Michael Orth and his 2-year-old Basenji mix, Hope, take a walk in the park, Wednesday, June 27, 2018.
Saturday, March 28, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Colin Robertson
Although U.S. National Parks have been seeing record-breaking visitation, about half of Americans did not participate in any outdoor recreational activities in 2018, according to a study from the Outdoor Foundation.
It’s a dichotomy that Colin Robertson hopes to address in Nevada as the first administrator of the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation. With popular spots like Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Valley of Fire State Park being overwhelmed by visitors, Robertson says the division is considering ways to develop and promote additional recreational resources to ease stress on those spots.
He also wants to get more Nevadans outdoors, including those who might not normally have access to recreational activities. Studies have shown that minorities on average face more barriers to accessing nature than white Americans, and that contact with nature can benefit everyone’s health and well-being.
“I think it’s really important for our state to recognize that access to recreation is a key need for the state to focus on,” Robertson said.
Robertson has been on the job since Jan. 27, and at this point, he’s the division’s only employee. In-person meetings have stalled for the time being in light of the coronavirus pandemic and Gov. Steve Sisolak’s directive that Nevadans avoid gatherings of 10 or more people, Robertson said.
But before the pandemic hit Nevada, Robertson had the opportunity to meet with organizations and individuals involved in recreation across the state and to visit nearly all of Nevada’s state parks, he said. Recently, he spent two days in Ely meeting with community leaders and officials from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to help the city revitalize its downtown around the theme of outdoor recreation.
When the Nevada Legislature authorized the creation of the division last year, Nevada became part of the Confluence of States, a coalition of primarily Western states working to promote their natural resources, Robertson said. As head of the division, Robertson’s vision reflects the goals of the confluence: to increase conservation and stewardship and to develop outdoor recreation resources that strengthen the economy, promote workforce development and benefit the health and well-being of residents, he said.
“Nevada’s Division of Outdoor Recreation is part of the confluence and committed to those four founding principles, in addition to a core value of diversity and inclusion,” he said.
One idea he has for making outdoor recreation more inclusive in Nevada is to try to leverage resources, including grant opportunities and other funding programs, that could help underserved youth access the outdoors, Robertson said. He also wants to get the message out that Nevada’s recreational resources are diverse and that there are many ways people can get outside, even close to home.
For now, Robertson’s message for Nevadans is to continue enjoying the outdoors at the hyperlocal level to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“Go and enjoy a walk down your street, go and enjoy your backyard if you have one, go and enjoy your family and each other in this unusual and unprecedented moment,” he said. “But don’t put rural communities or other frontline workers at risk by making decisions that would unintentionally compound the severity and of those workers’ experiences.”
With outdoor recreation a major economic force in Nevada, Robertson says that expanding and promoting those resources once it is again safe to do so could be crucial for the state’s economic recovery. Studies indicate that the outdoor recreation industry’s economic impact in Nevada is between $4.5 billion and $12.6 billion and that an estimated 87,000 Nevadans have jobs with a “direct or indirect connection” to recreation in the state, Robertson said.
“Coming on the backside of (COVID-19), we’ll hopefully see opportunities to really expand upon how outdoor recreation contributes to Nevada’s overall health and well-being, but also to the sustainable economic growth of the state as it moves forward,” he said.
