The Southern Oregon Panel: Enhancing the Outdoor Recreation Economy for Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon has rivers, mountains, trails and dark skies most regions can only dream of. So why doesn't it yet work as one outdoor economy? That was the question our panel set out to answer. Susan Slocum, professor of tourism management at George Mason University and a member of the Grants Pass tourism advisory council, moderated. On the panel:

• Chad Thatcher, professor at Southern Oregon University and part of our Southern Oregon chapter, speaking for workforce and education
• Zac Kauffman, Sawyer Paddles and Oars, speaking for outdoor manufacturing
• Ryan Hawk, president of the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association
• Terry Hopkins, president and CEO of the Grants Pass & Josephine County Chamber of Commerce
• Bryant Helgeland, owner of Ashland Mountain Provisions

What we have

‍Nobody had to work hard to answer this one. Ryan described Southern Oregon as a natural jumping-off point, halfway between two major metro areas on I-5, with mountains and rivers in every direction. Zac reminded the room that you cannot talk about recreation here without talking about the Rogue River, which is what brought Sawyer to the valley back in 1967. Chad told us he left a job he loved in Colorado, came here, and found it even better: he can walk out of his classroom into the watershed, or drop students in the Applegate Valley for four days of bikepacking. Bryant once went kayaking, mountain biking and skiing all in the same day, and could not think of anywhere else in the country that would allow it.‍

What holds us back

‍One word came up again and again: silos. Terry put it well. Our strength is also our weakness. There are so many groups, each doing great work, and too few ways to connect them. The visitor who comes for the new Dollar Mountain trails should also hear about a day on the river.Zac noticed the same thing from his shop floor. Paddlers come into his store, but the minivan with mountain bikes on the roof drives on by. Chad told a story that made the room laugh: Bryant and Zac have run two of the valley's biggest outdoor businesses for decades, and until this panel's planning meetings they had never been in each other's store. Ryan named two more challenges. Volunteer groups like RVMBA have huge ambitions but run on people with day jobs, and the region still lacks hard data showing what recreation is worth. Places like Oakridge can show the millions of dollars a year their trails bring in. Southern Oregon needs numbers like that, too.

‍Five years from now

‍Asked what a thriving Southern Oregon outdoor economy looks like in five years, the panel got specific:

• Get young people outside. Zac grew up on the Illinois River and never rafted it until college. He would like to see youth programs that make whitewater and other sports easy to find, and even an outdoor "farmers market" where people can sample everything the valley offers.
• More outdoor manufacturing. There is not much of it in Southern Oregon yet, and Zac would like more neighbors to partner with.
• Steady funding for trails. Ryan said a typical trail takes eight years from idea to opening, through land managers, staff turnover and fundraising. Rural groups with 200 members, not 10,000, need a reliable local or statewide source of support.
• A university that works with industry. Chad wants SOU students working with local retailers and makers, and classes shaped by what employers actually need.
• Real connections, kept up. Bryant would like manufacturers and retailers in the same room more often, "whether it's just getting together for beers more often."
• The hard conversations. Terry called for a shared strategy on identity and funding, from lodging tax dollars to grants, while never stripping the place of the beauty that drew us all here.

The challenge Chad left with us

‍Chad teaches a concept he calls serendipity: chance encounters that turn into something real. Conferences are full of them. The trick, he said, is to recognize the one that matters and then follow up, even if it takes ten emails. His challenge to the room: meet one person you did not know, keep that connection going, and see where it leads in five years.

‍The room spoke up

‍Then the audience took the floor, and it was one of the best parts of the day. Oregon State Parks suggested listening sessions to learn what local players need. The Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association pointed out that state tourism figures undercount local recreation. The City of Grants Pass urged everyone to show up at city council and county meetings in an election year. Dark sky advocates, the Bird Alliance of Oregon, the Friends of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the Crater Lake and Oregon Caves natural history association and the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals all added ideas. The best of them may have been the simplest: don't wait another year to have this conversation.Steve Rice, who chairs our Southern Oregon chapter, shared why it matters. Outdoor recreation is about 2.4 percent of the national economy and about $2,000 annually for every US citizen. It is 2.7 percent of Oregon's, roughly $3,100 for every Oregonian! That is bigger than mining and bigger than forestry. When we recognize that and act together, we have real power.

‍Why OOA was in the room

‍Everything the panel asked for is what Oregon Outdoor Alliance exists to do: connect and cultivate Oregon's outdoor industry. We are the statewide voice for outdoor manufacturing and the outdoor experience economy, with chapters in Portland, Bend and Hood River, and a young Southern Oregon chapter that is building deliberately.And yes, the answer to Bryant's wish is already on the calendar. Beer:Thirty! is how OOA breaks down silos: an hour and a half, a beer in hand, and the people who should know each other in the same room. As Chad told the panel, that is where things happen.Thank you to Susan, Chad, Zac, Ryan, Terry and Bryant for a conversation that will keep going, and to the Oregon Trails Coalition for a summit that brought the whole outdoor community together.

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