NEWS RELEASES
Wisconsin Establishes New Office of Outdoor Recreation
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through The RV Industry Association's website.
MADISON, Wis.-- Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has signed a state budget on that includes funding for an Office of Outdoor Recreation as part of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. The funding will pay for three new staff positions dedicated to marketing outdoor pursuits, the state’s top driver of tourism. According to the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), outdoor recreation in Wisconsin is a $17.9 billion industry, directly responsible for creating 168,000 jobs. The budget also includes a more than $1.5 million increase in the Department of Tourism’s marketing budget, as the state prepares to host the Democratic National Convention and the Ryder Cup next year. In 2018, tourism generated $1.6 billion in state and local revenue.
With the creation of the Office of Outdoor Recreation, Wisconsin joins a growing number of states, including Colorado, North Carolina, Utah, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Wyoming and Washington State, which have established these offices to promote the outdoors and have joined together as the bipartisan Coalition of States to speak with a single voice for the outdoor industry in the political arena. Four additional states (California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey) are actively pursuing the creation of OREC Offices in their state legislatures. The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable has called for governors in all 50 states to establish an Office of Outdoor Recreation to advocate for greater public participation in outdoor recreation activities and generate stronger local economic activity, as well as support conservation and stewardship issues on the national level.
Find out more about Wisconsin’s outdoor industry on the Travel Wisconsin website. For more on the goals and progress of the Office of Outdoor Recreation movement, visit the Confluence of States website.