Jeff Hirsch: The Hidden Outdoor Recreation Economy Is Out In The Open

Originally published in Union Leader.

As the brilliant tree canopy envelopes our region this fall, it’s a good time to reflect on the outdoor experiences we enjoy in New Hampshire and around New England. As you enjoy the great outdoors, you may not realize it, but hiking, camping, or biking at Bear Brook State Park or other outdoor recreation areas contributes to one of the most important economic drivers of our state and national economies — outdoor recreation. This month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) — the government agency responsible for calculating U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) — released the results of its first-ever report on the outdoor recreation economy. The report, known as the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA), was championed by New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, and thanks to their leadership, was finally made a reality.

The report shows that this sector makes up an astonishing 2.2 percent of the nation’s GDP and accounts for $734 billion in annual gross economic output. The agency ranked the outdoor recreation industry as one the nation’s largest sectors — ahead of the mining, utilities and chemical products manufacturing industries. The data also shows that the outdoor recreation economy is growing at a more rapid pace than the overall U.S. economy.

This is great news for New England’s economy. Through working in our family business, Campers Inn, with dealerships in Kingston and Merrimack, I have seen how important the outdoor recreation economy is to the communities we serve. Thanks to a growing interest in RV travel, our dealership group has increased our number of employees by 530 percent and our payroll 550 percent over the past 10 years.

What concerns many in the recreation community is the lack of public infrastructure to serve the growing number of outdoor enthusiasts. Nationwide, there is more than $11 billion of overdue work to maintain National Park Service facilities, including campgrounds, hiking trails and roads. Our customers tell me they are increasingly frustrated by the outdated electrical hook ups at many park service campgrounds that simply can’t handle the needs of today’s RV traveler. Many parks, trails, septic systems, and other projects to conserve our natural resources languish because of lack of funding.

Earlier this year, Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Angus King, I-Maine, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced the Restore Our Parks Act. The bill would create the National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund to reduce the backlog by allocating existing revenues the government receives from on-shore and offshore energy development. The fund would be used to repair park roads, visitor facilities, water systems, crumbling trails, and other park resources. The bill has bipartisan support and is backed by the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, a coalition of leading outdoor recreation business groups.

Now that the government has documented the economic impact of outdoor recreation, it is time to make the public and private investments needed to make sure they are viable for the outdoor recreation adventurers of today and tomorrow.

Jeff Hirsch is president of Campers Inn, an RV dealership group with locations in New Hampshire and nine other states.