Last week, the Minnesota state House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee conducted a hearing on creating a state outdoor recreation office.
A bill to establish the office, HF4536, was sponsored by state Rep. Jim Davnie. The bill would establish the office to increase participation in outdoor recreation through equity, diversity and inclusion in the sector, unite the state’s outdoor recreation community and develop a shared communication narrative about health, economic and other benefits of outdoor recreation.
The bill follows March 2021 recommendations made by the Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Task Force. Office locations would be in Ely and Winona, funded with a yet-to-be-determined appropriation in fiscal year 2023. An annual report would be required.
Davnie said the office would be “tasked with uniting the Minnesota outdoor recreation community, growing assets and business opportunities in Minnesota’s outdoors with a particular eye to growth areas, including by historically underrepresented communities in the outdoors as customers, owners, employees and vendors all through a collaborative, data-driven process of public, private processing.”
During the hearing, Winnebago Industries’ Katy Friesz, vice president of corporate responsibility and executive director, testified about the importance of establishing the office. Friesz served on the task force last spring recommending the office’s creation.
RVIA stated the association and Outdoor Recreation Roundtable partners supported the office’s creation. Eighteen states already have offices or appointed a Director of Outdoor Recreation to implement strategic plans that grow outdoor recreation through policies, programs and initiatives, RVIA stated.
“An Office of Outdoor Recreation makes particular sense in Minnesota where outdoor recreation is a way of life for many and a prominent economic driver in the state, generating $8.4 billion annually and supporting more than 89,000 jobs,” RVIA stated. “The creation of a Minnesota OREC office would also play a prominent role in expanding access to the outdoors and nature-based experiences for state residents.”
