Snowmobilers and cross-country skiers turning a state highway into a parking lot. Amenities like shooting ranges that haven’t aged well without a funding source. Non-motorized trails that randomly pop up in popular places like the Sinks or the Winds with no plan behind them.
These are just a few of the growing pains Wyoming has faced as its popularity as an outdoor recreation destination continues climbing.
Until now, there’s been very little in the way of state funding to help with such things, leaving it to communities to do — or in many cases not do — whatever they can about the problems that come with popularity.
Now, though, things are a’changing.
Wyoming is about to embark on a new era of outdoor recreation tourism.
The first installment from its newly created Outdoor Rec & Tourism Trust Account, finalized in 2024, will be awarded this spring. That’s an initial $4 million for developing new outdoor tourism across the state or solving existing problems at places that have already become too popular.
The goals for the money are as broad and varied as the communities across Wyoming, from Bar Nunn to Woods Landing and all the Cheyennes, Caspers, and Jacksons in between, Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation Manager Mark Tesoro told Cowboy State Daily.
Over time, the trust fund will continue to grow its principal, with the state pledging $6 million in new funding for the corpus every two years.
“Our goal is to eventually have $100 million or more in funding,” he said. “It will take time to grow it that much. But that’s the current language in the bills, is to commit $6 million per biennium into it.”
Outdoor Recreation Tourism Continues To Grow
This fresh infusion of cash for outdoor recreation tourism comes even as fresh federal data confirms that outdoor recreation has become a powerful driver for tourism, which is Wyoming’s No. 2 most powerful industry.
A U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report says that Wyoming’s outdoor recreation industry grew slightly to $2.3 billion in 2024, now representing 4.5% of the state’s GDP. That’s up over $2.2 billion in 2023.
The figure makes Wyoming fifth highest in terms of GDP in the United States for that sector, which is also an increase from its 2023 ranking.
It’s notable, Tesoro said, because other states around Wyoming are trending a little flat in their outdoor recreation.
“But Wyoming continues to grow,” he said. “We’ve gone from 15,800 jobs to around 16,500 jobs. So that’s a significant increase in number of jobs for the outdoor rec industry in the state.”
Upstaged By Utah?
While Wyoming’s outdoor recreation continues to punch above its weight against much larger states, marketing studies done by Wyoming Office of Tourism in the past have also indicated that the Cowboy State has been getting upstaged by its neighbors. The studies found that people were more likely to name other states besides Wyoming when asked about various outdoor recreation opportunities.
Meanwhile, Wyoming neighbors like Colorado and Utah have vast treasure chests already aimed at developing and making the most of their outdoor recreation opportunities.
“Utah, I think they put over $40 million on the ground in outdoor rec projects last year,” Tesoro said. “So for us, we really want to grow this infrastructure as much as we can every year.”
The point, Tesoro added is twofold. First, make the state a place people want to come visit. But secondly, keep Wyoming a state where people want to live.
“We want this infrastructure in place so that residents can come out and enjoy it as well,” Tesoro said. “It’s also super important to those small communities who may be trying to rub two nickels together to sell a T-shirt. We want to be able to focus on whatever outdoor rec amenities that they may be able to create.”
That can help disperse people from over-loved places like Jackson and the Tetons, or Devil’s Tower, which already attract considerable crowds every year.
“The places that are overlooked, we don’t necessarily need to bring more people in there if those communities don’t want them,” Tesoro said. “But again, many smaller communities are a at a point where they would absolutely love to have more visitor traffic in there, with things like trails, camping, mountain biking, and all of those opportunities — blueways — are things that could be created easily.”
Real Key Is Quality Of Life
The board that will decide how this year’s inaugural $4 million in grants for outdoor recreation tourism is led by Jeremiah Rieman, a staunch advocate of the bill that created the Outdoor Rec & Tourism Trust Account.
It might be a mouthful, Rieman acknowledged, but the idea behind the program to him is simple and common sense at heart.
“As I advocated for this, what was key to me was really an emphasis on our residents and ensuring that our children, and we ourselves, have the ability to go to quality recreation sites and experience a positive outcome from that opportunity,” he said. “We do have a lot of people coming to Wyoming right now, and I personally prefer that we are developing assets that sustain that visitor, rather than letting them traipse across the landscape and negatively impact the wildlife, the natural and cultural resources that we dearly want to protect here in the state.”
To him, these focal points make the fund a win-win for the state. Tourists will get more opportunities for recreation, but residents will enjoy better quality of life.
That, in turn, can help fuel workforce recruitment, he believes, as well as help stem the tide of young people leaving the state.
Wyoming loses more of its younger residents than most other states do, state officials have told Cowboy State Daily many times.
“I’d love to see us be part of stemming that tide of outmigration of our youth,” Rieman said.
Wyoming’s outdoor recreation opportunities are a huge selling point for industries recruiting workforce in Utah, Tesoro said, but he believes Wyoming has better opportunities, which have just, up until now, been less well advertised.
“If you’re a hunter, a fisherman, love the outdoors, hiking, biking, camping, we are the place you want to come and have a career,” he said. “It’s a major factor … the sky really is the limit. We just have to be able to manage it and do it sensibly.”
Outdoor Recreation Is Fueling New Boom Towns
If Wyoming wants to grow its economy, there are few sectors with as much potential as outdoor recreation tourism.
In a study of the most wealth-attracting counties in the United States, Jackson Councilman Jonathan Schechter, who frequently examines Teton County’s wealth statistics, found that eight of the 10 top wealth attractors were being driven by outdoor amenities, with Teton County leading the pack.
Rieman and Tesoro both have heard a common refrain in Wyoming, as the state has looked to grow its economy, however. That’s a vocal contingent who say they don’t want more tourists in the Cowboy State. They prefer that visitors stay home.
But the thing about communities is, those that don’t grow ultimately die. That’s just the nature of humanity. People age, and if they aren’t replaced by at least as many new people, that community begins to dwindle.
As the community begins to dwindle, its opportunities may also begin to disappear.
“The fact of the matter is, that we have to be looking at new avenues for opportunities to grow Wyoming’s economy, and outdoor recreation is probably one of the most promising,” Tesoro said.
The other thing about it is, even if Wyoming refused to build outdoor amenities, to try to keep tourists away, that strategy would just backfire.
As Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails Director Dave Glenn has noted, when states that have beautiful outdoor spaces like Wyoming fail to build appropriate amenities, tourists come in willy, nilly, and build those amenities wherever they want them.
Wyoming’s Outdoor Rec & Tourism Trust Account is the answer to that problem, Tesoro believes. It will allow communities to take a proactive stance and solve the problems they face in ways they find most appropriate.
“That’s a key component to everything we’re doing in the outdoor recreation space,” Tesoro said. “We want to try and manage those visitors coming into the state. We want to try and educate them, disperse them, and concentrate them into certain areas.”
In a perfect world, that means no more snowmobilers turning state highways into parking lots, or tourists building random trails in the middle of Sinks Canyon.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
