Alaska (Alaska Beacon) - Funding decisions should consider trails’ role in an outdoor recreation sector that is a bright spot in the state’s troubled economy, they say
To get Alaska’s economy back in gear, let’s work on its outdoor infrastructure Author: Lee Hart Published 2 hours ago
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Print article The pandemic has brought some truths about Alaska’s outdoor recreation sector into high relief and makes the case for greater state investment in the state’s $2.2 billion outdoor recreation economy. As elected leaders consider how to kickstart the recovery, outdoor recreation provides a way forward. Public lands are to the outdoor industry as roads and bridges are to the automotive or transportation industry. Alaska lawmakers have considered traditional infrastructure like highways, bridges, airports and ports to be essential to our state’s economic well-being. Public lands like national parks, state and local parks and trails, forests, rivers, mountains and historic sites carry the same level of essential economic importance to the outdoor industry.