eNewMexican

Leveraging the value

Of outdoor recreation

By Patti Lasalle-hopkins

When Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 462 into law in 2019, New Mexico became one of only 15 states to create an Outdoor Recreation Division (ORD) — and the first in the country to establish an Outdoor Equity Fund to offer grants to aid outdoor programs.

Grants from ORD, which is part of the state’s Economic Development Department, support outdoor programs benefiting young people in particular, helping them kick-start a lifetime of enjoying nature. Funds also support entrepreneurs launching nature-focused businesses, spurring economic growth.

The goal of ORD is “nothing short of transforming the state’s economic, social and environmental future by championing sustainable outdoor recreation and increasing access to it for all New Mexicans, especially those who have been excluded from the traditional outdoor recreation and environmental movements,” says ORD director Axie Navas. She points out that exploration of nature comes with a cost. Even when young people become interested in the outdoors, they often lack funds for fishing poles, tents, entrance fees to parks, travel expenses and other resources affecting access. “I am determined to ensure that the outdoor opportunities I benefited from as a kid — hiking, skiing, exploring — extend to all state residents,” says Navas, a native of Vail, Colorado. With degrees in journalism and Spanish from Northwestern University, she most recently served as digital editorial director for Outside magazine.

She describes her career as encompassing a “decade of professional storytelling experience in the outdoor industry.”

Navas is eager to hear the stories of those benefiting from ORD. Through the Outdoor Equity Fund, the division has provided grants between $1,500 and $15,000 to 25 groups, including three Native organizations. Among the recipients are Latino Outdoors, which sponsors hikes among ancient petroglyphs, and the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy, which teaches students how to maintain trails and analyze water collection data. Another fund recipient, Mil Abrazos Community Land Trust: The Enduring Acequia Program, brings local ranchers and farmers together with young people to educate them about managing these historic waterways. The Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance in Las Vegas provides instruction and equipment to make fly-fishing more accessible to youngsters.

Once all programming is completed in early 2022, about 3,000 young people will have had an outdoor adventure they might otherwise not have experienced, Navas says.

Beyond its impact on individuals, ORD also promotes nature as a robust force for economic advancement. This work includes attracting out-of-state, nature-focused businesses to New Mexico while providing homegrown enterprises with fertile opportunities for success. Toward that end, ORD also provides Outdoor Recreation Trails+ grants to improve access to outdoor recreation while also bolstering the economy.

Among the recipients is Southwest New Mexico Arts, Culture and Tourism (ACT), which will construct connecting trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. Pathways will lead from Penny Park in downtown Silver City to the historic Waterworks, a building dating to 1887. Listed on federal and state historic registers, the stone building once housed massive pumps and boilers as part of a water distribution system. Now it will bring together community members and visitors for educational and cultural events in new facilities on the site. “The main project will be construction of a roofed pavilion to house open-air classes for students on everything having to do with the outdoors” says Lee Gruber, director of ACT. The Waterworks project also aims to incubate three to five new businesses by 2022 and provide five to 10 new jobs at the site. “This project is vital for the community,” Gruber says.

Vital to the community of Santa Clara Pueblo will be other improvements funded by ORD. These include new ADAcompliant picnic sites at Santa Clara Canyon, including roofed shelters and other amenities welcoming residents and visitors to the scenic landscape.

Directly promoting commercial advancement are ORD’S

Outdoor Business Incubator grants. Recipients include San Juan College Enterprise Center in Farmington, which provides office and manufacturing space and other resources for entrepreneurs. Through grant recipient Creative Startups of Santa Fe, eight rural libraries in Northern New Mexico have offered workshops for budding business developers.

Economic benefits of ORD

“There are many, many economic benefits from these projects, including job creation, business recruitment and expansion, public health and wellness gains, and conservation wins,” Navas says. Outdoor recreation, from rafting and skiing to golfing and fishing, contributed $2.4 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in

2019. The outdoor recreation GDP has grown nearly 6 percent since 2018, more quickly than the rest of New Mexico’s economy, according to a study by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The state’s outdoor industry now directly supports more than 35,000 jobs and generates $1.2 billion in income. Since 2018, outdoor recreation income has grown 7.6% in New Mexico, compared with an increase of less than 4% for the nation.

In the short term, ORD’S Outdoor Recreation Trails+ grants have the potential to create 13 full-time and part-time jobs, with 50 to 100 youth corps members employed this summer, and an additional 10 to 15 full- and part-time jobs when projects are completed.

Navas calls participation in nature a “powerhouse” of economic potential while acknowledging pandemic-induced setbacks.

“It’s our job to aid in the recovery of the outdoor industry, so it continues to be a vibrant economic engine in the state,” she says. The bottom line is that motivating the outdoor interests of young people will provide them with career opportunities, promote education about nature and develop generations devoted to sustaining a healthy environment.

"The great outdoors is New Mexico's most treasured resource,” said Governor Lujan Grisham in announcing ORD’S creation. “Everyone deserves a chance to experience nature. And New Mexico deserves a robust outdoor recreation economy.”

For more information visit nmoutside.com.

CONTENTS

en-us

2021-05-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://enewmexican.pressreader.com/article/281951725712400

Santa Fe New Mexican