Outdoor recreation is the future, but are we ready?

Outdoor recreation is the wave of the future. While hunting and fishing is barely holding its own, visitation and recreation at our state parks is up. The 2.255 million visits last year set a record for the second straight year. In the first six months of this year, visitation was up 21 percent over the same period in 2014. Current visitation is over three times what it was in 2000.

People all over the country are flocking to the great outdoors for their recreation, whether it is hiking, trail running, mountain biking, camping, bird and wild animal watching, mountain climbing, or enjoying heritage sites.  In Montana, 71 percent of residents participate in outdoor recreation each year.

Colorado has recently created the Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry. Two years ago Utah created the Office of Outdoor Recreation. The Outdoor Industry Association recently reported that the outdoor industry generates $646 billion. And it is on the move and bound to increase, we think quite rapidly. It is the new nationwide rage.

The question is, are we ready for it in Montana? Unfortunately, the 55 park and recreational facilities in this state are grossly underfunded and need money. Although we have more parks than all other Northwestern states, we have the smallest budget, except North Dakota which has only 12 state parks. Despite this underfunding, our parks are clean and well kept and inviting.  We are proud of the work our employees and volunteers do. Their friendliness is brought out by many compliments from visitors.

But there are problems. Our infrastructure is not keeping up with demand. The lighting in the Lewis and Clark Caverns is more than 75 years old and in serious danger of shorting out. To fix it will cost $2 million. The fire alarm and protection system in Bannack is outdated. The repair and replacement bill is $1.5 million. Both of these items were included in the governor's long range building infrastructure bill in the last session of the legislature. But as you know, that bill did not pass.

Makoshika State Park near Glendive, which some believe is our greatest state park and which was recently referred to by Outdoors magazine as one of the 10 most overlooked state parks in the United States, has 13 camping sites but not one of them has running water anywhere nearby. Glendive has agreed to extend the city water in the park but the cost to accept and implement this offer is $1.5 million which we do not have.

Recently the Parks Division hired an engineering firm to evaluate the safety needs of 14 of our most important parks. The result of this evaluation is that we need between $8 and $10 million to address safety and infrastructure needs. Many of the trails, campgrounds and recreational amenities need significant maintenance and upgrades. With outdoor recreation generating over $5.8 billion in Montana alone, why can’t we fund basic infrastructure for our park and recreational facilities?

State parks receive no general fund money from the state. The biggest portion of our  $9 million annual budget comes from the $6 registration fee for all automobiles. Montanans do support their parks; 77 percent of registrants do not opt out. But we have got to have more revenue to keep our state parks and recreation facilities open, safe, and inviting. We have many dedicated legislators who are very concerned about funding for our state parks. But we need more.

We are searching for long-term revenue streams such as trust fund income or a larger portion of the bed tax. We have increased camping fees slightly.  We have increased opportunities for assistance by concessionaires with the passage of HB 390. Plus, we have set up the Montana State Parks Foundation http://www.montanastateparksfoundation.org so we can attract private donations.  

We must do more for these treasures  of the Treasure State. With recreation as a growing economic driver in Montana creating over 64,000 jobs, we really must do more or our great state will miss the  recreational  wave of the future.

(Thomas E. Towe is chair of the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board and Mary Sexton is vice chair.)