Tourism leaders pitch lawmakers for permanent staff, funds for Office of Outdoor Recreation

The Office of Outdoor Recreation would receive additional funding to attract visitors and become a permanent fixture within the Wisconsin Department of Tourism under Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal.

The office was created under the 2019-2021 state budget. Under the current budget, the office and its staff were renewed for an additional two years. Evers wants to make the office’s three positions permanent and provide $1.1 million over the next two years.

People flocked to Wisconsin’s outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic amid shutdowns and restrictions on social gatherings. Outdoor recreation contributed $7.8 billion to Wisconsin’s gross domestic product in 2020. The following year, that grew 14 percent to $8.7 billion.

State Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers told Assembly lawmakers in a public hearing Tuesday that the department is the state’s smallest cabinet agency, supporting a $20.9 billion industry with a budget far less than 1 percent of the overall state budget. Outdoor recreation is one of the top tourism drivers in Wisconsin.

“Imagine what this office can do if we give them a stable future with permanent staff and funding,” Sayers said. “Now is the time to solidify our commitment and fight for a bigger piece of the outdoor recreation pie.”

Mary Monroe Brown, director of the Office of Outdoor Recreation, noted outdoor recreation supports nearly 90,000 jobs across a variety of sectors that include arts, recreation and food services.

“Wisconsin’s outdoor assets and recreation amenities are part of the recipe, attracting businesses, workforce talent, supporting communities with improved quality of life, amenities and generating economic impact,” Monroe Brown said.

The state’s most recent economic impact report on Wisconsin’s outdoor economy found no signs of interest in recreation slowing. The report found that value added to the state’s economy from climbing, hiking and camping grew the fastest to $127 million in 2021 — an increase of 27 percent. It also highlighted that more than 22 million people visited state parks in 2021 — a 26 percent increase from 2019.

A recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum noted state tax funding for state parks has dropped by around 41 percent since the mid-90s without adjusting for inflation.

Republican Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Forestry, Parks and Outdoor Recreation. He acknowledged that outdoor recreation is booming in the state, but Mursau said even a small fraction of the state’s current $87 billion budget is a lot of money. Even so, Sayers said additional funding would help the state compete with other offices nationwide.

“We’d really like to see something along those lines here in Wisconsin, so we stay competitive,” Sayers said.

Sayers noted the agency has nearly $17 million available to promote tourism out of its roughly $18.2 million budget. Illinois devotes around $62 million in state funds to tourism promotion. Minnesota sets aside nearly $29 million for its tourism promotion agency.

Rep. Rob Swearingen, R-Rhinelander, said the agency does a fantastic job promoting tourism.

“They give us the biggest bang for its buck,” Swearingen said.

If lawmakers approve additional funding, Sayers said the money would go toward enhancing the state’s website and combining information about outdoor activities in one spot. She noted the agency is currently using COVID-19 relief money to provide a database of all publicly accessible lands for outdoor recreation.

Evers wants to add 7.5 positions to the state Department of Tourism and invest $33.6 million to promote the state as a destination. He also wants to use $30 million to create a fund to recruit and promote large events in Wisconsin in addition to $2.7 million for a new Meetings, Conventions and Sports Bureau.