Governor. Office of Economic Development. Outdoor Recreation Economic Ecosystem Task Force

The duties of the Task Force were to develop a marketing plan to promote and develop the outdoor recreation industry in Utah; identify the state's premier outdoor recreation destinations and natural assets; target outdoor recreation manufacturing, retailing, tourism and other activities that make up the Outdoor Recreation Economic Ecosystem; work collaboratively with Utah counties to meet the goal of assuring that benefits of the outdoor recreation economy flow in significant proportion to local economies; work collaboratively with industry representatives, counties, the state, and federal land agencies to seek fair ways to ensure that local communities have sufficient resources for public services strained by outdoor recreation, such as search and rescue, ambulance service, road maintenance, and other public infrastructure; recommend how outdoor recreation and heritage tourism experiences can be integrated to provide a more complete and diverse tourism and visitor experience; and endeavor to build bridges between the outdoor recreation economy and the traditional western heritage economy of rural Utah, with an eye to harmonizing, balancing, and preserving both for future generations. Task Force members included the Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget or designee; the Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources or designee; the Director of the Division of Business and Economic Development or designee; the Director of the Division of Travel and Tourism or designee; four to six rural county commissioners or members of county councils; and four to six Utah outdoor recreation manufacturers, retailers, and other industry professionals in Utah.