This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Outdoor Retailer show, which comes to Salt Lake City every year, is a perfect time to recognize the importance of the great outdoors to our physical health and our economic well-being.
Wild places in America shape who we are, sometimes in profound ways. For me, a trip to the San Juan Mountains as a teenager revealed the soaring peaks, swift-flowing rivers and the majestic forests of the West. That experience captured my imagination. I knew from that moment that I wanted to protect those treasures.
As an adult, my life has been intimately connected with the western outdoors, as a river guide, as a wilderness instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School and now as the leader of a conservation organization.
But over time I've realized that to be fully engaged with the natural world, you don't have to be in the most remote wildernesses or the highest mountains. Many of us find opportunities right in our communities' backyards.
That's no accident. Access to public lands for all Americans to enjoy is entirely intentional. Our forebears made sure land was set aside for recreation and resource conservation. More than a benefit or "perk" that we happen to enjoy as Americans, these lands really do define who we are. They are essential to our national character and our regional cultures. It's a rich legacy we want to pass along to future generations.
Studies show that time outdoors is good for our health. In addition to clean water and clean air, our wild lands offer quiet recreation and connections with nature. It provides us with precious time away from computer screens and all our tethers to endless electronic communications.
Keeping our great outdoors great is good for our economy as well since outdoor recreation is a $646 billion industry. It sustains more than 6 million jobs and fuels more and more of the national economy every day. That sector delivers $12 billion annually to Utah in spending and supports 122,000 jobs in the state, according to the Outdoor Industry Association.
From our smallest city parks to the wildest expanses of the mountain West, America's public lands should be easy to visit by their owners — the American people. There are many ways policy makers can help to improve access to our public lands.
For example, the U.S. Forest Service recently took steps to increase opportunities for outfitters, guides and other outdoor leaders to take people on trips into our national forests. Most guided recreation there requires a U.S. Forest Service "special use" permit, which has been difficult to get historically. So the new guidance for Forest Service permits will help get more people — particularly young people — exploring and learning in the outdoors.
The Every Kid in a Park program, launched by the Department of the Interior last summer, has been providing passes for fourth graders and their families that enable them to visit our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands and waters free of charge. It has helped to unlock the imagination and open the outdoors for many kids and their families across the U.S.
I vividly remember my own first exposures to America's wild open places when I was a kid. But it really doesn't matter what your age is. The chance to absorb and marvel at the wonders of our nation's wild places is a heritage that belongs to all Americans.
To promote outdoor recreation and help each other get outside we need to protect our public lands and access to it. These types of innovative programs will help along with our bedrock conservation laws like the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which invests in parks and recreation in virtually every county in the nation.
Preserving access to the outdoors is imperative now more than ever, especially in the face of efforts to decrease, defund and dispose of our public lands.
Jamie Williams is president of The Wilderness Society.