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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

CO on Cutting Edge for America's Great Outdoors

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Thursday, May 19, 2011   

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. - President Obama kicked off America's Great Outdoors Initiative earlier this year in an attempt to help Americans take better advantage of urban and rural outdoor spaces. A conference in Breckenridge next week aims to help parks leaders from around the nation figure out how to implement the recommendations in the report.

The leaders are coming to Colorado in part because the state offers some innovative ways to integrate the outdoors into everyday life. Scott Babcock, Colorado State Parks' strategic planning manager, will share his knowledge at the conference and says the evidence of Colorado's impact extends beyond federal parks, forests and Bureau of Land Management land.

"Colorado is ahead of the game in many ways in terms of outdoor recreation and connecting local citizenry to the outdoors: Local county open space areas, local trail connections between counties."

The state has strong municipal park systems as well, Babcock says, and a good deal of funding for parks comes from dedicated sources such as the Colorado Lottery, the GoCo project, and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Some lawmakers have called for cutting national or local funding to parks, saying that in a time of budget shortfalls, parks aren't an economic need. Babcock says the opposite is true: Parks and outdoor recreation contribute $730 billion to state and local economies nationwide, including about $15 billion in Colorado alone.

"A recent study by the National Recreation and Parks Association indicates that for every $1 million invested in parks and recreation infrastructure, at least 20 jobs are created."

Dr. Glenn Haas, a planning consultant with the National Association of Recreation Resource Planners who is the co-organizer of the Breckenridge conference, agrees.

"There's many, many things we can do, many best practices that don't cost a dime. It just takes a little passion, a little conviction and a little redirection."

Haas says they'll be engaging in those best practices at the conference: collaborating with stakeholders from both government and private industry to share ideas, resources and plans to help realize the goals of the America's Great Outdoors Initiative.

Conference organizers are giving achievement awards to White House Council on Environmental Quality chairperson Nancy Sutley and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for their leadership of the Great Outdoors Initiative and support for Land and Water Conservation funding.

The conference will be held next Monday through Thursday at the Beaver Run Conference Center. Chair Sutley will give the keynot address at Thursday's luncheon. The conference website is at narrp.org.


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