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A record number of people are participating in recreation activities like hiking, biking and climbing. A new report shows that this surge in interest is changing people’s experiences on public lands, sometimes for the worse.
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Headwaters Economics recently released an updated analysis of federal data on the economic impact of the recreation economy, whose scale rivals or exceeds that of many sectors that tend to get more attention, like car manufacturing and air transportation. The impacts of the recreation economy are, on the whole, even more significant in much of the West.
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An archival collection at the Denver Public Library documents the life and legacy of Gudy Gaskill, who was often called the 'Mother of the Colorado Trail.'
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This week, we talk with The Colorado Sun about wild ice skating. A Colorado woman who has gone viral on Instagram and TikTok because of it, and the sport is becoming more widely accepted at Colorado parks.
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Small towns in the Mountain West are leading the pack when it comes to economic success, according to a recent report by Heartland Forward.
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Nationally, outdoor recreation created $862 billion in gross economic output last year, accounting for $454 billion in GDP and 4.5 million jobs. Included in those numbers are activities like biking and boating, but also equipment manufacturing, entertainment and construction.
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This past spring Grand Canyon National Park became the site of an extended norovirus outbreak, with more than 200 cases of gastrointestinal illness among rafters and backpackers.
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Even as the fall season knocks on our door, fire dangers remain high and campers should be wary. One of the nation’s largest wildfires burning right now is the Moose Fire, just outside Salmon, Idaho. It blew up Wednesday night with driving winds, growing to more than 120,000 acres. Evacuations are taking place, and it is threatening municipal water resources.
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On TikTok 25-year-old Teal Lehto goes by “WesternWaterGirl,” and her clips regularly garner hundreds of thousands of views. Since joining the app in April, she’s amassed nearly 48,000 followers who tune in for her fast-paced, snarky and often profanity-laced takes on the West’s water crisis.
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A federal program is giving about $30,000 to individual rural communities to help them develop outdoor recreation economies.