WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — Two U.S. senators from states known for their outdoor recreational industry are introducing legislation that would require the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis to specifically track jobs in that industry.
The Outdoor Industry Association says that tracking those jobs could have implications for future national recreation policies.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Cory Gardner's (R-CO) introduced the Recreation's Economic Contributions Act on Thursday. It would require the BEC, in consultation with federal land management agencies, to provide annual statistics on the outdoor industry and its contributions to the economy. The OIA's own study finds that outdoor recreation is a $646 billion industry that employs 6.1 million and contributes $80 billion to local, state and federal tax revenue.
"Our businesses provide jobs and economic benefits in every state across the country, from gateway communities to our national parks to urban areas in our largest cities. Access to open space and outdoor recreation not only spur consumer spending and create jobs, but they are integral to American communities' quality of life, helping to attract skilled workers and improve public health," the OIA's Jessica Wahl said.
A joint release from Shaheen and Gardner noted that the outdoor recreation economy is a larger contributor to the economy than the oil, natural gas and mining sectors combined. They said the BEA currently reports on a number of sectors that are smaller than the outdoor recreation economy. "The Outdoor REC Act would fill this gap by requiring BEA to account for the impact of this multi-billion dollar industry in their publicly available reports," the senators said.
