Legislature(2021 - 2022)BARNES 124
02/25/2022 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HCR4 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HCR 4 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HCR 4-URGING EST. OF OFFICE OF OUTDOOR EQUITY
1:07:31 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 4, Urging the Governor to
establish the Office of Outdoor Equity.
1:07:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GERAN TARR, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, introduced HCR 4 by providing a PowerPoint presentation
titled "HCR 4: Urging the Governor to Establish the Office of
Outdoor Equity.". She explained that HCR 4 is a concurrent
resolution because it is the legislature speaking to the
governor. She displayed the second slide, "Alaskans Love the
Outdoors!" She noted that 81 percent of Alaska residents
participate in outdoor recreation each year. During the COVID
pandemic in 2020, she continued, Alaskans had the opportunity to
get outside, which was critical to their mental health and
wellness. According to the Journal of Rehabilitation Research
and Development, she related, spending time outdoors leads to
reduced stress, improved concentration, and promotes overall
wellbeing. However, she pointed out, access historically has
not been universal, which is why this resolution is being
brought forth. Representative Tarr moved to the third slide,
"Why HCR 4?" She said every Alaskan should be able to hunt,
fish, hike, camp, watch wildlife, find solitude, and enjoy
Alaska's special places.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR spoke to the fourth slide, "What does HCR 4
call for?" She explained that HCR 4 calls for the governor to
establish an Office of Outdoor Equity within the Department of
Natural Resources (DNR). The resolution also requests that,
through this office, the governor make available grants to
organizations in Alaska that are working to improve access to
the state's outdoor resources, especially in communities that
have historically been excluded from outdoor recreation and
subsistence activities. Rather than this being entirely state
funded, the vision is that there be public-private partnerships
because such collaboration will increase access. According to
federal government tracking, the outdoor recreation industry is
a $2.2 billion industry in Alaska, which suggests that there is
opportunity for public-private partnerships.
1:11:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR addressed the fifth slide, "Exposure to
outdoors lasts a lifetime." She said research shows that
children exposed to the outdoors are much more likely to take
that experience into adulthood. She turned to the sixth slide,
"Are young people getting involved?" and noted that the purchase
of hunting equipment provides funding to conservation programs
through surcharges. If there are fewer participants, she
continued, it could potentially compromise the future existence
of those programs. For the age group of 25-34 years, she
related, 2018 was a peak year at 17 million hunters, whereas the
number dropped to 11.5 million hunters in 2016. During this
same period a similar reduction occurred in the age group of 18-
24 years. Research has found that this is often due to lack of
access, not lack of interest, and this is what HCR 4 speaks to.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR displayed the seventh slide, "What are
barriers to getting outside?" According to research, she said,
barriers include cost, transportation, experience, lack of gear,
safety, and historical exclusion. For example, she related, as
an outdoor guide in Alaska she has led groups for women, many of
whom did not have outdoor experience growing up and were
uncomfortable outdoors. [An example] of an access barrier, she
noted, is the increase in rental rates for state-owned cabins.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR moved to the eighth and nineth slides, "What
are other states doing?" She pointed out that 18 states have
created offices of outdoor recreation or task forces and this
equity piece is now being brought into it. This year, at least
69 pieces of legislation [in 30 states] are being considered
that would create offices of outdoor recreation or education or
equity to help meet the need for removing barriers to access
through public-private partnerships. She noted that HCR 4 also
speaks to indigenous place names, which can be woven into the
work for educational opportunities.
1:17:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS agreed this is something Alaska needs.
He noted that HCR 4 looks at racial and social disparities and
asked why support for disability access to the outdoors is not
included. He further asked whether other states have included
disability access.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR replied that that is an oversight and said
it should be a part of the consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS stated he may look at a "tweak" to that.
1:18:22 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK [opened invited testimony].
1:18:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ANGELICA RUBIO, New Mexico State Legislature,
testified in support of HCR 4. She said she is thankful to be a
part of the conversation around New Mexico's Outdoor Equity
Fund, which was established in 2019 alongside the creation of
the Division of Outdoor Recreation. She is a testament to how
transformative the outdoors can be physically and mentally, she
related. New Mexico ranks relatively low on issues like child
poverty and quality of life and many of the state's youth are
struggling. The Outdoor Equity Fund is a tool to help address
the systemic issues that are facing many of New Mexico's young
people.
REPRESENTATIVE RUBIO recounted that during summer 2018 there was
discussion about diversifying New Mexico's economy, with tourism
and outdoor recreation given prioritization. Many people saw
tourism and outdoor recreation as an opportunity to become
economic drivers in Native rural economies. They wanted outdoor
recreation to be rooted in the philosophy of diversity,
inclusion, and equity to create a new generation of land
stewards; an investment in youth who should have an opportunity
to experience the state's beautiful outdoors. These principles
lead to New Mexico's governor supporting and signing the
legislation in 2019 that created a Division of Outdoor
Recreation that centered on equity. These principles also led
to partnering with several organizations to advocate for the
creation of the Outdoor Equity Fund, which New Mexico's state
legislature approved in 2019. A recurring commitment was made
to provide grants to towns, cities, tribal and Native
communities, and nonprofits for the purpose of providing
opportunities for low-income young people to spend time outside.
Private and corporate entities are allowed to donate to the fund
to help expand its reach all over New Mexico.
1:23:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RUBIO stated that the 2020 inaugural year of the
Outdoor Equity Fund was successful despite COVID-19. A total of
$261,863 was awarded to 25 programs that got approximately 2,700
kids outside. In 2021, she continued, $890,337 was awarded to
57 programs throughout the state that got nearly 22,000 youth
outside. Private sponsors were a part of that process,
investing alongside the State of New Mexico in this very
innovative grant. Ninety organizations applied to the fund in
2021, with a total funding request of $1.2 million. The 2022
cycle will be opened with $3 million in funding, three times
more than the previous year.
REPRESENTATIVE RUBIO related that a program in her community is
provided by Family Youth, Inc., a group known for working with
young people who have been dealt hard times. This program, the
Outdoor Legacy Project, provides resources and support to
educate youth on conservation, climate, and cultural
connectedness to the outdoors. The project empowers youth with
innovative, quality outdoor experiences that promote a sense of
ownership, relationship, and responsibility regarding the land
and natural resources. There are many stories about how many
young people have been completely transformed. She offered her
belief that being outdoors is what young people truly need. She
congratulated the committee on urging Alaska's governor to
create an Office of Outdoor Equity.
1:27:21 PM
LEE HART, Executive Director, Alaska Outdoor Alliance, testified
in support of HCR 4. She stated that one of the top priorities
of the outdoor recreation industry is equity and inclusivity,
and the Alaska Outdoor Alliance is dedicated to ensuring Alaska
enjoys the best outdoor recreation academy in the world. The
alliance is also a founding member of the State Outdoor Business
Alliance Network, which now includes people in 26 states doing
similar work.
MS. HART discussed why an Office of Outdoor Equity matters. She
conveyed that Alaska's outdoor recreation economy is presently
ranked sixth in the US in terms of its share of the state's
economic outlook. In 2020, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis
found that Alaska's $2.3 billion outdoor recreation economy
amounts to 3.2 percent of Alaska gross domestic product; 17,800
jobs, which is 5.4 percent of jobs; and $981 million, which is
3.4 percent of wages and capitalization. Beyond economic
output, outdoor recreation is a fun and cost-effective way to
improve mental and physical health. Numerous academic studies
demonstrate that time outside in nature can help mitigate
depression and stress, combat obesity, heart disease, diabetes,
and other chronic diseases, plus improve school test scores and
foster better socialization skills, and healthier life habits.
MS. HART addressed why the need to focus on outdoor recreation
and equity. She explained that despite so many Alaskans living
near public lands, access to the outdoors and outdoor activities
is often beyond the reach of many children in Alaska's biggest
cities and most remote villages. She referenced Article 1 of
the Alaska State Constitution regarding all persons being equal
and entitled to equal rights, opportunities, and protections
under the law. She cited the Mountain View neighborhood in
Representative Tarr's district as an example of inequity of
access. While only 10-12 miles from the Hilltop and Arctic
Valley ski areas, the neighborhood's kids are hard pressed to
gain access to gear, transportation, and money for lift tickets.
The nonprofit SheJumps tries to fill these gaps but struggles to
make ends meet to find gear, instructors, and transportation to
get kids to the outdoor places just minutes from their homes.
1:32:05 PM
MS. HART stated that another inequity is access to resources to
build outdoor recreation infrastructure. At the start of the
pandemic, she recounted, the Alaska Outdoor Alliance conducted a
survey by talking to communities across Alaska to get a snapshot
of the need for outdoor recreation infrastructure. There was a
widespread misconception that federal grant funds administered
by the state, like the Land and Water Conservation Fund, are
only available for land acquisition when these funds are also
available to provide matching funds for projects. She said she
wonders how many great projects are languishing because of this
misconception, outdoor recreation infrastructure projects that
would benefit the visitor industry, strengthen local economies,
and strengthen the health and wellbeing of Alaskans. She added
that the Alaska Outdoor Alliance is also looking at workforce
development and on-the-job training programs by organizations.
She said Alaska and Alaskans would benefit from strengthening
programs to ensure curriculum creates talent pipelines to meet
the hiring demands of today's public land managers, fish and
game scientists, trail builders, landscape designers, community
planners, and others.
MS. HART pointed out that, as heard from Representative Rubio of
New Mexico, these offices can be run on a relative shoestring
yet deliver impressive results that can last generations. With
an Office of Outdoor Equity, she continued, Alaska would have at
least one person whose job is to think, eat, and breathe about
this every day, to break silos between divisions and departments
that would help better leverage resources, to forge the kinds of
public-private partnerships that can grow these programs, and to
put less of a financial burden on the state. She urged the
committee to support HCR 4.
1:35:52 PM
DIANA RHOADES, Director of Community Engagement, Anchorage Park
Foundation, testified in support of HCR 4. She said the
foundation's philanthropic mission is to build healthy parks and
healthy people by supporting parks, trails, and recreational
opportunities. As a fundraising organization, she continued,
the foundation looks for grants to get new and diverse audiences
into the outdoors and therefore an Office of Outdoor Equity
would be fantastic.
MS. RHOADES stated that outdoor equity includes just making the
state's public lands more accessible, more affordable, and
safer. Along the line of equity, the foundation's Trails
Initiative offers the Health on Trails program, as well as the
Schools on Trails program where she works with Title 1 schools
to get kids outside with their teachers learning their lessons
outdoors. Research shows that when kids take their lessons
outside, they have better opportunities for learning.
MS. RHOADES said the foundation has a Youth Employment in Parks
program that each summer provides 26 kids with 10 weeks of
training in natural resources management. Funding comes from
parents, families, individuals, government grants, and other
grants. The kids work on projects throughout the week and then
on Fridays they spend time in an outdoor recreation activity.
For many of these kids this is their first time on an outdoor
recreation adventure.
1:39:15 PM
MS. RHOADES said the Anchorage Park Foundation has a program
called Inclusive Play, which works to make playgrounds more
accessible. An example, she continued, is Anchorage's new Jewel
Lake Park for which the foundation raised extra funds to install
unitary surfacing for people in wheelchairs. Playgrounds
installed on woodchips are not at all accessible to people in a
wheelchair, so these kids are then left outside of play and
unable to participate with their friends on the playground.
MS. RHOADES further related that the foundation's Dena'ina
Indigenous Place Names Project is a partnership with the Native
Village of Eklutna to bring indigenous place names to the area's
parks and trails. The first one completed is at Chanshtnu
Muldoon Park; the word chanshtnu means grassy creek. She said
the Office of Outdoor Equity could be a place for Alaska's
Native villages, people, and cultures across the state to go for
having their stories told in Alaska's public lands.
MS. RHOADES related that during the time she worked for the
National Park Service (NPS) from 2015-2017, the NPS looked at
who goes to national parks and found that 70 percent of visitors
were white and often older. The NPS realized that it needed to
reach out to new and diverse audiences and to the next
generation. Surveys found that people weren't using public
lands because they didn't see themselves represented, and when
not represented people don't feel safe. Public lands are not
accessible if one doesn't see oneself in them.
1:44:04 PM
MS. RHOADES added that the park she worked at, Saguaro National
Park, strove to get Latinos, the largest community in nearby
Tucson, hired at NPS so that people would see themselves when
they came to that park. Specialized tours for Latinos and their
families were also given, she said. Reaching new and diverse
audiences ensures a more accessible place for all and that there
is a next generation of park and public land users. In 2017 the
NPS also recognized that free passes into the parks were being
given to anybody who turned 65, and it was realized that free
passes could be given to others. Initially called Every Kid in
th
a Park, 4 graders and their families could go to national parks
for free. In 2019 it was expanded to all public lands and
renamed Every Kid Outdoors.
MS. RHOADES closed her testimony by stating that if Alaska had
an Office of Outdoor Equity, the Anchorage Park Foundation would
apply for grants.
1:47:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN related that the Juneau School District
gets kids outside by providing hunter safety training for all
sixth graders and learning to ski for all fourth graders. She
asked whether the Anchorage School District has integrated any
outdoor activity programs into its school system.
MS. RHOADES replied that through its Schools on Trails program,
the foundation has worked with the Anchorage School District on
taking kids outside, and there is also the Anchorage Outdoor
School. While not a hunting program, the foundation's program
gets kids outside and learning about integration into nature and
the sciences.
1:50:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS offered his support for HCR 4. He noted
that Alaska's state parks have been pressured to sustain
themselves, and the price of just going to a trailhead has
"priced out" poor families in Anchorage. At $5 per visit, $60
for a season, a poor family cannot spend that much money when
the trade-off is food. For something as basic as hiking, a way
must be found to allow poor families to use Alaska's state parks
for free, he opined. Public use cabins now cost as much as a
hotel, but there must be a way for those cabins to be accessible
to families of all means. An income-scaled program, he
suggested, is something that an Office of Outdoor Equity could
coordinate.
1:51:18 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked whether the New Mexico [Outdoor
Equity Fund] is focused on youth education programs or on
diversity and equity issues.
REPRESENTATIVE RUBIO responded that New Mexico's Outdoor Equity
Fund specifically targets programs that are focused solely on
youth and programming that will take young people outdoors.
Priority is given to programs across the state for young people
who are representative of communities that don't necessarily
have much money.
1:54:49 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK opened public testimony on HCR 4.
1:55:16 PM
RYAN O'SHAUGHNESSY, Executive Director, Trail Mix, Inc.,
testified in support of HCR 4. He noted that Trail Mix is a
nonprofit that maintains and improves the Juneau trail system.
During summer 2020, he continued, Trail Mix ran a workforce
development program called the COVID-19 Conservation Corps with
funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
(CARES) Act.
MR. O'SHAUGHNESSY said creating an Office of Outdoor Equity
would facilitate further workforce development programs and spur
community-level economic revitalization. He stated that these
kinds of programs would provide unemployed and underemployed
Alaskans with a job and training to help advance their careers
while maintaining and improving access to Alaska's public places
and creating lasting outdoor infrastructure that supports the
visitor economy. Trail building in general is entry level work
that doesn't require higher education, only a willingness to
learn. However, it allows people to gain technical skills,
trades experience, and an introduction to fields like
construction, carpentry, landscaping, and natural resource
management. It also builds inter-personal skills for success,
like group problem solving, communication, and teamwork.
MR. O'SHAUGHNESSY related that for the COVID-19 Conservation
Corps, Trail Mix spent significant time and money on training,
which provided tangible skills and certifications for employees
to accomplish the work at hand and to take with them to other
jobs. A focus on training, he explained, is one way to decrease
barriers for entry for people with underrepresented identities
in the field. Workforce development programs for trails and
natural resource stewardship can also expand beyond the skills
needed in the field to include community consultation, planning,
and design. Those kinds of things need training for workers to
be able to understand and plan for the interplay between outdoor
recreation, tourism, and cultural and subsistence use, which is
essential in Alaska. These kinds of programs can also help
folks have a skill set for the pre-construction skills related
to trail building and outdoor recreation infrastructure.
Planning, permitting, surveying, and grant writing are all
essential to this kind of work.
MR. O'SHAUGHNESSY urged the committee to consider the Office of
Outdoor Equity as an opportunity to build a reliable, homegrown
workforce that would expand outdoor access across the state,
especially in rural and under-resourced communities. "When we
invest in trails, we invest in Alaska people and economy," he
said in conclusion.
1:58:29 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK, after ascertaining that no one else wished to
testify, closed public testimony on HCR 4.
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that HCR 4 was held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HCR 4 Sponsor Statement 2.25.2022.pdf |
HRES 2/25/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HCR 4 |
| HCR 4 Supporting Documents 2.25.2022.pdf |
HRES 2/25/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HCR 4 |
| HCR 4 Testimony Provided by Alaska Outdoor Alliance 2.25.2022.pdf |
HRES 2/25/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HCR 4 |
| HCR 4 Testimony Provided by Maya Lapinksi 2.25.2022.pdf |
HRES 2/25/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HCR 4 |
| HCR 4 Presentation for HRES 2.25.2022 x.pdf |
HRES 2/25/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HCR 4 |