In honor of Doug Walker, an avid outdoorsman who co-chaired the Governor’s Task Force on Outdoor Recreation in 2014 – a Task Force the Big Tent played a key role in establishing.”  The beloved software entrepreneur, philanthropist and outdoorsman was found dead Friday morning on Granite Mountain after an all-night search.
 

Outdoor recreation leaders report good sales and activities for 2015 and expectations of still stronger activity in 2016, according to a new report from the American Recreation Coalition, Outdoor Recreation Outlook 2016. Americans spend more than $650 billion annually on equipment ranging from skis and tents to RVs and boats and on services ranging from fishing licenses to zip lines, supporting millions of jobs in manufacturing, sales and service. And renewed interest in outreach and promotion by federal land and water management agencies – based around the National Park Service’s Centennial Celebration – is creating new opportunities for Americans everywhere to enjoy their great outdoors. Full Press Release  / View Outdoor Recreation Outlook Report

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, the Republican chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, earned the moniker of obstructionist-in-chief when he single-handedly killed reauthorization on Oct. 1 of the bipartisan, half-century old Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). In the nanosecond it took to block a bill with 195 bipartisan co-sponsors, America’s signature conservation and outdoor-recreation program fell away.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop wants to do more damage to the expired Land and Water Conservation Fund. His bill needs to be stopped, and the bipartisan LWCF revived. 

REI, the Seattle-based outdoor recreation and sporting goods giant, announced today that it is going to close for Black Friday (you read that right) and pay its 12,000 employees to go out and play.  REI is also encouraging other companies to join them in what they describe as a stand against the commercial madness that’s characterized the day after Thanksgiving for at least a decade and a half.

All Washington State divers and dive shop owners are being offered an opportunity to participate in an economic impact study to determine how much scuba diving contributes to the economy in Washington State. Sponsored by the SeaDoc Society, Washington Scuba Alliance (WSA) and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), will help determine the financial impact of diving and inform policy makers in the state when possibly deciding future expenditures. According to SeaDoc executive director Joe Gaydos, the purpose of the survey is to gather data to better understand the model inside the scuba diving industry in Washington State and how it fits into the overall outdoor market. “Here is a major industry in Washington State and British Columbia we do not have any data on. We were interested in seeing how diving compares with fishing, for example,” says Gaydos.