Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Stewardship Panel Discussion

Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Stewardship: A panel discussion, open to the public and news media

TIME AND PLACE: Tuesday February 24, 12:00 noon, Wildcat Theatre (north west side of the Shepherd Union building), Weber State University Ogden campus. (Campus map available WSU Map and the union building is number 36 SU on the large map).

PANELISTS: Matt Godfrey (mayor of Ogden), Peter Metcalf (president and CEO
of Black Diamond, a major outdoor equipment company in Salt Lake City), Mary
Hall (representing Weber Pathways), Kari Dunn (Regional Outlet Manager for Patagonia, a major outdoor clothing company) and Jeremy Town (representing Amer Sports of Ogden, parent company of Salomon and other name brands).

BACKGROUND: Ogden has been vigorously pursuing an economic development strategy to attract outdoor recreation companies by branding the city as an outdoor recreation mecca. This approach has met with some success, drawing Descente, Amer Sports, and others to the city. Mike Dowse, CEO of Amer Sports, cited three M’s-- mountains, the mayor, and money-- as factors in his decision to relocate to Ogden (article in The Economist, October 23rd 2008, available The Mormon work ethic).

But what happens when a place becomes an outdoor mecca? What happens when more and more people are encouraged to go outside and play? Do they bring home a stronger conservation ethic, voting for more environmentally-progressive policies and behaving in more environmentally friendly ways, or do they take the ethic of the city into the outdoors, demanding ever-more and ever-easier trails, more and better parking, and turning the outdoors into an industrialized playground? Although outdoor recreation companies can be big money-makers, does their very success threaten the wilderness on which they depend? And what can companies, organizations, governments, and individuals do to minimize that threat?

Join us for a stimulating panel discussion of these and other issues, 12 noon in the Wildcat Theatre, Tuesday February 24.