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The Bureau of Economic Analysis released data that shows that the outdoor recreation economy was worth some $564 billion in 2022, or 2.2 percent of the country’s GDP.
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There are thousands of popular hiking trails in the Mountain West, but until recently it’s been difficult to measure just how many people use them. Now, the nonprofit Headwaters Economics is combining infrared counters with fitness tracking apps to accurately measure trail use so that land managers can gain a better sense of how to spend.
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Atlantic City, Wyoming is not to be confused with the gambling mecca out east. Rather, it’s an old, unincorporated gold mining town, off the beaten path between the Wind River Mountain Range and the Red Desert. The population sign reads ‘about 57.’ But another boom is here.
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The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest Service is looking to hear from the public before moving forward on proposed fee changes.
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The federal government made billions available in 2021 to tackle a backlog across the system. Sams was in the region to showcase improvements at the Granite Canyon Trailhead, which has been under construction.
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Headwaters Economics recently released an updated analysis of federal data on the economic impact of the recreation economy, whose scale rivals or exceeds that of many sectors that get a lot more attention, like car manufacturing and air transportation. Those impacts are on the whole even more significant in much of the West.
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The department's Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grants are allocated to communities large and small and are being used to construct year-round, multi-use pathways. It comes as as interest in them is on the rise. This is addition to other funding initiatives that are managed by WYDOT aimed at improving the state's transportation network.
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Several ski areas in the Mountain West have extended their seasons by a week or two as skiers and snowboarders relish in an epic powder year.
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A transcontinental trail that’s being constructed on abandoned railroad beds is slowly connecting the East and West coasts. Wyoming Public Radio’s Hugh Cook spoke with Patrick Harrington of the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Office about the Cowboy State’s planned segment of the Great American Rail-Trail.
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The Great American Rail-Trail is a 3,700-mile conversion initiative that would stretch from Washington, D.C. to Washington state and the Pacific coast. First announced in 2019, more than half of the trail's mileage has been opened for usage in several states. Just over 500 miles are planned for the trail in Wyoming. Most existing rail to trail conversions along the trail's projected route are in municipalities.