Turner Testimony

Summary

Testimony of Jessica Wahl Turner, President of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, dated October 30, 2023, addressed to Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member Ernst and committee members for a hearing titled The Great Outdoors: Small Business and America's Outdoor Recreation Economy. It cites Bureau of Economic Analysis data that outdoor recreation generated $862 billion in gross output and 4.5 million American jobs in 2021. The testimony is organized around four priorities: business certainty, including support for the America's Outdoor Recreation Act and avoiding a government shutdown; healthy public lands and waters; a 21st century workforce; and thriving rural communities. It mentions the $750 Million in Economic Development Administration relief funding for outdoor recreation economies during COVID recovery and SBA 7(a) and 504 loan programs.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                                          October 30, 2023

                           Testimony of Jessica Wahl Turner
                            Outdoor Recreation Roundtable
     The Great Outdoors: Small Business and America’s Outdoor Recreation Economy

Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member Ernst, and members of the Committee,

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on small businesses in the outdoor recreation
economy. It is an honor to be here. ORR is the nation’s leading coalition of outdoor recreation
associations collectively representing more than 110,000 outdoor businesses and the full
spectrum of outdoor-related activities. Most of these businesses are small – retailers,
manufacturers, dealers, outfitters, campground operators, and marina owners – and are key
aspects of rural towns and large cities across the country.

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that
outdoor recreation generated $862 billion in gross output and 4.5 million American jobs in 2021,
comprising almost 2% of the nation’s economy and 3.3% of all U.S. employees. The data also
shows that outdoor recreation’s growth more than tripled that of the national economy from
2020-2021 as we saw more people flocking to the outdoors and valuing how important time
outside is to our mental and physical health. Additionally, job growth in the outdoor recreation
economy quadrupled that of the national economy in 2021.

The Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act, legislation sponsored by Senators
Shaheen and Gardner that created this data tracking method, is a great example of a bipartisan
effort that has helped small businesses. The information provided each year by this account has
directly contributed to the ability of our industry to quantify our size and economic impact and
track our growth and economic activity in many diverse segments. This data has also helped
shape policy decisions at the local, state, and national levels as it has been a crucial educational
tool to help policymakers understand the importance of outdoor businesses to the national
economy and workforce.

Unlike other sectors with similar economic impact, we are a mile wide and an inch deep,
meaning we are the main street storefronts, the mom-and-pop gear shop, the hunting or fishing
guide, and the outdoor apparel entrepreneur. While our cumulative economic power is mighty,
our small businesses need support to do what they do best: create jobs, connect people to nature,
and improve the vitality and quality of life in communities in every corner of the country. To
help small businesses in the outdoor recreation economy we urge Congress to focus on providing
stability for businesses, increasing access to and improving infrastructure on healthy public lands



                                                                                                       1
and waters, and growing workforce pipeline opportunities and rural economic development tools
for communities utilizing recreation to revitalize their economies.

   1. Business Certainty

Like other sectors, the outdoor recreation industry needs certainty to continue at its current pace
of growth. The majority of small outdoor recreation businesses have narrow operating margins
making them especially vulnerable to closures and natural disasters due to their seasonal and
specialized nature. During the pandemic, outdoor recreation businesses were the second-most
severely impacted sector of the economy behind hotels and restaurants. Additionally, we are
disproportionally impacted by natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and drought.
Wildfires, smoke, or even just the threat of wildfire closures cuts off recreational access,
strangling small businesses with little to no insight on when they will re-open or when
infrastructure that has been damaged will be rebuilt.

Droughts harm boat manufacturers and marina operators, as we have seen in Lakes Powell and
Mead in the Southwest, and excessive heat can close operations for hunting and fishing.
Hurricanes in the Southeast have recently ended entire seasons for small businesses and coastline
communities, and erosion caused by these storms may limit what activities are available when
they are able to re-open. More transparent processes and a greater focus on climate resilient
recreation infrastructure (flood- and fire-resistant materials, design to mitigate flooding impacts,
reinforcement of vulnerable trail sections, to name a few) would go a long way towards
providing small recreation businesses with the certainty needed to operate.

Small outdoor businesses also face a complicated and unclear permitting process that differs
agency to agency. Businesses like guides and outfitters often have limited staff and bandwidth
but spend months navigating complicated permit processes without any certainty they will
receive agency approval to run the trips that will keep them in business next year. This extreme
uncertainty places undue stress on business owners and employees whose livelihoods depend on
their ability to obtain these permits.

These are just some of the many issues addressed by the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act
(AORA), a bipartisan and bicameral bill introduced by Senators Manchin and Barrasso and
passed unanimously out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this year.
This landmark legislation is the first-ever recreation package that combines dozens of bipartisan
and bicameral bills into legislation, lifting all boats in the recreation economy’s rising tide.

AORA is a comprehensive package that contains bills that have existed for years, like the
Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation Act, Recreation Not Red Tape Act, and Outdoors for
All Act, as well as new concepts like the Biking on Long-Distance Trails Act, Gateway


                                                                                                      2
Community and Recreation Enhancement Act, Federal Interior Land Media Act, and more. If
passed, AORA would create more transparency and certainty for small businesses operating on
or near public lands and a better experience for the more than 170 million Americans who benefit
from outdoor recreation activities each year.

As we near another possible government shutdown there is no greater priority for small business
certainty in the outdoor sector than keeping the federal government open. Shutdowns are bad for
the federal workforce, bad for the public lands and waters, bad for the visitors, bad for gateway
communities, and especially bad for small businesses. Those who operate in a park or forest may
be forced to close and those who do businesses in an adjacent community may be forced to
reduce hours or staff due to the lack of visitation, putting immense stress on both employees and
employers. While federal agency staff are paid back after a shutdown, small businesses are not.
This financial pressure can cause them to hold back on paying bills or cut back on staff as
canceled visits to public lands interrupt consumer spending and cause private sector losses that
Congress can’t retroactively restore. And finally, consumers planning a trip to the White
Mountains or Yosemite National Park may cancel due to the unknown and likely won’t choose to
plan that trip again.

    2. Healthy Public Lands and Waters

Of course, high-quality outdoor recreation is impossible without healthy public lands and waters.
Our small business community includes some of our country’s most committed conservationists,
playing major role in partnering on conservation projects, volunteering on the land and water,
educating consumers, and innovating around sustainability. In fact, two of the most successful
conservation programs in history – the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and the Sport
Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund – are funded entirely by excise taxes on items used by
recreationists and sold by mostly small outdoor recreation businesses.

All these contributions help fund the federal agencies that manage our public lands and waters,
but they need further support and focus from policymakers. The Great American Outdoors Act
and permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund – whose success in the
middle of a divided election and international pandemic is further proof that the outdoors is a
bipartisan issue critical to our nation – are a great start in truly investing in our nation’s treasured
places. However, we have a lot more work to do as adequately caring for these places that are the
backbone of our industry will continue to become more challenging due to aging infrastructure,
increased visitation, inflation, and the impacts of climate change.




                                                                                                      3
   3. 21st Century Workforce

When talking about the impact of the outdoor recreation economy at the national level, it is easy
to lose sight of the most important asset of our sector – the people. Passionate outdoor advocates
and enthusiasts are the people most likely to take the leap into entrepreneurship and start their
own small businesses or dedicate their careers to connecting people with nature. The stronger,
more diverse, and more prepared the next generation of outdoor industry employers and
employees are, the more the outdoor recreation economy can grow and thrive.

To meet the demands of an ever-changing and innovating industry and the needs of a younger
and more diverse population, ORR conducted years of research and resource development,
which is now aggregated in our Workforce Hub. This resource is a one-stop-shop that features
interactive tools designed to help employers, educators, and those looking to expand their careers
in our sector. It includes a Career Path Module to showcase real professionals across the industry
and how they worked their way into their current positions. By sharing these stories, the Hub
helps break down stigmas around outdoor jobs not being viable careers and shows the myriad of
rewarding roles available in the industry. It also includes a new, interactive map showcasing 250
academic, trade, and certificate programs across the country that have outdoor education
programs and connects prospective talent to important on-ramps like Basecamp Outdoors, the
Bridge Project, and The Corps Network.

Through multiple years of interviews with stakeholders across the industry, ORR also published
a first-ever Roadmap for a 21st Century Outdoor Workforce, which outlines core priorities to
advance the outdoor workforce in the next decade to come. One area of continued work where
public-private sector partnership is welcome is narrowing the growing gap between in-demand
skill needs in the industry and the skillsets of the outdoor recreation applicant pool. In
comparison to other industries, outdoor recreation skillsets are not always well-defined – job
applicants may not know what skills they need to acquire to advance to the next stage of their
career. We need better channels for communication between industry, academic and trade
schools, workforce investment boards, and prospective talent and more attention to these trades
at all levels of government.

None of this though, works unless we are building an outdoor workforce for all Americans and
creating winning narratives around what careers in the outdoor recreation industry look like. We
must continue to identify and work through the legacies of exclusion and discrimination –
particularly in regard to race and ethnicity but also disability and socioeconomic status – that
cause the demographics of outdoor participation and workforce to be out of step with the
American population writ large. This means breaking down barriers, telling inclusive stories, and
solving real, pressing issues, such as affordable housing in communities adjacent to public lands
and waters.


                                                                                                  4
   4. Thriving Rural Communities

Communities in every corner of the country rely on essential recreation assets like trails, lakes,
and mountains to attract not just tourists, but also businesses and workers in not just the outdoors
but also tech, healthcare, finance, and more. Access to recreation is often a reason why a business
chooses a location, either because their executives want to be there, or to make it easier to recruit
and retain top talent. This is especially true of small businesses in rural America. ORR is
committed to helping small towns use recreation as an economic development tool in an
authentic and sustainable way. During COVID recovery, the $750 Million in relief funding from
the Economic Development Administration (EDA) dedicated to bringing back outdoor recreation
economies was the first time our industry was recognized by the EDA in this way and the
projects were critical to bringing economic activity back to distressed rural communities.

ORR is also a partner on the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities initiative with the
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service,
Northern Border Regional Commission, and Appalachian Regional Commission. This program –
which has received nearly 300 applications from around the United States over two cohorts –
supports rural communities across the country as they work to re-connect their Main Street
businesses to nearby recreation assets. We have provided implementation grants to communities
with big plans and little bandwidth, which are often used as match dollars to unlock other grant
opportunities. Congress can help by elevating these provisions in the upcoming EDA
reauthorization and in the Farm Bill to ensure more communities have opportunities to support
their Main Street businesses by deepening their connection to recreation activities.

And, as you know, many of these businesses take advantage of financing programs from the
Small Business Administration’s 7(a) Loan and 504 Loans. Many people who come to the
outdoor economy are doing so from a place of passion for the place and for the activity, and not
necessarily with capital. They see a problem to solve in the industry or a way to make outdoor
activities more enjoyable and want to connect people to nature. Micro-loans make it possible for
outdoor enthusiasts to turn their passion into product. Together with the many other programs
I’ve mentioned that can help small businesses, these entrepreneurs are able to sustain their
families, employ others, and help build resilient economies.

Strong, healthy, and sustainable public lands and waters breed strong, healthy, and sustainable
small businesses and local communities, and our special outdoor places need continued support
from Congress and the administration to keep the outdoors accessible and enjoyable and small
businesses open. Small businesses are working hard every day to connect people to our lands and
waters; in so doing, they are helping improve the health of America’ people, places, and
economies. But these small businesses are facing new and unpreceded challenges that require our
elected leaders’ attention. On behalf of ORR’s members, I want to thank Chair Shaheen,


                                                                                                   5
Ranking Member Ernst, and the other members of this Committee for holding this important
hearing today. I look forward to continuing to work with this Committee to ensure that our small
outdoor recreation businesses can continue to be true representations of the American Dream for
years to come.




Jessica Wahl Turner
President
Outdoor Recreation Roundtable




                                                                                               6


File and source

File

Turner_Testimony.pdf

Size

257,256 bytes

SHA-256

6eb64702b62936e743c5f35f6091e381c07dc25a82a92a21d431da3443e29908

Our copy

Turner_Testimony.pdf

Original

No public link identified.