Partners Outdoors

Partners Outdoors 2011 Report

The full Partners Outdoors 2011 report PDF is available to you.  Thank you for reading and sharing it within your organization.

Download Partners Outdoors 2011 Report.doc

A Very Important Day for Recreation in America: AGO Report Released

February 16th was a very important day for recreation in America. The day's signature event was President Obama's release of the report on the America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative. Derrick Crandall, President of the American Recreation Coalition (ARC), said, "The Administration deserves praise for the report. The AGO process activated a broad coalition of interests, and Administration officials worked hard to produce a report that shows the fingerprints of traditional and new Great Outdoors constituents while offering a blueprint for conservation efforts in the 21st century and a new, concerted effort to connect people with the Great Outdoors."

Download News Release America's Great Outdoors - A Great Day for Recreation in America

AGO IdeaJam - A Collection of Top Recreation Ideas

Download ARC Submits Ideas for AGO IdeaJam

America's Great Outdoors - Summaries

Download AGO-Executive-Summary

Download Presidential Memorandum -- America's Great Outdoors _ The White House

To read the AGO two-page recreation summary, click here.

Report Released by White House on America's Great Outdoors: A Promise to Future Generations

The White House released its America's Great Outdoors Initiative yesterday.  "A great day for recreation in America," said Derrick Crandall, President of the American Recreation Coalition.

Download Presidential Memorandum -- America's Great Outdoors _ The White House

Partners Outdoors 2011 Draws Top Recreation Community Leaders (click on headlines to blog)

Leaders from the recreation industry and federal agencies met at Partners Outdoors 2011, held January 23^rd to 26^th at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. The dual themes were Health and the Great Outdoors and Getting More Americans into Their Great Outdoors. It marked the 20^th year of the invitation-only meeting. Organizations in attendance are centrally involved in efforts to link Americans to the outdoors. Participants discussed key public and private efforts to connect the American people to the outdoors at the national, state and local levels, including the Obama Administration's new America's Great Outdoors initiative. Discussions built on the groundbreaking dialogue at last year’s Partners Outdoors meeting between the healthcare and recreation communities. There is growing agreement that real promise exists for improving the health of the American people through recreation, including redirecting focus from traditional spending on drugs and surgery to investments in recreation facilities and opportunities. General session topics included: The Future of Recreation; America’s Great Outdoors Initiative: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Where We’re Going; Partners Working to Keep Americans Fishing and Boating in the Great Outdoors; Getting Americans Back Outdoors; Health People, Healthy Places: Building the Link; Opportunities for Partnerships Promoting Active Lifestyles in the 21^st Century; Education and the Outdoors; Making Great Outdoors Month a Vehicle for Action; and People and the Great Outdoors: The Challenges and the Opportunities

Interior’s Shafroth Addresses America's Great Outdoors Initiative

The White House America's Great Outdoors Initiative (AGO) was the topic covered by Will Shafroth, incoming Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks and a prime player in the Presidential effort to chart a new blueprint for conservation and connect Americans to the outdoors. He said the AGO report would be issued in February, linked to the President’s FY2012 budget proposal. "This is a non-partisan issue – everyone shares a passion for the outdoors," he said, and described AGO as a huge catalyst for the outdoor health and recreation movement. "AGO is going to be an interdepartmental partnership effort that will depend upon cooperation with the media, retailers, technology, such as improving the recreation reservation system, and working closely with the recreation community." The federal agencies involved are committed to financial support as well as communication. There will be a federally led rollout to engage the public but it will be "locally driven, from the bottom up," he said. "We will need your help to keep the commitment going," he added.

He noted that the scope of public participation in AGO sessions beginning in April 2010 was huge, involving listening sessions – and special outreach to youth – and websites and more. Among the themes of the AGO report will be: health and the outdoors; access to lands and rivers; connecting people to the outdoors closer to home; access to rivers; protecting large rural landscapes; reconnecting young people to the outdoors and making open space relevant; and making the federal government a better business partner through more efficient collaboration. He added that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has recently emphasized the Department’s economic contributions, especially in the area of sustainable jobs, and credited recreation as a primary force in this arena.

 

 

 

 

Grapevine’s Mayor and Gaylord Enterprises Exec Describe Partnership

Partners Outdoors 2011 participants heard from Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate and Gaylord Enterprises Senior Vice President and Gaylord Texan General Manager John Imaizumi. Grapevine, located just north of DFW airport, lies between Dallas and Fort Worth and has capitalized on its location as an urban recreation destination. The city sought the right partners to make the "best overall use of the land," said Mayor Tate, who has served as Mayor for more than 30 years. The results today are a big project with big benefits. Grapevine’s lakes and marinas attract two million visitors annually; 25 miles of trails have been created; and the lake's Vineyards Campground is ranked as one of the Top 100 U.S. campgrounds.

 

 

Partners Keep Americans Fishing and Boating in the Great Outdoors

Monday’s program featured Frank Peterson, President of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF). He spoke about partnership efforts of federal agencies, state agencies and the recreation industry to sustain and grow boating and fishing participation. He told participants that boating and fishing are the top "gateway activity" to outdoor recreation. Forty-eight million people take one boating or fishing trip a year. Of that total, 3.2 million people (18%) are new participants, but retention is a big problem. An equal number (18%) do not return. To address this issue, RBFF has moved from awareness building with its feel-good "Take Me Fishing" campaign to more direct connection efforts on the web and through smart phones, focusing on "how to" and "where to." "Overall, the RBFF has invested $24 million to enhance its programs and $85.2 million has been generated," noted Mr. Peterson, who has led the nonprofit organization for four years. He added, "Our goal is to make it easy for people to find out where to go fishing or boating. We also had to find partners to help deliver our message."

A searchable list of all state and federal boating and fishing locations was added recently to the Take Me Fishing website, developed with the help of the U.S. Amy Corps of Engineers and others. The website draws four million visitors, up from 300,000 in 2007. In addition, the RBFF mobile app has had 25,000 downloads in less than a year. RBFF also pursues "pledges" by anglers to take someone fishing, and is launching an exciting three-year campaign in partnership with Discovery Channel Education®. "We must find and promote to the next generation," Mr. Peterson said. The new outreach effort, called Explore the Blue (www.exploretheblue.com), has a goal of engaging 1.2 million youth annually. The RBFF has also enhanced its Passport to Fishing program – a fun introduction to fishing for children. The program can now be downloaded from the RBFF website.

 

Download Mr. Peterson's Presentation

   

 

Getting Americans Back Outdoors Focuses on Youth

The next Monday session was a panel discussion on Getting Americans Back Outdoors. It featured: Jim Terry, Assistant Chief Scout Executive and Chief Financial Officer, Boy Scouts of America; Martin MacDonald, Director of Conservation, Bass Pro Shops; and moderator Ruth Coleman, Director of California State Parks.

Ms. Coleman said it was crucial to learn to ride a wave rather than get pummeled by one. The wave in her home state of California has three components: the economy, health and politics. Recreation there is a $40 billion industry, but park use has dropped15% and no new campgrounds have been built in state parks for 25 years. In the area of health, she said, people have less outdoor interest and ability, pursuing a "learned sedentary" lifestyle. In the political area, she noted that people value what parks have to offer, but aren't willing to pay for them. Less than one-tenth of 1% of the state budget goes to parks, but a referendum to protect park budgets failed and there will be more funding cuts. Her goal is to learn to ride out the wave with partners.

Martin MacDonald spoke about Bass Pro Shops’ efforts to reach out to more Americans with proof that being outdoors is fun. He explained the company’s new "Outdoor Fitness Festival," begun at its Springfield, Missouri headquarters with plans to expand to 40 states. The goal is to get more youth to experience a taste of the outdoors through the festival, featuring partners from parks, the health community, trails, biking, kayaking and retailers in a village setting with events, contests and education components. He also described the company-wide Santa's Wonderland store event, the new Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility (WOLF) school for 5^th graders and the Wonders of Wildlife Museum. The school has tracked student achievement and reports scores higher than standard classrooms. "We believe if kids are interested, they will be engaged and learn better," he said.

Jim Terry of the Boy Scouts talked about numerous partnership examples tied to its 100th anniversary last year. AT&T and Exxon were lead partners in year-long events beginning with a float in the Rose Bowl Parade in January and a concluding at the Intrepid in New York. New initiatives included a "Boy Scouts Adventure Base 100" national tour, a truck-based Ropes Course which visited 42 cities. A first-time Boy Scouts Indy Car was sponsored. The U.S. mint created a centennial coin which raised $3.2 million in matching funds, with proceeds going toward minority outreach. New programs include: a merit badge for geocaching; a new pilot program with MIT for Lego Robotics; a Scouting for State Parks program; and Arrow Corps efforts putting thousands of scouts to work on a week of service in national forests. "We are more open to partnerships and we know youth development," he said. Ms. Coleman concluded the session by saying, "We need to better track outcomes of these various health and wellness programs and brag more about the connection."

Ms. Ruth Coleman

 

Mr. Martin MacDonald

 

   

Mr. Jim Terry

   

   

Q&A