New Publication from National Extension Tourism Network Highlights Opportunities for Extension in Outdoor Recreation Economies
Outdoor Recreation is a growing sector of the U.S. economy, and building the recreation economy in the U.S. has been identified as one of the USDA’s top priorities . Recreation economies are intertwined with multiple community domains, and therefore pose an opportunity for the Cooperative Extension System, which is uniquely positioned to assist communities with managing and leveraging their outdoor recreation assets to achieve multiple goals.
A new fact sheet published by the National Extension Tourism Network (NET) explores these opportunities, and makes the case for greater investments to help communities manage the challenges and opportunities that outdoor recreation presents.
The factsheet is available on the NET website and was developed by members of the NET Outdoor Recreation Working Group, including Xinyi Qian, University of Minnesota Tourism Center; Ann Savage, North Carolina State University; Gwynn Stewart, The Ohio State University Extension; Aaron Wilcher, University of California Cooperative Extension; and, Kristen Devlin, Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. It draws on an earlier version written by Doug Arbogast, West Virginia University, and Jake Powell, Utah State University.