The Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation has joined a national group dedicated to growing the outdoor recreation economy and promoting conservation. The Confluence of States now has 18 members, including Vermont, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Massachusetts Director of Outdoor Recreation Paul Jahnige spoke with WAMC about joining the coalition.
Jahnige: The Confluence of States is a bipartisan network of state offices of outdoor recreation that's really working together to advance, you know, the whole outdoor recreation movement through the country using a collective voice. So we are the 18th office of outdoor recreation to join the confluence. And we did that this year with Pennsylvania, and we're really excited to be a part of it.
Levulis: How will Massachusetts benefit from joining this group?
We're gonna benefit by being a part of the Confluence in a couple of ways. One, you know, we'll be able to work with our other state office partners around the country to really identify and solve challenges through innovative research that they may be doing or that we may be bringing to the table and also sharing of best practices. So that's the piece that I'm very excited about now. You know, whether that's learning about the Wyoming's WONDER Map that they've put together to promote outdoor recreation or New Mexico's outdoor equity fund that they've advocated for.
And yeah, it's key to note here that the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation is about a year and a half old now. You're the inaugural director. What do you see as some of the major accomplishments of the office so far?
Yeah, the office was announced at the very end of 2022. But I didn't actually get hired and start building the office until September [2023]. So we're actually about eight months in. And one of our most notable accomplishments has been the development of a grants program. It’s a small grants program that's focused on supporting inclusive and accessible outdoor recreation events. And we announced that offering back in December of 2023, and then awarded grants in April, and those are, those are in full swing this spring. So we funded 21 different organizations around the state with really a wide diversity of outdoor recreation activities and kinds of organizations and geographies. Some of the Western Massachusetts organizations that we funded: American Whitewater has partnered with Zoar Outdoor on the Deerfield River with a program called Diversify Whitewater that aims to remove barriers for people of color accessing outdoor recreation and paddling sports. We've also funded a group called Sonrisas, who's partnered with Mixed Faces, Wild Spaces in Berkshire County to promote outdoor belonging and they're running a whole series of events focused on the Ashuwillticook Trail in Berkshire County. Another one, we funded All Out Adventures to help provide an adaptive riding component to a big gravel ride and the hill towns called the Massochistah, so allowing people with disabilities to participate in this event. And then another one I'll highlight is Holyoke Rows, where they're developing their stem to stern program for middle school students. It's a six-week rowing program, but also makes connections to and focuses on leadership development and, and STEM education in Holyoke.
So with that under your belt and I understand that’s supporting programs that we're going to continue on here, what are some of the next big milestones for your office?
Yeah, one of our next initiatives is we're hoping to stand up and outdoor recreation business alliance in Massachusetts. This is something that Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine all have. And it's been a successful sort of private party partner in promoting outdoor recreation. So we're looking to work with our business community, whether that's guides or providers, or retailers to build an outdoor recreation business alliance in the state to bring a stronger private sector voice to the effort. And then, you know, I'm also looking at trying to provide better online access to outdoor recreation resources in Massachusetts. So not something my office developed. But there's a new Berkshires Outside website that was launched this year by Berkshire Regional Planning [Commission] and the 1Berkshires folks. And that's a model we'd like to try to help facilitate across the state because it's a really great one stop shop for all things outdoor recreation in Berkshire County, and we want to have one of those for outdoor recreation in Massachusetts.
And now the office had a budget of roughly $200,000 for fiscal year 2024. It is budget season in Boston. Are there certain spending items you're keeping an eye on as it pertains to your office and also the outdoor recreation sector?
Yeah, so a few things. One, we've been able to, you know, I hope advocate for continuing the funding for this office, I think we're in a good position to do that. We've also been trying to advocate for bringing a few more capital dollars to the budget for outdoor recreation, but also looking and working with our partners in economic development, and the Office of Travel and Tourism and, you know, hoping that some of those economic development dollars can also be brought to support outdoor recreation in Massachusetts.
I believe there was a bill before the state legislature looking at creating an outdoor recreation fund to support your exact office, is that some of what you're discussing there?
That's actually a broader initiative, that legislation, you know, may or may not move this year, but it's certainly something we're gonna keep tracking, and hopefully that will move forward in the future to bring even more resources to the office.
