Outdoor recreation economy reaches trillion-dollar milestone
With the leading snow sports economy in the country, Colorado seeks balance
By Sophie Stuber Planet Contributor
As winter recreation grows, rural communities see a need for balance and cooperation in outdoor spaces.
Outdoor recreation has become a trillion-dollar industry in the United States, according to recent data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Spending on outdoor recreation hit $1.1 trillion in 2022, a 19% increase from 2021. Outdoor companies earned nearly $564 billion — 2.2% of the GDP — and employed five million workers.
Colorado is the sixth fastest growing outdoor recreation economy. Snow activities, such as skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, increased 39% across the United States. Snow sports account for $7.0 billion in the outdoor recreation economy, with Colorado having the largest contribution at $1.4 billion.
“The industry as a whole was pretty stagnant in terms of visitation for decades. Unfortunately it took a global health pandemic to really make that adjustment and grow the outdoor industry, so skiing really benefited from that initial post-Covid period and that progression after,” Carson Taylor, mountain sales director at Telluride Ski & Golf, told the Daily Planet.
Colorado ski resorts saw 14.8 million visitors in the 2022-2023 winter season, up from 14 million the year before. Ski areas in the state comprise 20 to 25% of national ski visits.
“Everyone was really intrigued and hopeful about whether we were able to retain that business growth. Fortunately, from 2022 numbers and early 2023 numbers, we’ve been able to maintain that growth,” Carson said.
Telluride expects visitation to equal last year’s numbers, even with the nine-day delay in the ski resort opening, Carson said.
Joining the Epic Pass with Vail Ski Resorts has also increased ski traffic in Telluride.
“Our partnership with Vail is very much a part of this growth that we have experienced. The audience of who can ski here is much bigger,” Carson said.
The ski industry is not the only part of the outdoor economy in Telluride that has grown in the past few years.
“With a general migration from urban environments to more rural environments, we are all experiencing this growth, not just the ski industry,” Carson said.
Along with the growing economic benefits, environmental organizations caution that there needs to be a balance between increased outdoor use and protecting wild spaces, particularly designating where motorized over-snow vehicles can go.
“How snowmobiles travel around the landscape is much different than backcountry tourers. And then there's also wildlife impacts, such as lynx habitat over in the Trout Lake area,” Mason Osgood, executive director of Sheep Mountain Alliance, told the Daily Planet.
Increased recreation use can lead to user conflicts, wildlife impacts and property disputes without proper land management, Osgood said.
“We would love to see travel management planning start as soon as possible in our region. The recreation impacts are not to go away. I think it’s awesome that people are getting outside. but we can always use more infrastructure and tools to try and manage those activities,” he said.
Over-snow vehicle use was one objection that conservation groups have to the United States Forest Service’s proposed final management plan for Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests. The GMUG plan determines how forest conservation and management are operated.
“San Miguel County, the town of Ophir, Sheep Mountain Alliance and a lot of engaged community members are pretty united on a reduction of over-snow vehicles, or snowmobiles, use in Ophir Valley and the majority of the high country near the Sheep Mountain zone as well as Bridal Veil and the Bear Creek area,” Osgood said.
Groups filed objections to the final GMUG plan in early November.
There are other ways to recreate in these areas without motorized vehicles.
“We see a pretty large human powered backcountry culture in all of those areas, as well as a desire to maintain that non-motorized condition in the future,” Osgood said. “ It’s been indicative for a long time that the valley is dominated by human power.”
In Ophir, many residents oppose authorizing snowmobile use up Ophir Pass.
“Ophir is a small community, surrounded by national forests and open land. The area is very steep, and there is a lot of avalanche risk around Ophir Pass,” Christ Dickson, Ophir resident and ski industry professional, told the Planet. “There’s a general culture of not much snowmobile traffic in the area.”
The economic assessment supports lawmakers’ efforts to pass America’s Outdoor Recreation Act of 2023, which includes federal land management plans, deals for private partnerships on federal campgrounds and gives support to rural communities and outdoor businesses.
The bipartisan legislation went through the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in March. The next step is a U.S. House committee hearing.
Read the full article here.