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TRANSCRIPT

Katherine Andrews:

This is Katherine Andrews, Director of the Office of Outdoor Recreation with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and you're listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.

Clark Cogbill:

Welcome to the Arkansas Inc Podcast. This is Clark Cogbill. I serve as Director of Marketing at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. If you spent any amount of time in Arkansas, you know this state offers some of the most pristine and accessible outdoor recreation opportunities in the nation. We are, after all, known as the natural state. With 52 state parks, 13 major lakes, three national forests, and around 1,000 miles of biking trails, Arkansas is a premier place to play outside. And it's no surprise that outdoor recreation is a big part of the Arkansas economy.

In November, 2021, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism Secretary, Stacy Hurst, announced the selection of Katherine Andrews to serve as the first Director of the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation. We are lucky to be joined by Katherine today on the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. The Office of Outdoor Recreation is tasked with leading the state's efforts to grow the outdoor recreation economy, work with partners towards improved health outcomes, and promote awareness of the complete range of recreational experiences the state has to offer. Prior to her appointment with the Office of Outdoor Recreation, Katherine was a coworker of mine at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, where she served first as a project manager on the business development team, then as the Director of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development. Katherine Andrews, welcome to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.

Katherine Andrews:

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Clark Cogbill:

Hey, we're excited to talk to you. There's a lot of stuff we're going to talk about today about the Office of Outdoor Recreation that you lead for the state. But I really wanted to just kick things off by getting your personal perspective on outdoor recreation. I know that you're very passionate about being in the outdoors and taking advantage of many of the wonderful outdoor opportunities that Arkansas has to offer. So if you would please just tell us a little bit about some of your favorite outdoor hobbies and why you love doing them.

Katherine Andrews:

Sure. So I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and went to school at the University of Arkansas up at Fayetteville, so I haven't gone too far. I've been in Arkansas my whole life and grew up hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, biking, cycling, climbing, anything and everything you can think of outside I grew up doing that and still do. Today, I love trail running, I love hunting and fishing. Probably most of my time outside it revolves around the hunting or fishing season. So right now focused on deer hunting and duck hunting and anything outside that we can do that involves those sports and activities.

Clark Cogbill:

So when you're not at work, we know you're out there in the outdoors in Arkansas.

Katherine Andrews:

Yes, that's right.

Clark Cogbill:

All right. So duck season started in Arkansas this past weekend. Last month, we just talked about this last week, last month, Wide Open Spaces named Arkansas as one of the four best states for duck hunting on public land. I think many Arkansans would argue that we're at the top of that list. From your perspective, Katherine, as a duck hunter, what makes duck hunting so good in Arkansas?

Katherine Andrews:

Arkansas has a very unique geography that lends itself very well to duck hunting. So we have the world's longest bayou, we have a ton of water, we've got natural green tree reservoirs and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is very focused on making those habitats more accessible to our hunters and conserving all of that space for duck hunting and wildlife. So we've got a lot of really great natural assets that are being improved every day.

Clark Cogbill:

Have you been yet, since the season opened?

Katherine Andrews:

Not yet since the season opened, but I am going to go right after Thanksgiving.

Clark Cogbill:

Okay. I thought you might say right after this podcast. Okay. Now let's talk about your new role. Give us an overview. What is the Office of Outdoor Recreation and what is your role as the office's director? This is a year old role for you, and it's a year old organization.

Katherine Andrews:

So the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation is the 16th formal Office of Outdoor Recreation in the country, second in the South, and it's a big testament to the leadership in our state who recognized how important outdoor recreation is to both our state's economy and just the love of outdoors of Arkansans as a whole.

The office was created to help grow the outdoor recreation economy. So there are two main groups that we service. The first is our industry partners. So our bike shops, boat manufacturers, duck lodges, river guides, outfitters, any kind of outdoor recreation company you can think of, helping connect them to resources to grow and helping address their barriers to growth. And then the second is our community partners. So helping connect them to grand opportunities to build trails or parks or some kind of outdoor recreation infrastructure in their local community, as well as helping educate them on the importance of outdoor recreation and how that contributes to quality of life, quality of place, workforce retention, business attraction, all of these other economic development aspects that fall into outdoor recreation as well.

So those two big partners we work with. So the main mission of the office is that we work to leverage the state's natural assets to grow the outdoor recreation economy in Arkansas. We also, as part of serving our community partners, we have the outdoor recreation grants program, which has been around since the 1960s and has historically been part of Arkansas State Parks that is now part of the Office of Outdoor Recreation. And those grants are provided to cities and counties across Arkansas, specifically for outdoor recreation infrastructure. So they give grants to build walking trails, parks, any kind of outdoor recreation infrastructure you can think of, playground equipment, splash pads. A lot of the communities that we give these grants to have not had any kind of outdoor recreation infrastructure before in the past, so it's a way to connect Arkansans to the outdoors wherever they are.

Clark Cogbill:

Yeah, absolutely. I guess for some of these smaller communities throughout the state, this is a whole new opportunity for them.

Katherine Andrews:

Right. Exactly. Many of those places the kids have not had somewhere to go outside and play, and so they have not been introduced to the outdoors in any way other than a playground. And so many of them now have a place to go shoot hoops after school or have a place to go draw chalk on the sidewalk or go bird watch or run around on a trail. So we're introducing more Arkansans to the outdoors, which in turn helps grow the outdoor recreation economy.

Clark Cogbill:

Well, those are excellent resources that I know will be put to good use all across the state. So having just wrapped up year one, approximately, in your new role, what are some of the key takeaways as you look back over the first year? What have been some of the challenges, some of the successes?

Katherine Andrews:

Yeah. So coming up on one year, in one week, it will be one full year of the Office of Outdoor Recreation in Arkansas. So this whole year has been mainly about building the structure and the formation of the office. And I would say that was both a challenge and a success.

Clark Cogbill:

Yeah.

Katherine Andrews:

Because the challenge here was that there's no playbook, there's no rule book for how these offices should be built. The first one was created in Utah in 2013, so still a very new concept across the US. So there's no way that these offices really should be run other than how you create them. So we had to sit down with our advisory board and put together a strategic plan with mission statement, main priorities and goals for the office. So I'd say that that was both a challenge, but it's success as well because we accomplished that, we built that. So now we have some legs to stand on and can move forward with some initiatives.

But in addition to that, we also built our website, our blog, our social media. So we've got Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and we are working on beefing up our website, adding more resources and information for both our communities and our industry partners. We also absorbed that Outdoor Recreation Grants Program and got a $1.5 million appropriation increase from the legislature for that.

So a few really big successes. Also have built tons of relationships, have traveled all across the state, talking about the new office, talking about how important outdoor recreation is to our economy, talking about the impact numbers, and really singing the praises of outdoor recreation all across the state. So lots of formative work in this first year, but really important work.

Clark Cogbill:

Well, that makes a lot of sense. You got to lay the foundation, somebody's got to do that. You did that. Now it's moving ahead. I follow you on social media, and I know that you've had groups into the state. It almost looks like that you're having a business meeting while floating the Buffalo River, so pretty cool.

Katherine Andrews:

Yeah. We hosted the National Governor's Association Outdoor Recreation Learning Network back in May of 2022 of this year, and got to bring in outdoor recreation industry leaders and my counterparts from all across the US and introduced them to Arkansas, many of whom had never stepped foot in the state before. So we took them on a hike up Pinnacle Mountain and got to do some paddling and exploring. And then we also hosted, or co-hosted, an event to bring an Arkansas chapter of black women who Kayak Plus. So we had a bunch of people come out and get on kayaks before that had never been out on kayaks. So yes, a lot of really fun, air quote, meetings.

Clark Cogbill:

Right. Well that's definitely a meeting that won't be soon forgotten, I'm sure. Okay, so you previously served on the business development team, as we mentioned at AEDC and most recently as the Director of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development, also at AEDC. So Katherine, you have a solid background in economic development. What role does outdoor recreation play in economic development for the state of Arkansas?

Katherine Andrews:

Outdoor recreation does more than bring joy to millions of Arkansans, it helps drive our economy. Outdoor recreation is among our nation's largest economic sectors, and growing the outdoor recreation economy enhances quality of life for Arkansans and positions us to better attract a remote workforce to the state and retain our current workforce. We got the Bureau of Economic Analysis new impact numbers for the state of Arkansas, and we have seen some really great improvements, and I'm excited to talk about that soon.

But outdoor recreation can also enable rural communities to diversify their economy and organically become an economic and tourism driver for their region and for the state as a whole. The beauty of investing in both increased access of outdoor recreation opportunities and in the conservation and sustainability of those assets, is that it's creating a diversification, again, of our local economies.

In 2021, Utah conducted a survey of tech industry employees in the state regarding the importance out recreation and access to wilderness. And the survey found that access to outdoor recreation is the number one factor for tech sector employees to live and work in Utah. So you talk about retaining and attracting a remote workforce, outdoor recreation is a huge way to do that, and there are studies that have proven it. There is also an article that was written by Rex Nelson in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, and he wrote that community leaders must realize that economic development in the 21st century is no longer solely about attracting manufacturing plants, it's about attracting talented people. And you do that with cycling and hiking trails, parks, vibrant downtowns, quality restaurants, and additional quality of life amenities. Those communities that plan to survive in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century will be the ones that get this right.

Clark Cogbill:

That's a great quote. In your opinion, during the pandemic, do you think people rediscovered the importance of outdoor recreation and did that play to Arkansas's favor?

Katherine Andrews:

Absolutely. We saw record numbers of visitation to our state parks, record visitation to our national park system. Hot Springs National Park is now the 38th most visited national park out of 400 plus parks in the system. So we saw record numbers of people coming to Arkansas during COVID while everything else was closed, and they came here to go outside. So we know that the knowledge of those places and the love of the outdoors that people found during COVID will not go away.

Clark Cogbill:

Well, Katherine, that lines up with a ranking that came out recently that showed from the source Hire a Helper that Arkansas was the number one ranked state for inbound movers in 2021, saying that a higher percentage of people moved into the state versus out of the state than any other state in the United States.

Katherine Andrews:

That's pretty incredible. And I think outdoor recreation plays a huge part in that.

Clark Cogbill:

It makes total sense. The outdoors doesn't shut down.

Katherine Andrews:

Right.

Clark Cogbill:

Okay. So you referenced the Bureau of Economic Analysis data that was recently released on the outdoor recreation economy. Can you give us an overview of what the report shows for the state of Arkansas's outdoor recreation economy? I know you were excited about that report.

Katherine Andrews:

Yes, and we celebrated when those numbers came out. Arkansas saw economic increases in outdoor recreation across the board. We had overall a 23% increase in our GDP, a 14.3 increase in employment, and 17.2% increase in wages, so increases in all categories. Overall, outdoor recreation on our economy contributes $3.5 billion, or 2.2% of our state's GDP, 40,000 jobs or just over 3% of employment across the state. And just under $2 billion in wages, which equates to about 2.2% of total compensation in Arkansas.

The outdoor recreation industry in the state has seen unprecedented growth, and this data proves how vital continued investments in our public lands, waters, and recreation infrastructure are to our national and local economies. Nationwide, this number of the outdoor recreation economy contributes $862 billion in economic output.

Clark Cogbill:

Wow.

Katherine Andrews:

And 4.5 million jobs, which equates to, well, it contributes more to the US economy than oil and gas extraction, mining and agriculture. Pretty big numbers and pretty big and staggering way to look at it when you compare it like that.

Clark Cogbill:

Yeah, definitely significant, without a doubt, certainly to Arkansas and the United States. And also a little surprising when you compare it to some of the industries you listed like oil and gas extraction. This is obviously great news for the state of Arkansas in terms of the impact to the economy. How can you leverage this report to gain more momentum in meeting the goals of the Department of Outdoor Recreation?

Katherine Andrews:

So there are a few things that we will do. We're going to continue to advocate for sustainable outdoor recreation infrastructure investment and maintenance, and continue to provide resources to our outdoor recreation companies and communities to grow. As well as working to, like I mentioned earlier, working to address barriers to growth for our outdoor recreation companies. We're also continue to promote outdoor recreation activities, we'll do that in partnership with our other agencies within the department, promote cool places to go, things to see, events, as well as ways that our companies and communities are seeing successes, continue building our relationships and connecting our communities and industry partners to resources.

Clark Cogbill:

Fantastic. And so for a local community in Arkansas, what would be your advice in terms of how they can build their own outdoor recreation economy?

Katherine Andrews:

I would start with three things. The first one is identify your natural assets. Not every city in Arkansas or community in Arkansas is going to be the next mountain biking capital of the world or the next duck hunting capital of the world. So you have to figure out what natural assets you have in your community and form a plan to increase sustainable access to that.

Second is unite your outdoor recreation business community. So you may have a river guide or an outfitter or a duck lodge or any kind of outdoor recreation company in your local community. They may feel sometimes that they get left out of the bigger conversation. And so connecting them to resources, helping address their local barriers to growth, bringing them into the fold of the larger business community within your local area, can really help to build that local economy.

And the third is to create a brand. So attracting new visitation, creating quality of place, showing off the wonderful assets that you have, attracting remote workers, keeping the remote or keeping the workers that you have, the businesses that you have. So creating a brand and really telling your story.

Clark Cogbill:

Figure out your strengths and play to those strengths and communicate that.

Katherine Andrews:

Yes.

Clark Cogbill:

That's what I heard you say.

Katherine Andrews:

Exactly.

Clark Cogbill:

Okay. So what about companies? So say a company that is not based in Arkansas that makes mountain bikes or makes boats. Why might a company consider either expanding to Arkansas or even relocating their headquarters to Arkansas if they are in the business of outdoor recreation?

Katherine Andrews:

A great way to answer that is to highlight our outfitters. So our outfitters are using our natural resources and our assets as infrastructure for their business. So, for example, Byrd's Adventure Center on the Mulberry, Saline River Canoe, the Buffalo Outdoor Center, 37 North Expeditions. All of these outdoor recreation companies are utilizing our Arkansas natural assets to grow their business. Our natural assets are our outdoor recreation companies infrastructure. They have to have that infrastructure to survive, to thrive, to grow. And those companies are not only using them as the backbone of their business, but to promote their work, encourage and entice people to come to the state.

Another way that these companies are using the assets in Arkansas is through product testing. So you mentioned a cycling company that would potentially look at Arkansas to relocate. A lot of cycling companies may test their products out on the local trails. Another example would be boat manufacturers. We have a great cluster of boat manufacturers in Arkansas who test their boats out on our lakes and rivers, hold fishing tournaments to promote their products. And then just the overall general business climate in Arkansas, that's one thing we inherently know that is to our advantage. And then the overall love of the outdoors, and we saw that through the creation of this office and investment in grant programs like the Outdoor Recreation Grant Program and others, just the general overall support statewide of outdoor recreation and business.

Clark Cogbill:

All right. Let me ask you a couple of big picture questions, Katherine. What are the strengths of Arkansas's outdoor recreation economy?

Katherine Andrews:

Since the Bureau of Economic Analysis started studying the economic impact figures of the state as a whole, we have seen that the three biggest sectors and biggest strengths of the outdoor recreation economy in Arkansas have been, and still are, boating and fishing, RVing and hunting, shooting and trapping. Those are the top three. There are others, obviously. Cycling is coming up fast, we know that for sure.

Clark Cogbill:

Right.

Katherine Andrews:

We also know that our strengths are equestrian activities, ATVing, climbing, hiking, tent camping and recreational flying. Those are all major strengths for the outdoor recreation economy in Arkansas.

Clark Cogbill:

Now, I've heard you say before on the subject of hunting, all the different types of animals you can hunt in Arkansas. What is your quote about all the things you can hunt in Arkansas?

Katherine Andrews:

Yes. So Arkansas is the only state in the US where you can hunt both an elk and an alligator in the same state. And I heard that from Austin Booth, director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Clark Cogbill:

All right. That's a great factoid. What would you say is unique or different about Arkansas's approach to outdoor recreation?

Katherine Andrews:

Arkansas is unique in many ways. Although we are a relatively small state in size and population, we've gained attention on a global stage for our abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities. The geography of the state lends itself to a diverse offering of activities. Arkansas has over 100,000 miles of streams and rivers, 600,000 acres of lakes, five world class Epic Rides mountain bike trails, thousands of miles of hiking trails, millions of acres of public land. America's first national river, the Buffalo National River, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The highest waterfall between the Rockies and the Appalachians. The big game hunting that I mentioned earlier. World record trout, and on and on.

In Arkansas, you can mountain bike through the Ozark mountains, gravel grind in the Delta Whitewater kayak or paddle through the bayous, bird watch in the famous Mississippi flyway, rock climb the Bluffs, camp and hike in our state parks and enjoy a multitude of pristine natural areas, WMAs and federal lands. And it's the diversity of the terrain and the geography, like I mentioned, that makes Arkansas stand out. In comparison to other states, we have made tens of millions of dollars in investment in our outdoor recreation infrastructure. We have the best state parks in the US, one of the few states where admittance to a state park is free, thanks to our Amendment 75. I mentioned the record visitation to our state parks and our national park system. So there are tons of ways to get outside and enjoy nature in Arkansas.

Clark Cogbill:

That's an impressive overview of the strengths of the Arkansas outdoors. There's so many different things you can do throughout the state. I'm going to ask you your favorite in a second, but I just have to say, you mentioned the Buffalo National River coming up on the 50th anniversary. For me, as a boy growing up, I used to go every summer and stay an entire week and camp on the river, and it really made a big impact on me. It's always been one of my favorite places to go, but such a diversity of things to do in the state.

Okay. Now that you've really got your feet under you, you've got the foundation laid with the Department of Outdoor Recreation, how do you maintain the upward trajectory for outdoor recreation in Arkansas?

Katherine Andrews:

So like I mentioned earlier, we're going to continue advocating for outdoor recreation infrastructure investment, continuing to provide resources to our outdoor recreation companies and communities and connecting them to resources to grow, working to address their barriers to grow statewide. And then also continuing to build relationships, working with stakeholders on large regional projects. We've got a few initiatives that we will start in this next year. The first one as a statewide economic impact study that will delve deeper into these Bureau of Economic analysis impact figures, and then also a public health and wellness study, which will look at rates of diabetes, obesity, PTSD, any kind of health related issue, and how that's affected over time as you go outside. So really a one, two punch of information on why investment in the outdoors is important and why we need it. And then continuing to advocate for promotion of outdoor recreation activities and companies and fun things that are happening in Arkansas. So all of those things we will continue to do, which will help maintain that upward traject trajectory.

Clark Cogbill:

Yeah. It really feels like the creation of this department and your appointment were great ideas waiting to happen. And I know under your leadership, the momentum will only build, so exciting to see the progress there. Okay. If you had to pick just one, what is your favorite outdoors place to go in Arkansas and your favorite thing to do there?

Katherine Andrews:

It's really hard to pick just one. I love all kinds of different activities in the state, but if I had to pick just one, it would probably be trout fishing on the White River up by Cotter. We usually, as a family, like to take at least a week in the summer and go up there and relax and trout fish and have some good family time. We spent about a week on the White up at the Rainbow Drive Resort this summer, and I caught a five pound rainbow trout.

Clark Cogbill:

Oh goodness.

Katherine Andrews:

So I am already ready to go back next time.

Clark Cogbill:

And what is Katherine Andrews fishing choice when you fish for trout?

Katherine Andrews:

Oh, that's...

Clark Cogbill:

Fly fishing, or do you do rod and reel?

Katherine Andrews:

It depends. I love fly fishing. I'm always down for rod and reel because you can relax in the boat.

Clark Cogbill:

Not as much work.

Katherine Andrews:

Not as much work, but fly fishing is fun.

Clark Cogbill:

Yeah.

Katherine Andrews:

I'd probably pick that one.

Clark Cogbill:

Okay. All right. Okay. So Katherine, for those listeners who either want to visit Arkansas, especially after hearing you talk about all the wonderful things there are to do throughout the state, or even maybe Arkansans who just don't get outside that much, where are some good places for someone to begin an Arkansas outdoor adventure?

Katherine Andrews:

I would start with our state parks. We have 52 state parks all across the state. So if you're anywhere in the state, you're very close to a state park most likely. So they're very easy to get to, they've all got really incredible assets to them. Many of them have campgrounds, cabins, lodges, restaurants, some even have swimming pools, tons of hiking trails, mountain bike trails. There is always something to do or find in a state park that you like to do. Some of them have bikes that you can rent. Some have kayaks or canoes that you can rent. There are interpretive programs that you can attend. So state parks, that would be the first place that I would look. And you can find all of those and all of those activities at arkansasstateparks.com.

Clark Cogbill:

There's even a state park where you can dig for diamonds.

Katherine Andrews:

That's right. Yes. And you can keep them.

Clark Cogbill:

That's right. So it's not only free, you could walk away with like a diamond.

Katherine Andrews:

Right. And some people find some really valuable ones.

Clark Cogbill:

They do. They still find diamonds pretty often. All right, Katherine, last question. How can someone find out more about the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation?

Katherine Andrews:

They can go to one of three of our social media accounts, and that is, for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, our hashtag is #ArkansasGoOutdoors. And you can find us at the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation on any one of those sites. If you message one of those, we will get in touch with you.

Clark Cogbill:

Okay. So contact Katherine and her team with questions.

Well, I've been talking today with Katherine Andrews, director of the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. Katherine, thanks so much for this really interesting conversation today.

Katherine Andrews:

Thank you for having me.

Clark Cogbill:

You've been listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. This is Clark Cogbill, Director of Marketing at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. You can subscribe to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps. For more information about AEDC and to sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit Arkansasedc.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks for tuning in.