2024 Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation Symposium organizers share the ideas that rose to the top and discuss next steps in latest webinar.

In our June 18 webinar called Directives from the Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation Symposium– part of our Building the New Forest Future series – event hosts and organizers discussed their reflections and actions coming out of the symposium, shared regional ideas, and gathered attendee feedback to continue the conversation about developing a robust outdoor recreation economy.

Mike Wilson, senior program director at the Center, presented a summary of the event, sharing goals and outcomes from the Symposium hosted by the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) and the Northern Forest Center. Rich Grogan, executive director of NBRC, and Marina Bowie, program manager at NBRC, shared their takeaways from the event and the funding and programs they support to advance the recreation economy.

Webinar attendees had the opportunity to give their input on the ten ideas that were identified at the Symposium as the most important for regional action. Attendees were asked to select up to five ideas that they thought would have the most positive impact on the region’s recreation economy. The ten ideas are listed below.

• Credentialize the Regional Workforce
• Strengthen Outdoor Recreation and Business Infrastructure and Services
• Scalable Community Outdoor Recreation Design and Planning Guide and Training
• Finding and Sharing Stories in the Northern Forest: Story Corps
• Regional Outdoor Recreation Data Dashboard (useful at many scales)
• Invest in additional planning assistance, coaching, and implementation support for communities throughout the Northern Forest region to increase their readiness for the outdoor recreation economy
• Address workforce needs through developing comprehensive career pathways (K-16) to meet growing demand
• Better integrate outdoor recreation and health systems to improve outcomes and reduce costs
• Become a climate resilient recreation region
• Create a recreation value resource hub to support planning and advocacy

Mike invited a panel of members of the Symposium steering committee to engage in a discussion about actions their offices are taking to move forward on the ideas generated at the Symposium. The panel included:

• Jackie Dagger, Director of Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economy Collaborative
• Laura DiBetta, Director of Outdoor Recreation at NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
• Stephanie Bertaina, Senior Policy Analyst at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Janel Lawton, Director of the NH Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development
• Tyler Ray, Executive Director of Granite Outdoor Alliance

We recorded the conversation for you to listen to – just click the link below. For more context and detail about the Symposium, visit this article.