Just a quick reminder that our next board meeting is scheduled for 10am-12noon on Monday May 23, 2016 at REI headquarters in Kent.  Board meetings are open to the membership, however, due to facility security protocol at REI, if you plan to attend this meeting we require your RSVP to Doug Levy at levy4@msn.com and Brit Kramer at info@bigtentcoalition.info by May 19, 2016 in order to ensure facility access for you.  The most up to date information about the Big Tent board and meeting schedule can be found on our website board page. 

Thanks to all of you who came to the 4th Annual Big Tent Rally Day and made the event such a success!   Photo gallery history of all four Rally Days now on the Big Tent flickr.

OLYMPIA – Governor Jay Inslee, mountaineering legend Jim Whittaker, former Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, and State Senators Andy Hill (R-Redmond) and Kevin Ranker (D-Orcas Island) along with State Representative Tana Senn (D-Mercer Island) will headline a rally of outdoor recreation businesses, vendors, non-profit groups, and local and state agencies on Wednesday, Feb. 3.  The rally will spotlight Washington’s outdoor recreation sector that generates $22 billion  in revenue and nearly 200,000 direct jobs throughout urban and rural Washington.

Participate in raising the profile of the critical economic importance of the outdoor recreation economy in Washington State.  RSVP to enter the Big Tent where Governor Inslee, Jon Snyder and outdoor recreation industry leaders, legislators, outdoor enthusiasts and specialty retailers will gather just steps from the Legislature. Learn how to easy it is to participate!

Washington’s outdoor recreation is a driving force for the state’s economy, creating jobs and building rural businesses. It also is a way of life in the Pacific Northwest. Washingtonians Love to Be Outside. Washingtonians participate in outdoor recreation more than 445 million days each year, or on average, we spend 56 days a year recreating outdoors. Of all the places there are to go, local parks are the most visited. This report is the first comprehensive analysis of the recreation economy in Washington. It offers economic impact data by geography, by county, and by activity.