Utah is known as an outdoor recreation destination, with stunning landscapes ranging from high alpine mountains to red-rock deserts. In recent years, Utah’s Legislature has shown a commitment to investing in outdoor recreation. In 2017, the Legislature approved a 0.32% statewide lodging tax to fund Utah’s Outdoor Recreation Grant Program1 and in 2022 approved a diversion of 1% of all sales taxes in the state to go to funding outdoor recreation infrastructure projects2

Trout, Casey

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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU CANRI Projects Community and Natural Resources Institute 6-2023 UPEP Policy Brief #1: Utahns Support State Spending for Outdoor Recreation Casey Trout Utah State University, casey.trout@usu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/canri_projects  Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Trout, Casey A. 2023. “Utahns Support State Spending for Outdoor Recreation.” Policy Brief # 2023-1. Utah People and Environment Poll. This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Community and Natural Resources Institute at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in CANRI Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@usu.edu.    1 UPEP Utah People & the Environment Poll           June 2023              Policy Brief #1 Utahns Support State Spending for Outdoor Recreation Casey Trout  tah is known as an outdoor recreation destination, with stunning landscapes ranging from high alpine mountains to red-rock deserts. In recent years, Utah’s Legislature has shown a commitment to investing in outdoor recreation. In 2017, the Legislature approved a 0.32% statewide lodging tax to fund Utah’s Outdoor Recreation Grant Program1 and in 2022 approved a diversion of 1% of all sales taxes in the state to go to funding outdoor recreation infrastructure projects2.  But do Utahns actually support state investments in outdoor recreation? And is outdoor recreation an important component of Utahns’ lifestyle? The 2023 Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP) gathered data to answer these questions and provide insight into which outdoor recreation investments would be most supported by Utahns.   Outdoor Recreation Is Important to Utahns’ Lifestyles  Survey respondents were asked, “how important are outdoor recreation options and/or access to wilderness and public lands to your lifestyle? ” 3 We found that nearly half of Utahns feel that outdoor recreation options are extremely important to their lifestyle, while nearly 95% feel that outdoor recreation options are at least moderately important to their lifestyle (see Figure 1). U KEY FINDINGS • In a representative statewide survey, over three-quarters of respondents indicated that outdoor recreation options are “extremely” or “very” important to their lifestyle.  • Survey respondents indicated high levels of support for state funding of outdoor recreation initiatives, ranging from 50% to 94% depending on the initiative.  • The initiatives with the greatest support were maintaining existing recreation resources, providing education on responsible recreation, and building more greenways and trails within communities.     2 UPEP Utah People & the Environment Poll Utahns Support Using State Funding for a Variety of Outdoor Recreation Initiatives  Survey respondents were asked how much they supported or opposed using state funds for various outdoor recreation efforts (see Figure 2). We found that half or more of Utahns support or strongly support using state funding for all efforts examined in the survey. The efforts with the highest support are maintaining existing recreation resources (94%), providing education on responsible recreation (86%), and building more greenways and trails within communities (78%).   There is slightly less support for efforts aimed at providing new recreation opportunities, including developing new recreation resources (66%) and acquiring land and water areas to provide public access to recreation opportunities (65%). Transportation-related initiatives are the least supported, including providing public transportation to recreation access sites (55%), expanding parking options at recreation access sites (52%), and adding bike lanes to roadways (50%).  Comparatively, very few Utahns are opposed to using state funds for any of the efforts asked about, though opposition is strongest regarding the transportation-related efforts. Roughly 19% oppose using state funds to add bike lanes to roadways, 15% oppose adding or expanding parking areas at recreation access sites, and 12% oppose providing public transit options to recreation access sites. Comparatively, less than 1% oppose using state funds to maintain existing recreation resources, 4.2% oppose providing education on responsible recreation, and 3.5% oppose building more greenways and trails within communities.     3 UPEP Utah People & the Environment Poll Policy Implications  These findings highlight that Utahns view outdoor recreation and access to wilderness and public lands as important to their lifestyle and are overwhelmingly supportive of state-funded investments in outdoor recreation. Additionally, they provide insight into which outdoor recreation efforts have the broadest support. This is especially relevant to policymakers regarding how existing state funding streams for outdoor recreation might best be allocated. A recent analysis of Utah’s existing funding streams for outdoor recreation found that a relatively small proportion of state funding is dedicated specifically to maintenance of existing infrastructure and less than 0.1% of state funding is dedicated specifically to education efforts4. However, the UPEP finds that Utahns are more supportive of using state funds for maintenance of existing infrastructure and responsible recreation education as compared to other initiatives. This indicates that policymakers may consider allocating more funding specifically to maintenance of existing outdoor recreation infrastructure and education efforts, in order to be more responsive to the priorities of Utahns.  Data and Methods In spring 2023, Utah State University (USU) faculty and students started the Utah People and Environment Poll, or UPEP, to track Utahns' perceptions on environmental issues of importance to the state to help inform policy to address environmental issues. A random sample of 3,750 households were contacted using postal mail to respond to the survey online or on paper. 441 individuals responded to the survey for a final total response rate of 12%. Weights for survey design and to adjust for age, education, and gender representation are applied. To access other briefs and learn more about the UPEP, please visit: chass.usu.edu/sociology/canri/projects    About CANRI The Community and Natural Resources Institute, or CANRI, produces and promotes interdisciplinary and applied social science and humanities research focused on challenges at the intersection of people and the environment in the Intermountain West.   Acknowledgements Funding for the UPEP was provided by the USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHaSS), the USU Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, and from CHaSS Alumni, Jorrien & Tiera Peterson, and their company Made by Fell.  About the Author Casey Trout (casey.trout@usu.edu) is a graduate research assistant and master’s student in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University.  Suggested Citation Trout, Casey A. 2023. “Utahns Support State Spending for Outdoor Recreation.” Policy Brief # 2023-1. Utah People and Environment Poll.  References 1. Utah State Legislature. 2017. S.B. 264 Outdoor Recreation Grant Program. 2017 General Session. le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/SB0264.html  2. Utah State Legislature. 2022. H.B. 409 Recreation Infrastructure Amendments. 2022 General Session. le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/HB0409.html 3. Note that this survey question was adapted from a similar question in the Utah Outdoor Partners Survey of Tech Sector Employees carried out by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, with a report available online at: gardner.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/Utah-Outdoor-Partners-Survey-Jan2021.pdf?x71849&x71849 4. Smith, Jordan W. and Casey Trout. 2023. "An Overview of State Funding for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in Utah." Environment and Society Faculty Publications. Paper 1648. digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/1648 

UPEP Policy Brief #1: Utahns Support State Spending for Outdoor Recreation

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Utahns Support State Spending for Outdoor Recreation

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