The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable shared details about its partners plans for virtual celebrations and isolated events set to take place in honor of Great Outdoors Month this June.
The ORR is an outdoor recreation trade association comprised of 31 national association members serving 100,000 businesses. The group announced this week that its partners will be honoring public lands, waters and the outdoor recreation economy during the month of June.
Great Outdoors Month began in 1998 under President Bill Clinton as Great Outdoors Week, and grew over the years into a month-long celebration of America’s public lands and waters with thousands of events across the country. This year, many organizations have adapted their events to take into account the effects of COVID-19 for example.
On May 16, The National Park Trust took Kids to Parks Day digital and celebrated Parks to Kids Day, bringing an outdoor feeling to kids and families as they isolate at home and practice social distancing. National Park Trust provided at-home activities and distance learning opportunities to help bring the outdoors and parks to people across the country.
Similarly, the American Hiking Society is shifting its June 6 National Trails Day from in-person events to digital activation to inspire individuals to unite for the protection of trails and access to public lands during this time of social-distancing. American Hiking Society put together a promotional toolkit to help people take part.
Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) joined forces with Discover Boating to launch an industry-wide campaign to “share the restorative power of recreational boating and fishing at a time when the wellbeing of Americans is front and center.”
The Corps Network will host a virtual Corpsmember Development Day June 18 with sessions on Professional Development, Personal Growth and Community Leadership.
The National Wildlife Federation is working to show how safely and responsibly connecting with wildlife and the outdoors can help people thrive during these unprecedented times, and planning is underway for the annual Great American Campout.
And, the National Park Service (NPS) will be recognizing the mental and physical benefits of time outdoors during Great Outdoors Month through its “#MilitaryMondaysPlus” campaign, a partnership between Building Healthy Military Communities (a DoD project) and NPS’ Healthy Parks Healthy People. The program aims to identify the positive health benefits that parks can bring both physically and mentally as they begin to reopen in the current COVID-19 environment.
