PEOPLE: Utah hires its first director of outdoor recreation
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Thursday, July 18, 2013
A former executive of a multinational design and manufacturing firm will head Utah's newly created Office of Outdoor Recreation, which was established in March to promote the Beehive State's natural amenities.
The office will be led by Brad Petersen, the former chief operating officer of Combined Resources International.
"Brad brings an incredible passion to our team, which, when combined with his very unique business and extreme outdoors experience and skill set, makes him the perfect person to lead the new Outdoor Recreation office," Spencer Eccles, executive director of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's (R) Office of Economic Development, said in a statement last week. "Our stakeholders will benefit from his strong, thoughtful, collaborative and innovative leadership."
The recreation office, established by the Utah Legislature last session, came just months after Utah unveiled a sweeping set of policy recommendations to boost outdoor recreation and related industries.
The economic role of outdoor recreation on public lands has gained prominence in recent years, particularly with the confirmation in the spring of Sally Jewell, the former CEO of outdoor retailer REI, as the secretary of Interior (Greenwire, April 25).
A native of Utah, Petersen was lauded as a consensus builder with more than 20 years of business experience. He pledged to "help make Utah a healthier and happier state," and to "protect key outdoor areas and ensure that they remain pristine for future generations while enhancing and facilitating responsible access to those areas."
Utah boasts several recreation hot spots, including Moab, which is surrounded by Arches and Canyonlands national parks but is also popular among mountain bikers, off-highway vehicle users and rafters.
With more than half its land in federal ownership, balancing outdoor recreation -- both motorized and nonmotorized -- with oil and gas drilling, mining, and other forms of development is rarely without controversy.
The Boulder, Colo.-based Outdoor Industry Association, which has influenced Utah's recreation policy, estimates that outdoor recreation in the state generates $12 billion in annual spending and nearly $1 billion in state and local taxes.
Kirk Bailey, vice president of government affairs at OIA, said Petersen's appointment signals Herbert is investing wisely in Utah's natural resources.
"Petersen has impressive business and outdoor credentials, and the industry looks forward to working openly and collaboratively with him and Utah leadership to ensure that Utah's natural resources are managed in a balanced way," Bailey said.
