Outdoor Recreation Division deserves kudos, but don't neglect state parks
Carl Colonius, an outdoor recreation planner for the state Outdoor Recreation Division, sat down before the Legislative Finance Committee recently, prepared to talk about trails. He found that lawmakers want to know about more than hiking. They’re eager to learn about the full range of outdoor recreation enjoyed all over the state.
In the conversational silos of state budgeting, they weighed outdoor recreation only from the Outdoor Recreation Division’s perspective, which they support. Days later, another silo of state government revealed the bare bones, neglected state of state parks.
Colonius talked about trails because the LFC was meeting in Farmington, which is rightfully proud of its river walk. He didn’t mean high-country trails winding through aspens but trails as human transportation inside towns. Trails, he said, are gathering places that encourage physical activity and draw a wide variety of people. They add to a town’s vitality in a way that will draw new businesses.
Speaking alongside Colonius, Farmington economic developer Warren Unsicker said his city’s eight miles of trails are assets helping rebuild the population after economic downturns. With help from the Outdoor Recreation Division, Farmington has added signs and increased marketing as it plans to extend the river trail to Aztec and even add a River Wave for surfing.
It’s part of the city’s turnaround. Farmington’s huge inventory of houses at bargain prices drew new people from Colorado and California who found the city a nice place to live. Last year home prices rebounded, Unsicker said.
“Outdoor recreation is big business,” Colonius said – big enough to now be measured by the U. S. Department of Commerce.
In New Mexico the economic output of outdoor recreation last year was $2.3 billion. Outdoor recreation employment grew a healthy 5.3%, and compensation to New Mexicans increased 7.6%.
The division supports outdoor recreation businesses with help in branding and marketing. The Outdoor Equity Fund makes grants to nonprofits and schools that introduce kids to the outdoors. Last year 57 groups received funding that benefited 22,000 kids.
The Trails+ program makes grants for planning, engineering and development of recreation infrastructure, such as parking lots, pullouts and latrines. Funding has increased from $500,000 in 2021 to $7 million last year. This year the Legislature provided a $10 million, and the grant cycle is still open. The program has projects in 22 of 33 counties plus tribal lands, but not so much in southeastern New Mexico. Colonius admitted he needs more “traction” in the southeast.
LFC Chair George Muñoz, D-Gallup, complimented Farmington on creating options for locals so they don’t need to seek recreation in Durango, but he observed, “We need to expand our vision. There’s no single way to do it. Recreation can be many things.”
The Outdoor Recreation Division is already on it. The question they hear most often from communities and tribes is how to develop outdoor recreation that’s right for their residents. So the division hired a consultant to survey opportunities and gaps across the state and develop plans. It’s called the New Mexico Uplift Initiative.
The division deserves credit for standing up useful programs, helping recreation businesses get off the ground, and adding infrastructure. However, state parks also need the LFC’s love. They provide long-standing, essential infrastructure for New Mexico’s outdoor offerings, and yet many parks have one lone, over-extended employee and aging facilities.
The state hasn’t raised park fees in 20 years, wrote Sarah Cottrell Propst, secretary of the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, in an op ed the same week as the LFC meeting. Her department is also studying how to improve state park operations and facilities while remaining affordable.
Infrastructure is infrastructure. How is it that lawmakers ramped up one program in the Outdoor Recreation Division by a whopping $3 million this year while state parks go begging?
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Outdoor Recreation Division deserves kudos, but don't neglect state parks
