Outdoor Recreation Symposium 2024 Takeaways

The 2024 Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation Symposium was held on May 14-15, gathering 180 leaders in the outdoor recreation sector including non-profit user groups, business, government, community, and conservation leaders.  New York state had strong representation with more than thirty attendees, including four from BETA.  Bob Maswick, one of BETA’s Board Members, was in that group. 

“I really had no idea what to expect with this symposium.” Bob recalls.  “I went there with a couple of preconceived ideas about how outdoor recreation was a driver of tourism related economies - if I help build a trail system, what is the economic impact of that to the community?”

The symposium, hosted by the Northern Forest Center and the Northern Border Regional Commission, was intended to support efforts for a representative, resilient, and responsible outdoor recreation sector that delivers sustainable economic and community benefits across the Northern Forest region.

Presentations and breakout discussions addressed topics including how to engage a wider variety of people in outdoor recreation, community-based initiatives, stewardship and sustainability, entrepreneurism in the outdoor sector, workforce development, funding, climate change, and ensuring services and benefits for community residents in addition to visitors.  There was one presentation that really spoke to Bob: Ta Enos’ keynote address.  “[It] continues to resonate with me - if you do anything, do it with your community in mind.  Your very first question when planning that project should be ‘How does this benefit my community?’”
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BETA’s Executive Director Glenn Glover remarked on his takeaways from the two-day event, “I returned with a deeper tool kit for handling the challenges and opportunities that we face at BETA.  There is no better way to learn what works and what doesn’t than by seeing what others have done in similar situations.”  Commenting on the connections formed through the many opportunities to socialize “Now I have colleagues throughout the region that I can talk with to develop best practices and to go in-depth on issues from volunteer engagement to fundraising to trail development.”