Despite a proliferation of communities nationwide who could benefit from developing outdoor recreation, numerous economic, social, environmental, and cultural barriers still exist.
Skepticism about new ventures
Outdoor recreation advocates struggle to achieve consensus in certain communities due to rightful skepticism about new economic initiatives replacing traditional industries, and unintended consequences of a rapid transition to an outdoor recreation economy.
When Sarah Shrader, Founder of the Grand Junction Outdoor Recreation Coalition reflected on her community of Grand Junction, CO, she remarked on a multi-generational "hardening" toward future downturns:
100 years of boom and bust creates so much hopelessness. Even when you're in the boom cycle, you have a sense that the other shoe could drop.
This sentiment can prevent communities from jumping at the next chance for economic diversification, even when data seems to support its efficacy. Additionally, outdoor recreation has the perception of creating a tourist-centric economy that doesn't benefit locals.
Outdoor recreation presents new economic and workforce opportunities for rural communities. However, there are warranted community reservations about shifting from a reliance on one cyclical economy to another, such as tourism. It’s important to think about the outdoor economy beyond tourism and as an opportunity for outdoor assets to retain and attract a talented workforce and spark business growth in other sectors.
Convincing data cannot overcome this skepticism alone; a community's economy creates an identity that shapes steadfast values, belief systems, and perceptions about what holds the community together.
"All newly elected officials go through what we call 'County College.' It's a 9-month program to train on how to be an elected official. At one of the opening dinners, I gave a presentation about the outdoor recreation economy, provided national data, and how it connects to the extension service. Despite this, some of the commissioners said, 'No, tennis shoes and bikes aren't going to save my community. Timber is the answer.'
There are a lot of cultural perceptions to overcome, even when the data is right there. In one case, it wasn't until a medical doctor talked to a commissioner about the benefits of trails and provided health data and what a path would do for people in the county that they changed their mind."
State Economic Development Supporter
"There's some reticence around certain concepts in outdoor recreation, particularly the tourism context—a reticence that these communities 'have to' in the absence of the extractive industry because it means that they'll bring people to the community in ways that they're not entirely comfortable with."
State Office Director
It is important to recognize that these feelings aren't always misperceptions of the value of outdoor recreation—in certain cases, unintended consequences of outdoor recreation economies have left communities strained by new visitation pressures.
Recent pushback over a gravel bike race in Colorado is emblematic of the need for thorough, proactive outreach with local communities to understand their goals, and for there to be local champions in support of efforts from within the community, not just from outside.
Communities like Deer Lodge, MT are experiencing social strife. People are being priced out of homes as they're being told that the future is in recreation. What does that mean? 20 years ago you told us it was in tourism — people traded a job at a mill or in a mine to be the manager of a convenience store in Bozeman. Kids can't stay here in a million years. Housing is a monster issue.
Economic growth in previously poor communities can generate challenges with traffic management, housing affordability, wildlife impacts, new business development, schools, healthcare services, basic infrastructure, connectivity, large landscape planning, and community character. As noted in the 'Plan for Destination Management/Value Capture' section, these challenges should be expected and addressed early in the visioning process with policies and planning that control development and growth.
There are certainly pros and cons to leaning into a recreation economy. When a tax base is too heavily dependent on tourism, things can get skewed. We’re being responsive to community needs and concerns about relying too heavily on one aspect or another. These are communities that have seen what happens in a boom/
bust economy, and how they're left to rebuild.