WASHINGTON, DC—“Recreation is by large the largest economic driver off of national forests, contributing more than $13.7 billion to America’s GDP and supporting more than 161,000 jobs. However, we have a budget and resources that are dwarfed by many of our other programs. This past year the Forest Service began a national strategy, an action plan effort called Reimagine Recreation. Many of today’s bills share the same spirit designed to help us move toward that strategy. Reimagine Recreation challenges ourselves to think differently about how we deliver recreation into the future. That vision is grounded by engaging with others, including new and diverse audiences. To that end, I am excited to see Congress’s focus on our recreation programs because they are the primary pathway used by more than 160 million American visitors as they connected with our national forests in just the past year.”

These are the words Deputy Chief Chris French spoke during testimony on several recreation-related bills earlier this year (video above). These remarks reflect leadership’s continued commitment to reimagining the way the agency’s recreation program is delivered. Over the past several years, the agency has seen increased visitation. In order to ensure visitors have good experiences, and that employees are not overtaxed, the Reimagine Recreation strategy was born. The agency is working with both employees and by engaging with external audiences, including diverse audiences.

As part of this ongoing process, the Reimagine Recreation team released the Reimagine Recreation Internal Engagement Summary Report (internal link), which summarizes internal participation during 2022. The perspectives participants shared represent the foundation of the national-level planning effort as it moves forward.

The Reimagine Recreation SharePoint site (internal link) has also been updated, and it now includes an overview of the process timeline, the internal engagement report (internal link), results from the tribal forum and the upcoming stakeholder engagement approach planned for July.