all, and can improve our communities and the quality of life–

Remember – we are in the business of making memories and in the end that is all we can hope to have - simply all your collective work makes the world a better place. Thank you for that!

So, with that – I leave it to your questions -All I know is I am glad I won’t have to deal with some of those emerging and complex issues you all be facing... I am sure it will make the last 50 years seem like the simple good old days….