PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Pennsylvania officials are preparing to propose the state's first Office of Outdoor Recreation.
Pa.'s first Director of Outdoor Recreation, Nathan Reigner, alongside officials with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) plan to propose the new office this summer.
The office would establish the outdoor recreation industry within Pennsylvania's government and connect it with other essential government entities.
With an established group in the state capitol, Reigner says the Commonwealth's outdoor spaces have the potential to provide even more benefits to the state.
"There is no entity right now pulling all of those interests together in state government to transform the outdoors into a real opportunity for Pennsylvania," said Reigner. "[It's] an opportunity to put Pennsylvania on the national map as a leader in the outdoors."
According to the DCNR, the outdoor recreation industry has generated $14 billion for the state's economy with the help of about 152,000 employees.
Reigner says this type of economic impact cannot be ignored.
"The Office of Outdoor Recreation is a mechanism within state government to recognize the outdoors as the industry, as the economic sector it is, and to support it like we support all of the other industries that we have in the Commonwealth," said Reigner.
He also believes enhancing outdoor recreation with this new government office can also help further connect Pennsylvania's communities.
"Waving to each other, saying hello to each other when we are in these spaces, carries the great symbol that outdoor recreation," said Reigner. "They're places where we all can come together, and there's a lot of power there."
The DCNR, along with other agencies, is now preparing to deliver a set of recommendations to Governor Josh Shapiro's office early this summer.
If implemented, Pennsylvania would become the 19th and also the largest state in the country to establish an office of outdoor recreation.