[0:00] We're We're ready to go. We

[0:04] >> Thank you. Recorders are running.

[0:07] >> All right. Thank you, Paul. I appreciate

[0:08] it. Well, welcome to the uh the May uh

[0:12] Outdoor Adventure Commission. We're

[0:14] happy to have everybody here. Uh those

[0:16] that are uh we have some participating

[0:20] online and some in some in person, but

[0:23] we have a quorum, so we're going to go

[0:24] ahead and get started. Uh thank you for

[0:26] coming. Uh, I'd like to extend a welcome

[0:29] to our new commissioner, uh, Greg

[0:31] Jensen. Um, uh, Greg, can you, uh,

[0:35] introduce yourself? Give us a little

[0:37] overview of of who you are. Thanks.

[0:39] >> Uh, my name is Greg Jensen. I am a

[0:41] commissioner for Seir County. I, uh, I'm

[0:44] in my fourth year of uh, of that seat

[0:48] and running unopposed for a second term.

[0:51] I lived in Seir Valley for 30 years. I

[0:54] have an insurance agency, independent

[0:56] agency that I've run for almost 40

[0:58] years. Have a wonderful wife, three

[1:02] daughters, three son-in-laws, and three

[1:03] grandchildren.

[1:04] >> All right. Well, we're we're happy to

[1:06] have you. Thank you. Um Okay, then we'll

[1:10] go to uh approval of the minutes. Um

[1:12] somebody want somebody like to make that

[1:14] motion?

[1:17] >> I'd be happy to make the motion to

[1:18] approve the minutes.

[1:20] >> Okay. All right. Uh the motion is that

[1:23] we approve the minutes of um that were

[1:26] sent out Friday, May 1st from our last

[1:28] meeting was that November meeting. Um

[1:31] all in favor say I.

[1:33] >> I.

[1:35] >> All right. That that passes. Uh okay.

[1:38] We'll move to agenda item number three.

[1:40] Uh our recreation participation trend

[1:43] study update. Uh Jeremy Sage and Jake

[1:46] Jorgensson. Uh go ahead whenever you're

[1:49] ready.

[1:51] All right, great. Thanks everybody. Uh

[1:53] hopefully you can hear me. I my screen

[1:55] is lighting up so that's a good sign. Uh

[1:57] thanks for having us and uh thanks for

[1:59] your support of this project too. We

[2:00] wanted to take a few minutes to update

[2:03] you on where this project is, where it's

[2:05] been, and where it's uh going over the

[2:07] course of the uh remainder of this year

[2:09] and early into 2027.

[2:12] Uh so just a little bit of introduction

[2:14] uh of RSC. If we can scroll to the next

[2:16] slide, just for those of you that might

[2:18] be uh not familiar with us, uh we are an

[2:21] outdoor recreation and um social science

[2:25] uh market research firm. Uh we've been

[2:27] doing research in the outdoor recreck

[2:29] industry and tourism industry uh for the

[2:30] last 40 plus years. Uh we do we do do a

[2:34] lot of work there in Utah with uh ski

[2:36] Utah and understanding understanding

[2:38] where the the ski industry is in Utah as

[2:41] well as nationwide with the ski

[2:42] industry, the national parks across the country and other states and

[2:46] communities across the country as well

[2:48] in the outdoor recreation and tourism

[2:49] space. Uh so it's been a great

[2:52] opportunity for us to dive uh even

[2:54] further into Utah and in this effort

[2:56] here. We look forward to continuing that

[2:58] with uh Carly, Jason, and company there

[3:01] uh in Outdoor Rec. So, if we can go on

[3:03] to the next slide, please. And just to

[3:05] give you an overview, uh for those of

[3:07] you that may not recall, what motivated

[3:09] this study and for those of you that are

[3:11] new uh to this commission, uh we were

[3:14] charged with trying to understand and uh

[3:16] the goal was to really understand uh how

[3:20] really just how vital outdoor recreation

[3:21] is to the Utah economy. um with a

[3:23] recognition that it is vital and helping

[3:26] the uh division of outdoor rec

[3:28] understand what has gone on, what is

[3:31] going on and what are those those shifts

[3:33] that are occurring in outdoor recreation

[3:36] and how does that change participation

[3:38] patterns whether that be uh seasonally,

[3:41] daily, uh by activity type uh in with

[3:45] within uh counties in regions and

[3:48] throughout the state and understanding

[3:49] kind of what are those key trends that

[3:51] are out there. uh some of these examples

[3:53] of what what's happened recently is you

[3:55] know the emergence in the last decade or

[3:57] so of of ebiking and the uh

[3:59] opportunities and challenges that ebikes

[4:02] create as well as we saw lots of uh

[4:05] alteration in who and how much and where

[4:08] people recreate uh during the the uh the

[4:11] co 19 pandemic and we have other

[4:13] population changes that have gone on as

[4:14] well that help that really facilitate

[4:16] change in outdoor recreation that we

[4:19] really want to be ahead of the game and

[4:20] how do we understand what is going on

[4:22] and how to measure that and measure it

[4:23] in a consistent

[4:25] uh data driven method that's out there

[4:28] such that we can be comparable across

[4:29] load locations across regions across

[4:31] activities. Uh and we want to take this

[4:34] effort not in an effort to just start

[4:36] from ground zero and build up but an

[4:38] effort really to build on past planning

[4:40] efforts that have gone on whether that

[4:42] be through various land managers there

[4:44] in Utah or via academic or other

[4:47] consulting partners that are out there

[4:48] as well. I know Utah State has done a

[4:50] lot of work uh in this realm. We really

[4:52] want to build off those efforts to make

[4:54] sure they come to full fruition and what

[4:57] uh their intent was and the

[4:58] opportunities to to learn and grow from

[5:00] them are. So if we go on to the next

[5:03] slide there uh our goals in

[5:05] understanding in doing this is really to

[5:07] understand what those participation

[5:08] patterns are and help to identify those

[5:11] emerging trends. And really what those

[5:13] goals then allow us to do is really

[5:15] assess the e economic and social and

[5:18] health impacts that are out there. We

[5:20] know beyond just being a major industry

[5:22] and economic driver, uh the outdoor

[5:24] recreation industry provides a great uh

[5:27] space for understanding quality of life

[5:29] for residents across Utah across the

[5:31] West. Really, we've we've seen uh that

[5:34] emergence of people moving to places,

[5:36] people locating their businesses in

[5:38] places as a direct result of the

[5:40] perceived quality of life that's

[5:41] available there. And we do have real

[5:43] measures of those quality of life

[5:45] outcomes because of access and

[5:47] opportunity for outdoor recreation. So

[5:49] it becomes more and more important both

[5:51] uh economically, socially and for our

[5:54] own uh individual and community health

[5:56] as well. So being able to stay on the

[5:57] forefront of of what is emerging and

[6:00] growing from the outdirect opportunity

[6:02] is really a a key need for Utah as well

[6:05] as other states that have significant

[6:07] outdirect industries. And then really

[6:09] what we want to do is they're on point

[6:11] four is really trying to develop those

[6:13] actual recommendations from this effort

[6:15] here. We don't want to just do this as a

[6:18] uh an academic exercise, but we want to

[6:20] have opportunities for you all and

[6:22] partners across Utah to be able to put

[6:23] these into action based on reliable and

[6:27] consistent numbers that we can compare

[6:29] across each county, across each region

[6:31] uh through out there in Utah. we go on

[6:34] to the next slide and kind of gets into

[6:37] what what it is we're trying to do in

[6:39] this effort here and we want to make as

[6:41] I mentioned a consistent standardized

[6:44] recreation measurement framework. So we

[6:46] know that the National Park Service has

[6:48] its method of counting visitors

[6:50] understanding what's going on in the

[6:52] national parks in terms of their

[6:53] activities and volume of engagement. The

[6:56] Forest Service has their volume, their

[6:58] effort, the BLM has theirs, state parks

[7:01] has theirs, local communities has

[7:03] theirs. Not all these uh pieces of

[7:06] recreation measurements and

[7:07] participation uh match up succinctly

[7:10] with one another, which creates

[7:11] challenges when we're trying to uh

[7:14] weight out uh the volume and level and

[7:17] diversity and seasonality of all these

[7:20] activities. So, a key piece of our goal

[7:22] is to integrate all these administrative

[7:24] data and observational data and build a

[7:26] centralized uh Utah based recreation

[7:30] data repository that allows us to

[7:33] translate from one entity to another and

[7:35] have consistent measurements that that

[7:37] are out there. Not only do we want to

[7:39] bring in those historic methods, but we

[7:41] also want to be able to identify gaps in

[7:43] measurement that currently exist. Uh,

[7:46] and so we are piloting a handful of

[7:48] collection methodologies that we'll get

[7:49] to in just a second. to help us fill

[7:51] those gaps both in terms of this pilot

[7:53] effort. And then that puts us on a a

[7:55] strong foot forward to continue this

[7:57] data collection process in addition to

[8:00] these other existing administrative and

[8:02] observational data that are out there to

[8:04] continue to really build a really robust

[8:06] uh set of data for Utah to understand

[8:10] how these participation trends uh

[8:14] how they're experienced in Utah and how

[8:16] they're evolving adapting in Utah too as

[8:18] we go forward uh over the course of the

[8:21] next decade plus. And I think just to to

[8:23] reiterate, this is something that a lot

[8:25] of agencies have been have been doing is

[8:27] really putting the emphasis on

[8:29] understanding participation trends,

[8:30] especially in the west because as as

[8:33] Jeremy noted, you know, there's been a

[8:35] lot of change in outdoor recreation

[8:36] participation and trying to get on top

[8:38] of trends as something that's always

[8:40] been challenging, but I think Utah is

[8:42] actually one of the first states that

[8:43] are really taking a comprehensive look

[8:45] across the entire state on how

[8:48] participation levels change. Um and

[8:51] that's something I think that you all

[8:52] are are kind of being one of the leaders

[8:54] on right now uh at a state level because

[8:56] there's just not has not been the

[8:57] attention paid to that uh until now.

[9:00] >> Yeah. And not only at the state level

[9:02] too but also nationally uh federal

[9:04] agencies uh federal agency land managers

[9:07] are now over the last year being tasked

[9:10] with understanding uh on an activity

[9:13] level what the participation looks like

[9:16] um as an output of the explore act

[9:18] that's there. So really not just

[9:20] counting visitors that are coming in

[9:21] through the gates but also understanding

[9:23] what those visitors that are coming in

[9:24] what is it that they are really doing um

[9:27] on an activity by activity basis. So uh

[9:30] this opportunity here is really uh like

[9:32] Jake said putting uh Utah on on the

[9:34] front burner of that and being that

[9:36] ahead of the game in understanding these

[9:39] recreation trends. So our overall goal,

[9:42] one key piece of this is that that

[9:43] standard definitions and documentation

[9:46] of that so we can align each of these

[9:48] data sets up uh to be able to compare

[9:50] apples to apples rather than uh where we

[9:53] currently sit where uh forest service

[9:55] data doesn't really match with what the

[9:57] measurement is for national parks

[9:58] doesn't fully match with what state

[10:00] parks has. And we're not going to go in

[10:02] and say uh forest service change your

[10:04] measurements. But this allows us, this

[10:07] allows Utah to be able to uh code and

[10:10] read and be between the lines of what's

[10:11] going on in each of these measurements

[10:12] that are there. And then this output

[10:14] will create that scheme for that

[10:16] recreation data repository uh for all of

[10:20] Utah's uh recreation opportunities.

[10:23] So if we can go on to the next slide,

[10:25] please.

[10:27] Oh, sorry, next one again. And so where

[10:30] we are going next and what we are

[10:32] starting up in this uh later this month

[10:35] in early June uh is we'll be looking at

[10:37] five different uh pilot sites that we

[10:40] will be uh collecting data on and we'll

[10:42] be collecting this data in a in a

[10:44] handful of mechanisms. Uh, one will be

[10:46] pulling in data that's already existing

[10:48] if and when it does exist and uh that

[10:52] would be uh trail counters, parking

[10:53] counts, boat ramp counters, any of those

[10:55] things that give us a count of those

[10:58] individuals or groups that are entering

[10:59] a site. And the goal with with this is

[11:02] to test these methods across a diversity

[11:05] of recreation types across the state. Uh

[11:08] so we're pulling in those that may be uh

[11:11] really made up of dispersed recreation

[11:15] across a large landscape and maybe

[11:18] smaller landscape with much higher level

[11:21] of activity and use really dense

[11:23] potentially even some might consider

[11:24] crowded spaces on there. Pulling in

[11:27] water-based recreation to test how these

[11:30] potential methods uh may be able to be

[11:33] applied across a diversity of uh

[11:35] recreation types locations. So a key

[11:38] piece of this will then also be uh

[11:40] intercept based surveys. So

[11:41] understanding not just what that count

[11:43] of people is coming into the location

[11:45] but also what it is that they are doing

[11:47] while they're on site which gets us

[11:49] really to the heart of participation.

[11:51] And so those those on-site surveys will

[11:53] be conducted over a roughly 10day period

[11:56] at each of these locations to give us a

[11:59] good idea of what these visitors are

[12:01] doing. And we'll overlay both those

[12:03] first two bullets with uh mobile mobile

[12:05] location data. Uh so cell phone based

[12:08] data for those of you that are unaware.

[12:09] Jake, do you want to give a a snippet of

[12:11] what mobile location data is for us?

[12:13] >> Yeah. So if you if you've seen uh if

[12:15] you've never seen mobile location data,

[12:17] basically we're able to gather anonymous

[12:21] uh cell phone data from people in parks.

[12:23] And this data has been used in other

[12:25] industries for a long time, but the park

[12:27] and recck field is more new to it. But

[12:30] we have our own data set that we use,

[12:31] but also we're we'll be leaning a little

[12:33] bit on um the Utah Office of Tourism as

[12:36] well because they've gave us a bit of a

[12:37] demo on some of the work that they've

[12:39] done with it. But essentially what we're

[12:41] able to do is look at across a park and

[12:43] especially at these pilot sites where

[12:46] people are going in the park, what's

[12:47] kind of the level of density of use. So

[12:49] if you see a single trail head or a

[12:52] single location that shows up with

[12:53] really dense congestion, we can use our

[12:56] surveys and some of these other data

[12:58] sets to kind of cross validate what

[13:00] we're seeing. So it gives us the ability

[13:02] to kind of look back in time uh and and

[13:05] understand how people are moving around

[13:06] a site, but also where they come from.

[13:09] um cell phone location data because it's

[13:11] being collected 24/7 365. The big data

[13:14] warehouses that collect this on a large

[13:17] scale are able to understand the town

[13:19] that people visit. So you can look at

[13:21] local versus instate out of state trends

[13:23] to see how people are using a site

[13:25] differently. So we'll be using that in

[13:27] conjunction with intercept surveys plus

[13:29] these other counts that already exist

[13:31] like Jeremy mentioned if there's trail

[13:33] counters or parking lot counts as well

[13:35] as any kind of permit data. And we try

[13:37] to take these different methods of data

[13:38] together to um kind of triangulate what

[13:42] participation looks like at a site.

[13:46] >> Great. Okay. And then if we go to the

[13:47] next side slide, we can go over uh just

[13:49] quickly what these five pilot sites are

[13:51] that we were we worked with a handful of

[13:53] partners across uh state of Utah both in

[13:57] terms of forest service folks uh BLM

[14:00] folks, state park folks, tourism uh and

[14:03] of course the folks there at the

[14:05] division of outdirect to identify a set

[14:07] of five sites to give us a nice

[14:09] cross-section of recreation

[14:11] opportunities, potentially recreation

[14:13] challenges that exist out there across

[14:15] Utah. So, the first one that we are are

[14:18] looking to be at uh will be out in uh

[14:20] early May or sorry, late May to early

[14:22] June. Uh this will be the uh the Valley

[14:24] of the Gods area there in southeastern

[14:26] Utah with a primary uh recreation type

[14:29] of u motorized recreation. Uh we see

[14:32] this as a really remote scenic landscape

[14:35] which sometimes can create challenges

[14:36] for surveying. Uh but also uh we have

[14:39] some unique opportunities to get in and

[14:41] not only survey and capture what we can

[14:43] but also utilize that mobility based

[14:46] data to capture uh those locations where

[14:49] we might not be able to get into a

[14:50] survey and understand what that broader

[14:52] volume is and understand how these

[14:54] methods might work for

[14:56] uh low volume usage across a wide uh

[14:59] swath of area to understand that that

[15:01] capacity there. So that's our first one

[15:03] that will be in in uh late May, early

[15:05] June. And if we go to our next slide, we

[15:08] will have a very different uh piece of

[15:11] uh Utah property there in Sand Hollow

[15:15] Reservoir down there in southern Utah

[15:17] with uh motorized non-motorized water

[15:20] use. Uh we see this as a very high uh

[15:22] demand type space. A lot of supply built

[15:25] up around that with the large boat

[15:27] launch, parking areas, and amenities

[15:29] that are there on site. And so this

[15:31] gives us a chance to test out these

[15:32] methods with a really concentrated use

[15:35] low location that also includes

[15:36] water-based recreation uh there. And

[15:39] this one will be another one that we are

[15:40] getting to in

[15:43] uh uh early summer, so June of of this

[15:46] year. So these will be our first two.

[15:48] And then our last three we'll do is

[15:49] we'll uh get through the the peak of

[15:52] summer and get into more uh late summer

[15:55] early fall pieces. So if we go to the

[15:57] next slide and this next one that we are

[16:00] thinking about here is uh hold the rock

[16:02] road. So coming uh there again in

[16:04] southern Utah again another uh mixed use

[16:07] motorized use hiking, biking, climbing.

[16:10] This one on the demand side is a

[16:13] relatively medium. If we think about it

[16:15] a range from uh Valley of the Gods up

[16:18] through something like a sand hollow

[16:20] this falls more in that medium side. So

[16:22] it's a access corridor within this first

[16:25] recreation base out of there. So that

[16:27] gives us another site for uh testing

[16:30] these methods out. And again, this will

[16:31] be one that's in early fall of of 2026.

[16:35] And then if we go to next slide, we get

[16:38] into the Pavant trail system. So we're

[16:40] getting into more uh non-motorized

[16:43] recreation sites up there in uh central

[16:45] Utah by Richfield there. Again, another

[16:48] medium uh use area. And really what we

[16:51] have here is that that purpose-built

[16:52] trail networks with destination biking

[16:55] going on. So this is a one that's really have a space for uh non-motorized

[17:00] use uh trail systems and understand how

[17:05] um especially here like mo mobility data

[17:06] allows us to understand those those

[17:08] flows of uh visitors through and out

[17:11] there and understand are we capturing

[17:13] all these users uh at key uh trail

[17:17] heads? Are there more dispersed

[17:18] recreation going on that we may not be

[17:20] capturing and how do we capture those in

[17:22] a comprehensive manner? And again, this

[17:25] one will be done in late summer or early

[17:26] fall. And then our last one is

[17:30] skip ahead again,

[17:32] the uh the Guardsman Pass recreation

[17:35] area. So larger recreation area. A lot

[17:37] of opportunities there to capture the

[17:40] wide variety of uh spaces there on the

[17:42] central Wasatch. Uh big uh demand level

[17:45] here in this space. uh potential areas

[17:48] for uh for that demand uh or exceeding

[17:53] uh some of the supply that is there. So

[17:54] understanding what those those

[17:56] constraints might be, how the users or

[17:58] visitors may perceive uh those

[18:00] experiences there given the level of

[18:03] supply that's available compared to that

[18:05] level of demand that's there. And this

[18:06] one again will be in that that fall time

[18:08] period potentially into that uh that

[18:10] leaf peeping space as we get in into the fall of 26 year. So those are our

[18:16] five pilot sites that we'll be using.

[18:18] Again, we'll be during the summer and

[18:20] throughout this period of time, we'll be

[18:21] doing our pilot sites. We'll also be

[18:23] collecting and uh assessing that data

[18:25] for our standardized definitions across

[18:28] each of these spaces and across all

[18:31] landscapes in Utah as well that we can

[18:33] understand how to make sure we can

[18:36] calibrate data collection that's ongoing

[18:38] from all our our land managers and

[18:40] public entities that are out there. So

[18:42] if we go to the last slide here or last

[18:45] two slides. Uh so the the goal of all

[18:48] this this effort here is really to dive

[18:50] in dig deep to what we don't necessarily

[18:52] know right now. Right? We we can get

[18:54] counts. We can pull up mobility data and

[18:56] see where people are going on site,

[18:58] where they're coming from, but we don't

[19:00] know a lot of their perspectives, their

[19:01] perceptions of those sites. So we want

[19:04] to do through the development of these surveys is to really capture

[19:07] behavioral patterns, understanding what

[19:09] it is they're doing, when they're doing

[19:11] it, how they may may perceive the

[19:13] conditions on the ground, uh that can

[19:16] help us understand better what's going

[19:17] on with that that count data. So, not

[19:19] only will we be doing these on-site

[19:20] intercept surveys, but we're also

[19:22] conducting a uh a panel-based online

[19:26] survey that will be distributed to a set

[19:28] of Utah residents as a as well as a set

[19:31] of visitors to Utah uh that have been

[19:34] there and experienced the uh outdoor

[19:36] recreation spaces over the course of the

[19:37] last two years to get us a general

[19:40] perspective of who is doing what in Utah

[19:43] on what kinds of landscapes and using

[19:45] what kinds of equipment, whether that be

[19:47] uh ebikes or uh mountain bikes, road

[19:50] bikes, uh skis, whatever those cases may

[19:52] be to pull all these pieces together.

[19:54] And like Jake mentioned earlier, uh

[19:57] thinking about how we are able to

[19:58] triangulate the information that were

[20:00] collected via these various uh portals

[20:03] of information coming in from surveys,

[20:05] from counts, from administrative data,

[20:07] from mobility data. So if we can go back

[20:10] to the next slide or board. Uh so just

[20:13] to reiterate what our our goals were

[20:14] here and these are our outcomes really

[20:17] to understand what these trends are as

[20:19] they are exist on the ground in Utah. Uh

[20:22] really put us at that that front step of

[20:24] how do we understand these? How do we uh

[20:26] be prepared for changing dynamics as

[20:29] much as we can in how and when and where

[20:32] spaces are used across Utah. That in a

[20:36] nutshell uh is where we're at with this

[20:38] project. uh hope to be able to come back

[20:39] in uh

[20:42] the later fall, early winter to uh give

[20:44] an update on how these four or sorry,

[20:47] these five case studies have uh unfolded

[20:49] and how this fits into what our final

[20:52] outcomes might look like.

[20:55] Not sure if we want to take any

[20:56] questions on that or

[20:58] >> All right. Yeah, thank you for your

[20:59] presentation. Are there any questions

[21:01] from any of the commissioners? Anybody

[21:04] have any Do we have any Oh, go ahead,

[21:07] Natalie. Thanks. Um well, first off,

[21:10] we've worked with RC before. So with the

[21:12] office of tourism, I don't know Jeremy

[21:13] if you can see me, but um great partners

[21:17] and we always respect the knowledge that

[21:18] they bring to our state, especially with

[21:20] sharing this information and they've

[21:21] done it regionally as well. Um a

[21:24] question that I have that we always

[21:25] navigate with tourism is forwardf facing

[21:28] information and how do we forecast for

[21:30] future trends. I don't know if that's

[21:31] something that you all are considering

[21:32] with this data set and how you can think

[21:35] of a methodology for thinking about that

[21:37] because we're always looking to predict

[21:38] for the future as we're thinking about

[21:40] planning for our outdoor recreation

[21:42] experiences and visitor experiences.

[21:44] >> I don't know if there's anything in this

[21:46] study that covers that as well.

[21:48] >> I think there I mean I think naturally

[21:50] the the goal of this study is to have

[21:52] something that's reproducible like by by

[21:55] the state to be able to define other

[21:57] areas. And I think that the general

[21:58] reason why we picked the categories that

[22:00] we've used to define areas, one Utah

[22:03] State has had developed those um in

[22:06] their their previous planning effort.

[22:08] But the idea would be like if you have a

[22:10] site that is very high demand and high

[22:12] supply, what can you expect in terms of

[22:15] some of the trends and participation

[22:16] challenges you might see at it? The idea

[22:18] is be able to categorize sites kind of

[22:21] broadly but then over time conduct

[22:23] research on on a regular basis to try to

[22:26] understand how trends have shifted. So I

[22:28] think our goal is to make sure that

[22:30] there can be some forward looking. There

[22:32] are always you know as you know there

[22:35] things you can't predict especially as

[22:37] technology changes and stuff like that

[22:39] but the the idea is to have something

[22:42] you can be used moving forward well into

[22:43] the future.

[22:45] >> Right. And a key key piece of what we

[22:46] want to talk about with this the uh

[22:48] potential respondents on the survey too

[22:50] is understanding uh what happens when

[22:53] they get to a site and that site is is

[22:55] overcrowded. They can't they can't park

[22:57] there. They can't recreate there or they

[22:59] don't want to recreate there. What does

[23:00] that spillover look like? So we

[23:01] understand kind of what that

[23:02] displacement pressures are. So, as we

[23:05] understand displacement pressures at one

[23:06] site, we understand the potential

[23:08] spillover to other sites and could be

[23:09] adequately uh prepared for what those look like uh as a recreation area

[23:15] becomes more popular.

[23:19] >> All right. Thank you. All right. Any

[23:21] other questions from the commissioners?

[23:24] All right.

[23:24] >> Looks like there's someone with their

[23:25] hand up online.

[23:26] >> There's someone online.

[23:28] >> Yeah, this is Commissioner Taylor. Hey,

[23:30] I'm I'm I'm interested in especially the

[23:33] Hole in the Rock Road. Tell me again how

[23:35] you collect this this data. Uh Hole in

[23:38] the Rock uh road is is home to me. Uh

[23:41] I'm excited about finding this

[23:44] information and but how do you go about

[23:46] collecting that? So the way it's it the

[23:50] idea is that each site has some

[23:52] similarities but also just some

[23:54] differences based on kind of what the

[23:56] site is designed like and and Hole in

[23:57] the Rock Road is a is a unique one where

[24:00] what we're going to be doing at Hole in

[24:01] the Rock Road is as people are entering

[24:04] the road starting to kind of get start

[24:06] their journey is we're going to try to

[24:08] survey them on site with people on the

[24:10] ground. Sometimes we will also be

[24:12] roaming to where if people are camping

[24:14] or they're at trail heads, we'll be able to look for for locations

[24:18] where people congregate and we'll have

[24:20] tablets or our surveyors will be on

[24:22] ground with tablets in their hand that

[24:24] have has a survey on it and they'll be

[24:26] asking them. It's usually like a five to

[24:28] seven minute survey asking questions uh

[24:30] while they're on site. But for some

[24:33] areas, especially the remote areas, we

[24:35] also may leave QR codes on signs after

[24:38] the fact that if someone is visiting

[24:40] there, but we just didn't have someone

[24:42] on the ground, we can have a sign that

[24:43] says, "Hey, take this survey about your

[24:45] experience." They can scan it on their

[24:47] phone and take it. That's we we prefer

[24:49] to have someone on the ground actually

[24:51] doing the surveys because it, you know,

[24:53] there's only certain types of people

[24:54] that want to scan something and do it

[24:56] where a surveyor can talk to anybody.

[24:58] But that's why kind of we've we've built

[24:59] these different types of data collection

[25:01] in is you know what we don't get from

[25:04] surveys or we can't be on the ground at

[25:06] all times. We use that cell phone data

[25:08] to try to understand patterns across

[25:10] seasons and apply that together. So I

[25:12] think it's for some places it's a it's

[25:15] easier to talk to folks who are on the

[25:16] ground recreating. For others you got to

[25:18] be a little more creative and we're

[25:19] trying to kind of take that flexibility

[25:20] into account for for every site.

[25:24] >> Thank you.

[25:27] >> Okay. Okay. Any anybody else online have

[25:28] any more questions for him?

[25:31] All right. Thank you, uh, Jeremy and

[25:33] Jake. We we appreciate it.

[25:35] >> Yeah. Thank you all.

[25:37] >> Yeah.

[25:38] >> All right. We'll move to our next agenda

[25:40] item. Um, Director Curry, uh, Jason

[25:43] Curry is going to give us a session

[25:47] update of the legislative session. Go

[25:49] ahead, Jason.

[26:03] set up for something else and we can't

[26:04] change it. So, um,

[26:09] thanks Jeremy and Jake. We've got a lot

[26:11] of excitement building for that uh that

[26:14] study. It will, I think, provide a lot

[26:16] of clarity and a lot of information for

[26:18] us as a division in our decision-m uh

[26:20] but also all of our partners, state

[26:22] agencies, tourism, state parks, our

[26:24] federal land managing agencies, national

[26:26] parks, forest service, county

[26:28] government, and and everything in

[26:30] between. Um we hope to have a dashboard

[26:31] available that will help make um just

[26:34] build confidence in the decision-making

[26:35] process, whether that's in funding or in

[26:38] policym or what have you when it comes

[26:40] to outdoor recreation. So, super excited

[26:41] about that. Um, so here's a here's a

[26:44] quick leg. I'm going to emphasize quick

[26:46] because many of you were following

[26:48] things and uh certainly if you have any

[26:49] questions as I gloss over. Um, please

[26:52] bring those up. Um,

[26:55] HB12 outdoor recreation accessibility

[26:58] amendments. That was Representative Doug

[27:00] Welton. In our current language for

[27:03] grants, um, it's pretty limited on the

[27:05] type of equipment that we could um, have

[27:08] eligible for for a grant application. So

[27:10] there is a a definition change where

[27:13] adaptive equipment that could be

[27:15] typically categorized in with other

[27:17] equipment in an unintended way is now

[27:19] considered infrastructure. So just like

[27:21] a wheelchair ramp would be clearly

[27:22] infrastructure, so is a specialized

[27:25] access chair considered um as

[27:27] infrastructure when it comes to um grant

[27:30] applications. So um something we felt

[27:32] like was really going to help bring

[27:34] greater access especially for our

[27:36] adaptive community that rely on on

[27:38] special tools. Many of them don't have

[27:40] their own special tools, but in a place

[27:41] like a state park um or or literally

[27:44] anywhere else that if um if the entity

[27:47] operating that recreation site wanted to

[27:49] have adaptive equipment as part of the

[27:51] offerings um they could apply for a

[27:53] grant and have it be eligible under um

[27:56] the infrastructure definition.

[27:59] HP30 was kind of a hot topic even uh two

[28:03] sessions ago when uh we we saw the the

[28:06] bill that made it so if you wanted to go

[28:08] onto a wildlife management area in

[28:10] certain counties uh you had to have a

[28:12] hunting and fishing license. And uh

[28:14] during the session, it didn't really get

[28:15] a lot of attention, but after it passed,

[28:17] uh it really immediately got a lot of

[28:18] attention, especially once they started

[28:19] posting people at these um intersections

[28:23] and entrances [clears throat] onto WAS

[28:24] for trail runners, mountain bikers, and

[28:26] the Typonus WMA down by um Alpine was

[28:30] certainly uh high-profile. And then

[28:33] during the interim, there was a a really

[28:34] good resolution and cooperative effort

[28:36] between Representative Shallonburgger

[28:38] and um and others that were interested

[28:41] including Division of Wildlife Resources

[28:43] to um [clears throat] to come up with a

[28:45] process for individuals who maybe they

[28:47] won't ever have a hunting and fishing

[28:49] license, but a mechanism for them to

[28:50] both recreate on wildlife management

[28:53] areas, but also to uh to contribute

[28:56] monetarily. And um so I think it turned

[28:59] out really good. We're we're excited to

[29:00] be able to, you know, help solve a

[29:03] problem and um continue to to be able to

[29:05] recreate on WAS, especially because they

[29:08] plan to roll out um more WAS that are limited in this way. But um

[29:13] overall, I think it's going to it's

[29:14] going to work well. HB54 voting

[29:17] amendments. This is one a little bit

[29:19] similar to back in 2023 um when we

[29:22] implemented our our uh off highway

[29:24] vehicle adult education course. This is

[29:26] going to be a boating um education

[29:28] course. And just like um HB 180, which

[29:31] was the OV adult ed course, it was

[29:34] driven by the community, OV advocates

[29:36] and writers were the ones that that

[29:38] pushed for this, wanted this, helped

[29:40] craft it. And it's the same thing. Um

[29:42] it's not something necessarily that the

[29:44] division was was trying to push, but um

[29:46] members of the community and the voting

[29:48] community came before interim and um it

[29:50] was an interim study item. then um

[29:53] evolved into a committee bill and now we

[29:55] have HB54 which is going to require in

[29:58] order for any adult to operate a boat or

[30:01] actually any any eligible or or legal

[30:03] boat operator would have to obtain a a

[30:05] certification that they uh know the

[30:07] basics kind of the rules of the water so

[30:09] to speak when it comes to rideway speed

[30:11] and proximity what the buoys mean um

[30:14] from a public safety standpoint

[30:16] um HB381 that one was pretty high

[30:19] profile with uh ebike law and

[30:22] Representative Cutler um clarifying some

[30:25] definitions and further refining

[30:27] definitions on what types of ebikes are um allowed in certain areas,

[30:33] especially in in city. Doesn't have a

[30:35] lot to do with natural surface trails

[30:36] that we primarily deal with, but um a

[30:39] lot of communities and law enforcement

[30:41] have been dealing with significant

[30:43] problems when it comes to young people

[30:44] on electric devices. And that's

[30:46] everything from your class one ebike,

[30:49] which is fairly low profile, all the way

[30:51] up to and including um major powerful u

[30:56] electric motorcycles like the surons and

[30:58] things like that that um been in the

[31:01] news a lot and unfortunately caused some

[31:02] injuries and some harm. So, he did it in

[31:04] a way I think that was really good to um

[31:07] not discourage their use and not

[31:08] discourage kids from being on equipment

[31:10] like that, but um to provide a little

[31:12] bit of structure and a little bit of

[31:13] safety and kind of along the lines of

[31:15] the boating safety education to provide

[31:17] some education for those younger riders

[31:19] who are allowed to ride an ebike um out

[31:22] there in in traffic, but require them to

[31:25] take a training so that they know kind

[31:26] of the rules of the road and we don't

[31:27] have uh unfortunate accidents like we've

[31:30] had so far. Um, that's Yeah, it's been

[31:34] interesting. I've heard a lot of good

[31:36] feedback from from cities.

[31:39] Um, let's see.

[31:41] >> Jason, can I ask you a question about

[31:42] that one?

[31:43] >> Yeah,

[31:43] >> sure.

[31:44] >> So, I I believe that one goes into

[31:46] effect on May 6th and there's a training component part of it

[31:52] and I think your office will be crafting

[31:54] that training.

[31:56] >> Well, uh, the training will be crafted

[31:57] by the Department of Public Safety. We

[31:59] are helping them since um we kind of had

[32:02] experience with HB180 and the the

[32:04] offhighway vehicle training. We're

[32:06] consulting and helping the Department of

[32:07] Public Safety as they are the ones

[32:09] that'll be administering it. Good

[32:11] question.

[32:12] >> I think that one has a

[32:14] is going to need to have a really great

[32:16] nexus between in particular

[32:19] um cities and the state. Um, with our

[32:23] early early early spring this year,

[32:26] we've seen just a tremendous rise of all

[32:30] kinds of ebike and e- motorcycle usage

[32:34] in our city. And um, I almost wish this

[32:38] bill had an earlier effective date

[32:39] because we could have used it two months

[32:41] ago. But, um, I think we're going to

[32:44] need help with a coordinated plan to

[32:47] push the training and things like that

[32:48] out to to parents or kids that are, um,

[32:53] you know, getting some type of a a

[32:54] warning because they haven't completed

[32:56] it or they're not wearing a helmet or

[32:58] different things in making sure we have

[33:01] good connection on pointing people back

[33:02] to the training. So, to the extent that

[33:04] the League of Cities and Towns could be

[33:06] helpful in setting that out or cities

[33:08] can be setting it out, um

[33:10] >> I know that um I talked to

[33:12] Representative Cutler a couple of weeks

[33:13] ago about HB381 and implementation. I

[33:16] know he's he's gotten a lot of

[33:17] communication from cities and um from um

[33:20] rental groups, people that rent ebikes

[33:22] and e- motorcycles. He's got a lot of a

[33:24] lot of good input going. Um, so I'm I'm

[33:27] pretty confident in the process we'll

[33:29] will involve some heavy consultation

[33:31] from from local government, cities and

[33:33] towns.

[33:34] >> Thank you.

[33:35] >> If not, let me know. I'll put the word

[33:36] in.

[33:38] Uh, let's see.

[33:43] I'm not going to go over that one. And

[33:44] then HB567,

[33:46] um, outer recreation infrastructure

[33:49] grant program. has just opened again

[33:51] broadened another definition of

[33:53] infrastructure to include uh something

[33:56] along the lines of of algae bloom

[33:59] treatments in recreation areas. So if an

[34:01] algae bloom treatment is um causing it

[34:04] so that people can't recreate in an area

[34:06] then um the grant and the fund the

[34:09] infrastructure or the adventure fund

[34:11] could potentially um fund a project like

[34:14] that. So there was a there was an RFA

[34:18] that funded a couple of algae mitigation

[34:21] projects, one in at Willard and one at

[34:23] Manowway.

[34:26] Um let's see.

[34:34] There's a little bit more on this.

[34:37] Full transparency, this is the first

[34:38] time I've seen these slides. I tried to

[34:39] pull them up several times today and

[34:41] could not get it to work.

[34:42] Um,

[34:47] this will be available obviously to you

[34:49] in the meeting materials.

[35:02] Is this next? Okay.

[35:12] basically.

[35:16] » Sorry. Um, thanks Carly. Um my

[35:19] understanding from 381 is essentially

[35:22] as of tomorrow or Wednesday, sorry, uh

[35:26] May 6 that no individual under the age

[35:30] of 15 can ride outside of their parents

[35:34] line of sight

[35:36] >> unless they have

[35:38] >> until the unless they have a training

[35:40] which hasn't been developed yet.

[35:41] >> Correct.

[35:42] >> Okay.

[35:43] >> Yep.

[35:44] Um because I know my local police

[35:47] department has been out letting people

[35:52] know in a very friendly way that they

[35:55] will be less friendly on Thursday.

[35:57] >> Okay, [laughter] that's a good thing.

[35:59] But I think there will be a process like

[36:02] a knowledge 15 and under is essentially

[36:05] illegal without a parent starting

[36:07] Wednesday.

[36:07] >> So starting Wednesday, we won't see any

[36:09] of those kids on there.

[36:10] >> No. No.

[36:11] >> No. I saw two of them this morning on my

[36:13] way into the office. Um I was cussing at

[36:16] them under my breath and then realized,

[36:17] oh, I know that one. I'm gonna talk to

[36:20] his dad when I get back in contact.

[36:21] >> Hey, just just clarifying question.

[36:23] That's any vehicle over 20 miles an

[36:26] hour. Is that correct?

[36:27] >> Um now we're getting into details that I

[36:29] >> electric.

[36:30] >> Going to have to consult actual text on

[36:32] >> unassisted. I I un non- pedal assisted I

[36:35] think.

[36:36] >> Um so yes, anything because there's a

[36:39] different class of ebikes. Um, the

[36:42] lowest class is pedal assist up to 20

[36:45] miles an hour.

[36:47] Um,

[36:49] and then it goes up from there. And

[36:50] there is a power rating as well,

[36:53] >> which has is getting quickly outdated

[36:57] based on the size of the motors that are

[36:59] coming in these.

[37:00] >> I can give you a some bullet points on

[37:02] that one if you want. Representative

[37:04] Cutler sent those to me the other day.

[37:06] He's the author of the bill. says it

[37:09] directs the Department of Public Safety

[37:10] to develop an online personal electric

[37:12] vehicle safety education and training

[37:14] program ages 8 to 15. It allows

[37:17] independent use of any ebike class on

[37:20] public roads with a DPS safety

[37:22] certificate or supervised use without a

[37:25] certificate. So, um, age 16 or older,

[37:31] uh, and older, allows ebike use on

[37:33] public roads with no safety certif

[37:35] certificate, supervision, or driver's

[37:37] license required.

[37:39] Uh, establishes a helmet requirement for

[37:42] ebike and e scooter riders under 21 when

[37:45] riding on public roads, not paths. Does

[37:48] not apply to ride share. Fines for not

[37:52] wearing a helmet are capped at $25 per

[37:54] violation. and it clarifies distinctions

[37:57] between ebikes, high power electric

[38:00] devices, and e motorcycles. It updates

[38:02] marketing and labeling rules for these

[38:05] devices and provides clear enforcement

[38:07] authority.

[38:09] It's kind of kind of an overview on

[38:11] there.

[38:13] >> Yeah. And it's extremely nuanced.

[38:15] There's a lot of small details including

[38:17] the types of of

[38:19] ebikes that you can actually change from

[38:22] class one to two to three with just the

[38:24] settings. Um it's it's probably going to

[38:28] be much the same as it has been in the

[38:29] past. Law enforcement is going to be

[38:30] doing their best, but um the uh the

[38:33] effective date on the delivery for the course isn't until May 5th of 2027.

[38:38] So um

[38:41] again, it's not not a recreation

[38:43] centered bill. It's highly

[38:45] transportation oriented and public

[38:46] safety oriented. We're we're helping

[38:47] consult on it. Um but yeah, as long as

[38:51] they're on the sidewalk, I think they're

[38:53] probably going to be okay. But once they

[38:54] get it out into the street, different

[38:56] cities and towns are going to probably

[38:57] have a tough time over the next 9 to 12

[39:00] months.

[39:03] Okay. Any questions?

[39:05] >> I I have one quick one just back to the

[39:07] OV and vote safety course. Once you pass

[39:11] those, what's the expiration or how

[39:13] often do you have to redo that?

[39:15] >> Um, good question. So,

[39:18] we asked for similar to how OV the OBV

[39:21] adult education course is once in a

[39:23] lifetime, which we thought made sense,

[39:25] but that is not how this bill turned

[39:27] out. It is every year it has to be done

[39:30] again. But the the commitment is that it

[39:33] will be made in a way that can basically

[39:35] be tested out of. So, should be fairly

[39:37] minimal in terms of the time needed to

[39:40] basically clap out of your training.

[39:43] >> Yeah. A little update on that as well.

[39:45] From what I remember of the bill, um,

[39:48] Representative uh Mike Peterson ran ran

[39:50] that bill and he's a voter and he hated

[39:53] doing spending all the time doing all

[39:54] the the muscle certification every year

[39:56] and everything. He didn't want to add to

[39:58] it. So the compromise was to do be able

[40:00] to do all of those together in I think

[40:03] under or at that same time. So it

[40:05] wouldn't add more time to to the

[40:07] certification. So it it's just putting

[40:10] more information, the need to know

[40:11] information inside that that one

[40:13] training that they are already required

[40:15] to do anyway.

[40:16] >> Yeah.

[40:21] All right. Any other questions on the

[40:23] bills?

[40:25] It was a good session, but um glad it's

[40:27] over. I haven't thought about it in a

[40:28] while, which is good.

[40:33] » It is good to be over some of that

[40:34] sometimes.

[40:36] All right. Um, we'll move uh to our next

[40:38] item on the agenda, agenda item number

[40:40] five. We're going to have our uh

[40:43] Division of Outdoor Recreation staff uh

[40:46] do some presentations. We've got uh

[40:48] Patrick Morrison will will be up first.

[40:50] >> Great.

[40:51] >> Thank you, Chair. Um well, first off,

[40:53] thank you. uh you know we finished

[40:55] legislative session which for us means

[40:56] it's outdoor recre initiative season

[40:58] session if you will um so I think I just

[41:00] kind of wanted to walk you through uh

[41:02] just a little bit about uh kind of

[41:03] recapping last year some lessons learned

[41:05] and then kind of what we're planning for

[41:07] this year um am I in control slides here

[41:13] oh

[41:15] I think it's my first time using one of

[41:16] these so um I guess going back um you

[41:19] know this commission the first thing we

[41:20] really did as part of this commission

[41:22] was the outdoor recreation strategic

[41:25] plan. Um, and so that is still just the

[41:27] guiding force behind the outdoor

[41:28] recreation initiative. Um, you know, the

[41:29] mission is to deliver Utah's strategic

[41:32] outdoor recreation plan. Um, and you

[41:33] know, I think we're all pretty familiar

[41:34] with this, but uh, some of the steps

[41:36] we're going to take this year, I think,

[41:37] are going to fold much more aggressively

[41:39] into some of the things that we're

[41:40] talking about within the strategic plan

[41:41] that I'm very excited about. Um, just

[41:44] looking at last year, if you remember,

[41:46] uh, we had 51 project submissions

[41:48] across, uh, five regions. Uh, we had $55

[41:50] million in requests. Um you can just see

[41:53] some of the project types and and how

[41:54] those requests shook out by region. Um

[41:57] in the end, I don't expect you all to be

[41:59] able to read this. I just kind of wanted

[42:00] to show you, but just to kind of break

[42:02] it out. Um you know, we did get to split

[42:04] the funding out pretty well. Um in the

[42:06] end, you know, we saw WASA front with uh

[42:08] 4.9, Southwest with 3.5, the central

[42:10] region with four, Eastern with three,

[42:13] Northern with 2.6. Um and then we had

[42:15] the DO priority request uh for 2.6

[42:17] million. Um I think it was a really

[42:19] successful year. Uh we definitely

[42:20] learned a lot of lessons coming out of

[42:21] it. Um, but there was a lot to really

[42:23] celebrate and that's kind of some of the

[42:25] stuff I just wanted to talk about as we

[42:26] look at

[42:28] this next.

[42:31] I keep wanting to do this in time with

[42:32] the clicks, but

[42:37] there we go. Okay, so this is some of

[42:39] the stuff I wanted to look at. So, the

[42:41] successes clearly um $21 million awarded

[42:44] to 38 projects. A huge success. And so,

[42:46] let me just say thank you to this

[42:47] commission for supporting this program,

[42:49] for your engagement with it. Um we have

[42:51] uh Commissioner Winfield. You'll hear

[42:52] from a little bit, but he was also a

[42:54] ranking member in the eastern region. So

[42:55] maybe just a thank you to the

[42:56] commissioner's time during that. Um but

[42:59] it was a really really great year. You

[43:00] know, we're starting to see a lot of uh

[43:02] you know, projects starting to wrap up.

[43:03] Um just just really a lot of excitement

[43:06] for this. Uh one thing that we are

[43:07] coming out of it is trying to build our

[43:09] capacity. We've been able to identify a

[43:11] lot of capacity issues with some of our

[43:12] partners. Um you know, a lot of the

[43:14] federal partners. Um we're working to do

[43:16] project management here. You know, we're

[43:17] running a few design engineerings. We're

[43:19] helping with some NEPA. You're going to

[43:20] hear about a lot of the work Karly is

[43:22] doing with Northwash here in a moment.

[43:24] Um just it's really impressive what we

[43:26] can do and as we are staffing up to kind

[43:27] of meet some of these capacity needs. Um

[43:29] and then we're initiating the long range

[43:30] planning efforts. Um so this is

[43:32] something that you know this is a big

[43:34] investment from the legislature into

[43:35] outdoor recreation. We want to make sure

[43:37] we're being very strategic and as part

[43:38] of that is laying the groundwork for

[43:40] long range plans. uh some of the

[43:42] challenges that we saw last year uh we

[43:44] had uh monthly meetings um for two hours

[43:47] from essentially June through October. I think some of those meetings were

[43:51] really really great. We did get a lot of

[43:52] good engagement. However, agenda

[43:54] building all that time um the virtual

[43:56] meetings there was kind of inconsistent

[43:58] engagement. You know, you always know

[43:59] when somebody is uh mic is off, camera

[44:01] is off, you're just like are they there?

[44:03] You know, and I was actually pretty

[44:04] impressed with the amount of engagement,

[44:06] how many people did come to all of them,

[44:07] particularly from our electeds who were

[44:08] part of the ranking. I think they took

[44:10] it very very seriously. Um, but I do

[44:12] feel that we miss some of that more kind

[44:14] of holistic in-person like um kind of

[44:17] network building, trust building, some

[44:19] of that stuff that that we got. Um, we

[44:21] did see not every county was represented

[44:23] on some of these councils. Um, and then,

[44:25] you know, we have people kind of

[44:26] applying to wrong programs often. You

[44:28] know, people would uh apply for maybe a

[44:30] standard like park project, you know,

[44:32] something that wasn't necessarily in

[44:33] line. And so we we learned a good amount

[44:34] about like how we communicate, what are

[44:36] our goals, and then how is kind of the

[44:38] structure in which we're running this

[44:39] program serving our goals. And so some

[44:41] of the opportunities that we're going to

[44:42] look at um this upcoming year, um we get

[44:45] greater attendance, uh greater

[44:47] connection through these in-person

[44:48] meetings. Um want to shout out Tyler

[44:49] Thompson from the Watershed Restoration

[44:51] Initiative. I pretty much meet with him,

[44:53] uh once a year just to kind of debrief

[44:54] the year. Um as we know, wershed

[44:56] restoration initiative, a long-standing

[44:58] program. uh it's spoken with uh just so

[45:00] much respect when people talk about that

[45:01] program and that's kind of one of the

[45:02] goals of what this program is going to

[45:04] be. I really want people to speak about

[45:06] it how people are currently speaking

[45:07] about the program. Um but we also want

[45:10] to figure out opportunities to connect

[45:12] uh not only the ranking council members

[45:14] you commissioners with some of where the

[45:16] money is actually going on the ground.

[45:17] Uh we want to hold more meetings that

[45:19] involve site visits. Um and then as we

[45:22] are starting to develop some of the

[45:23] longrange plans uh we want them to be

[45:25] integrated into what are the regional

[45:26] priorities. um we don't know what the

[45:28] regional priorities are because we want

[45:29] to work with the regions so they can

[45:30] help to help us you know ascertain what

[45:32] are those priorities um and then we'll

[45:34] also look for better opportunities to um

[45:37] create more project management capacity

[45:39] so you know we're looking to hire a

[45:40] specific role to manage some of these

[45:43] projects um through this program through

[45:44] some of the other work we're doing so I really have a lot of excitement for

[45:48] this this next year um so this is kind

[45:50] of what we're going to run the OI

[45:52] program as um you know our our forecasts

[45:54] we we met with our finance director um

[45:56] seemed pretty pretty flat in a good way.

[45:58] You know, we're looking around 21 to 22

[46:00] million available for this program next

[46:01] year. Uh that's, you know, consistent

[46:03] with what what we've had the past two

[46:04] years. So, meeting structure is

[46:06] changing. Uh we're going to try to

[46:07] respond to just some of the challenges

[46:09] that we saw. So, one, we're going to get

[46:11] rid of monthly virtual meetings and

[46:12] we're going to pivot to uh in-person

[46:14] meetings. So what we're really looking

[46:16] to do is have one meeting at the start

[46:18] of the year uh essentially like a fiveh

[46:20] hour meeting to do a lot of like on the

[46:23] ground regional visioning workshop um

[46:25] but to identify what are the regional

[46:28] annual funding priorities you know we

[46:30] want them to be able to help us um and

[46:31] then we're going to spend kind of that

[46:33] season working to solicit projects that

[46:35] are working with some of those

[46:36] priorities you know I don't think it's

[46:37] going to be one it's not going to just

[46:38] be like camping but you know hopefully

[46:39] we'll have a few options of like this is

[46:41] really what the region's looking um you

[46:43] know before that of course we'll bring

[46:44] in our ranking councils um to you know

[46:46] just kind of get them prepared for that.

[46:48] Um but we are looking to do a site

[46:50] visit. This is going to be an optional

[46:51] one um but one where we can bring

[46:52] everyone together kind of look at a

[46:54] program in action. You know I keep

[46:55] looking at the the work that's being

[46:56] done in Wayne County with the the Beats

[46:58] Lewis and the Meeks Mesa two big OI

[47:00] projects real close. I think it'd be

[47:02] really great to get a lot of our members

[47:04] um within this program with the

[47:06] commissioners out to there hear from the

[47:07] project partners just just get those

[47:09] opportunities there. Um, and then we'll

[47:11] kind of come back for the end of the

[47:12] year, which will be another in-person

[47:14] meeting. Um, and again to to quote Tyler

[47:17] Thompson from the WR, he's like, if you

[47:18] want people to come, give them food, you

[47:20] know. So, we'll also we'll also be

[47:22] giving people food uh while we're doing

[47:23] this. But we'll do that um that big kind

[47:25] of like, you know, 5 hour, 4 hour

[47:28] ranking meeting uh where we can actually

[47:29] give a little bit more voice to our

[47:31] general counsels for some of those

[47:32] priority or I guess preliminary

[47:34] rankings. I want to make sure they have

[47:35] a good voice. Um, but ultimately rest

[47:37] some of that authority within our

[47:38] ranking councils before it's brought to

[47:39] you as recommendations for your

[47:41] approval. Um, and then yeah, that's

[47:43] going to be our our last meeting of that

[47:44] one. And so I think this is what the

[47:47] calendar is going to look like. Uh,

[47:48] those those first kind of ranking

[47:50] priority determining meetings are going

[47:52] to be in June. Uh, midsummer we'll do

[47:54] that site visit. I would love any and

[47:56] all of you to join us for those. October

[47:57] is when we'll do that final ranking

[47:59] meeting. Um, and then we'll come back to

[48:00] you in November. I guess November 16th,

[48:02] 2026 for that project approval. Um,

[48:06] shout out to Morgan. She's done a great

[48:08] job of helping us get some of these

[48:09] locations. So, we do have the schedule.

[48:11] Uh, we have places reserved. Um, and,

[48:14] uh, just really, really excited to kind

[48:15] of use some of the awesome skills we

[48:17] have on staff with facilitating with

[48:19] kind of leading some of these workshops.

[48:20] I think learning from the two-year

[48:22] process of developing that strategic

[48:24] plan is going to be just a great kind of

[48:28] information bank for how we go out to

[48:29] these communities and try to do some of

[48:31] this visioning. But, you know, the goal

[48:32] being regions are going to determine

[48:33] their priorities. We're going to help

[48:34] them find those projects um and they're

[48:36] going to help to recommend those uh for

[48:39] your approval.

[48:44] » Oh, June 16th

[48:46] right here.

[48:49] Um, and I think that's it for my slides,

[48:51] but I'm happy to take any questions on

[48:52] anything I presented before I turn it

[48:54] over to Emily.

[48:58] Okay, excellent. Well, again, just thank

[49:00] you. Uh, you know, this program doesn't

[49:01] exist without your support. Um, it's

[49:03] really a highlight so far of my

[49:04] professional career, so I'll keep doing

[49:06] my best and I hope we keep having your

[49:08] support. And, uh, welcome to you,

[49:09] Commissioner Jensen.

[49:11] >> Thank you, Patrick.

[49:20] Hi everyone. Thanks for letting us give

[49:22] a little brief or uh update about the

[49:25] outdirect planning assistance or ORPA

[49:27] program. Um again, this is a reminder

[49:30] and just kind of refresh of this

[49:32] program. Um you allocated

[49:35] um 2.5 million this past year to

[49:38] increase the funding for this. This

[49:39] program really aims to increase planning

[49:41] capacity, recreation planning capacity

[49:43] at the local level. through awarding

[49:46] funds, which then the communities go and

[49:48] um hire consulting services to, you

[49:51] know, kind of offload their plates.

[49:54] Sometimes I get people who are city

[49:58] recorders or administrative assistants.

[50:00] You know, they're not planners by trade,

[50:02] but this program has

[50:03] >> Emily, will you introduce yourself and

[50:05] your name and and and what you do?

[50:07] >> Sure.

[50:07] >> Thank you. That I think that'll help.

[50:09] >> Yeah. I'm Emily Meadows. I'm with the

[50:10] Division of Outdoor Recreation. and I'm

[50:12] the outdoor wreck planning statewide

[50:14] planner. So again, this historically you

[50:18] can see here 2023 and 24 this program

[50:20] was really just internal staff trying to

[50:23] go out and help communities at the local

[50:25] level. In 25 we got um 1.5 million

[50:28] allocated and we created a grant program

[50:31] for it. So again um that was a huge

[50:34] success. I'll kind of just

[50:38] go to this slide to show just the recap

[50:40] from last year. Um there was over 43

[50:42] applications that were submitted um

[50:45] totaling 4.5 million in requests. And so

[50:48] again, we awarded 21 um of those and 1.5

[50:52] million um spread throughout the state.

[50:54] And um this last picture is just uh you

[50:58] know the planning in action. This is up

[51:00] in Rich County. They're doing a trails

[51:02] master plan. and I've been able to, you

[51:04] know, go to these public events, um, and

[51:07] community engagement efforts that

[51:09] they're really doing and putting the

[51:10] dollars on the ground, which is cool.

[51:13] Um, another way we're doing building

[51:16] these resources with that 2.5 million,

[51:19] um, we're in the process of creating a

[51:21] trails planning and design handbook,

[51:24] which, um, we've went through the RFP

[51:26] process and were able to select a

[51:28] vendor. So, we'll be working with um SE

[51:30] Group moving forward to create that

[51:32] resource for statewide community

[51:34] partners.

[51:38] Um any questions about ORPA? It's

[51:41] currently open right now and so I think

[51:43] last I it'll close in a couple weeks in

[51:46] May 15th, but last I checked there were

[51:48] 60 applications in draft.

[51:52] >> On this it shows uh 1.5 million was paid

[51:56] out. And you probably said this, I

[51:57] missed it. I hurry and had to take a

[51:58] picture and SC read it.

[52:00] >> Um, and so is there was there a million

[52:03] dollars left over on this planning last

[52:05] year?

[52:06] >> So last year we just had 1.5 million and

[52:08] then we were able to increase it to 2.5

[52:11] for this year.

[52:12] >> Yeah, great question.

[52:13] >> As I'm looking to to see little rural

[52:16] counts in in southern Utah, central

[52:18] Utah, eastern Utah, it looked like it

[52:21] was quite a diverse uh dispersement of

[52:24] money. Yeah, I think the really the cool

[52:28] part about this program, it it really is

[52:30] enabling and empowering those really

[52:32] small, typically rural communities that

[52:35] they've never even thought or dreamed of

[52:38] doing recreation planning. This really

[52:40] has enabled them to pursue it and think

[52:42] about how it can help give them that

[52:44] roadmap to then be more competitive in

[52:46] our other infrastructure grants, which

[52:49] is really exciting.

[52:51] >> Mr. Mr. Chairman, if I could share for

[52:52] our our newest commissioner, I had the

[52:54] opportunity to serve as um one of the

[52:57] evaluators for uh this particular grant.

[53:00] Last year and um I think it's

[53:04] particularly valuable in helping tea up

[53:06] the types of applications you you would

[53:08] then see later as a grant or an ORI

[53:11] grant. um communities kind of can't get

[53:15] to the approvals that they might need

[53:17] from a NEPA application or something

[53:19] else if they can't show a a master plan

[53:22] or a feasibility study or those types of

[53:25] things. And so, um there's obviously

[53:28] challenges in in small rural

[53:30] communities. There's challenges in small

[53:34] urban communities that have small

[53:35] professional staffs that that don't

[53:37] always do this type of thing. And so I I

[53:39] thought it was very meaningful and was

[53:41] happy to advocate when we brought this

[53:43] back to add additional money uh last

[53:46] year that that this program will then

[53:49] ensure that the applications we see in

[53:51] other processes for bigger grants are

[53:55] shovel ready and ready to go and

[53:56] communities won't feel frustrated that

[53:58] they're

[54:00] denied a a grant in one of those bigger

[54:02] programs for lack of being

[54:05] as as you know tight and ready as they

[54:07] need to be when they apply.

[54:09] Thank you,

[54:12] » Josh.

[54:13] >> Thank you. Um, to follow up on what

[54:16] Commissioner Bradshaw was saying, is

[54:18] there an opportunity to identify

[54:21] projects that went through the ORPA

[54:23] program in future grant applications

[54:28] that having gone through this process

[54:30] just gives me a higher level of

[54:33] confidence

[54:35] that the scope and estimate are

[54:39] better vetted I will say rather than

[54:42] less vetted and therefore more likely to

[54:45] come to fruition on the current time and

[54:48] schedule. It's just

[54:50] an idea for the grant applications for

[54:53] those who are evaluating.

[54:55] >> Yeah, that makes sense.

[54:56] >> And I will speak to you. We I believe we

[54:59] did include a question um have did you

[55:02] apply to ORPA and receive ORPA services?

[55:04] And so they were able to check yes or

[55:06] no. So we are trying to track that and

[55:08] see do they go through ORPA then are

[55:10] they awarded Uorg and then you know the

[55:13] completion. So yeah,

[55:17] great. Um, looking forward, um, I'll

[55:20] touch on the regional long range

[55:22] planning and provide a brief update.

[55:24] Again, um, as we mentioned a couple

[55:27] times, the division's really trying to

[55:28] develop a 10-year out 10 to 15 year

[55:32] strategy to really provide regional long

[55:36] range recreation planning throughout the

[55:38] entire state. giving them that roadmap.

[55:40] Again, that's locally led and also

[55:43] regionally vetted so that when they come

[55:46] with projects, we can refer back to the

[55:48] regional long range plan and say, "These

[55:51] are the priorities we identified in this

[55:53] plan. Does this align with the the

[55:55] plan?" Yes or no. It's an easy way to

[55:57] kind of gut check. Um so, we've been

[56:00] doing the central region plan as our

[56:02] pilot region. Um it's been an amazing um

[56:05] effort.

[56:07] Um this is kind of we've been working

[56:09] with SE group as our consultants um to

[56:11] support us and really the role of the

[56:13] plan is again to identify developing

[56:17] regionally significant projects um and

[56:20] then you know we've trying to figure out

[56:21] how that fits into our existing ranking

[56:25] um process with ORI and then you know

[56:29] going forward we're kind of in that in

[56:31] between of as we develop we're also

[56:34] continuing OI as an annual

[56:36] um program. So, we're learning as we go

[56:39] and trying to develop something that

[56:41] makes sense. But any this is what

[56:43] included for the the central region

[56:45] plan. We had a survey out for about two

[56:48] months and received over 1500 responses

[56:51] both from residents within the central

[56:53] region as well as visitors. um our

[56:56] consultants as well as some of our team

[56:58] conducted a week-long site visit

[57:00] visiting each county and meeting with

[57:02] you know public land managers, some

[57:04] local community um stakeholders um and

[57:07] just getting a sense of you know what is

[57:09] on the ground. Um you know they also are

[57:13] bringing a lot of data to this plan

[57:15] including um just that regional asset

[57:18] inventory and then outdoor recreation

[57:20] business inventory. And then we each we

[57:23] conducted six countybased stakeholder

[57:25] meetings. So with each of the counties,

[57:27] we brought all the stakeholders that as

[57:30] much as we could diversify, you know,

[57:32] representing each of the counties, all

[57:34] the different land management agencies,

[57:36] all of the different types of

[57:38] recreators, business owners, tourism

[57:41] folks. So it was really a robust um

[57:45] initial phase of a community engagement.

[57:48] And then from that,

[57:51] now my clicker is not pro. Can you go to

[57:56] Thanks. Um, we have a project website

[57:59] that you can refer to and um, the

[58:01] handout we provided is kind of the the

[58:03] key takeaways from that survey. Um, it

[58:06] was really interesting to just see the

[58:07] differences between what residents were

[58:10] experiencing versus what visitors I

[58:12] guess it's not that surprising because

[58:14] most of the visitors go to Capitol Reef.

[58:16] most of the residents avoid Capitol

[58:17] Reef. Um but along with that, we they're

[58:20] creating these um county profiles that

[58:24] really highlight, you know, those

[58:26] recreation assets, what the businesses

[58:28] are, what the communities are saying.

[58:30] So, we have county profiles for each of

[58:32] the counties. And then we also are

[58:35] developing these types of maps just to

[58:37] again highlight those kind of highlevel

[58:40] recreation assets within the region.

[58:43] Um,

[58:45] I guess I'm going to go backwards here

[58:47] now, but just to give an idea, last year

[58:49] we were able to secure funding for our

[58:52] northern region as well as the south

[58:54] southwest region. And so we'll be

[58:56] kicking those two long range regional

[58:58] plans off this year. um and hopes to

[59:02] again secure funding if and if the

[59:06] regions in eastern and front get just as

[59:08] excited seeing this as an opportunity to

[59:11] we'll secure funding for them and then

[59:14] hopefully have the entire state planned

[59:16] um or have regional recreation plans for

[59:19] the entire state in by 2028.

[59:23] Any questions about that?

[59:29] Thank you, Emily.

[59:30] >> Yeah,

[59:31] >> appreciate it. Or does anybody on the

[59:32] commission have any any questions for

[59:34] Emily? Any online?

[59:37] >> All right. Thank you. We'll uh go to

[59:41] Carly now.

[59:51] Hi everybody. My name is Karly Lanch.

[59:53] I'm the trails and planning program

[59:54] director with the Utah Division of

[59:56] Outdoor Recreation. I've been um working

[59:58] to support this commission for the last

[1:00:00] almost four years and it is such a

[1:00:02] wonderful um time to come to these

[1:00:04] meetings and kind of use them as a

[1:00:05] reflection point as to where we were

[1:00:07] just three years ago, four years ago

[1:00:09] when we became a newer division with our

[1:00:11] strategic plan. And now we're we're

[1:00:13] doing things that are somewhat uh

[1:00:15] revolutionary if I might be so bold as

[1:00:17] to say that. and and uh really helped

[1:00:19] lead the way as the state of Utah with

[1:00:21] the first former office of outdoor

[1:00:23] wreck. Um so yeah, I just wanted to give

[1:00:25] a shout out to my colleagues as well for helping us push the needle in um

[1:00:29] outdoor recreation in Utah. Um I am now

[1:00:33] going to talk about uh an exciting

[1:00:35] update about the Northwash boat ramp. I

[1:00:37] have a colleague online um who's helped

[1:00:40] us support the project and so he might

[1:00:42] come off of mute to to add in as I go.

[1:00:45] Um but this commission uh with the

[1:00:47] support of our staff helped identify the

[1:00:49] Northwash boat ramp um as a priority

[1:00:51] project a few years ago. This was still

[1:00:53] when the ORI process was being kind of

[1:00:56] incubated. Um and so it was an

[1:00:58] opportunity for us as staff to kind of

[1:01:00] cut our teeth in the project management

[1:01:01] and delivery side of the of the

[1:01:04] equation. So we are now launching into

[1:01:05] you know more planning grant grant

[1:01:08] support and then uh getting into the

[1:01:10] project management and and delivery. So,

[1:01:13] just to give a little bit of color and

[1:01:15] context, if you're not familiar,

[1:01:16] Cataract Canyon is Utah's Little Grand

[1:01:18] Canyon, and this is the takeout for for

[1:01:20] that section of the Colorado. It's a

[1:01:22] worldclass whitewater um and uh has been

[1:01:27] uh suffering at at the takeout for many, years. Um the Utah Guides and

[1:01:32] Outfitters have been advocating for

[1:01:34] stewardship and improved access for

[1:01:36] almost 20 years. Um the American

[1:01:38] Outdoors Association has elevated this

[1:01:41] nationally. Um, and it's been a a big

[1:01:44] project for us the last few years. Um,

[1:01:47] and this is to I don't need to talk to

[1:01:49] every bullet here, but this just gives

[1:01:51] you um an a timeline of when we started

[1:01:54] to meet with the National Park Service

[1:01:56] to understand why we weren't being able

[1:01:59] to um improve the access on this site.

[1:02:03] And this shows sort of our uh our

[1:02:08] lengthy um co coordination effort with

[1:02:12] Glen Canyon. Um and we're really uh as

[1:02:15] soon as we were able to provide funding

[1:02:17] through this commission and enter into

[1:02:19] an agreement with the Department of

[1:02:21] Interior, we were able to make some some

[1:02:23] tangible progress and more progress than

[1:02:25] there's been made in over 20 years. Um,

[1:02:28] so here's a photo of the ramp um at uh

[1:02:31] 5400 CFS and then a congressional staff

[1:02:34] visit or site visit that we did back in

[1:02:37] 2024

[1:02:39] talking about the issues and trying to

[1:02:41] understand why what we need to do to

[1:02:43] shake loose um a solution here to

[1:02:45] improve access. Um we were able things

[1:02:49] really uh started to move forward

[1:02:52] quickly when we're able to enter into an

[1:02:53] agreement and secure funding here. So we

[1:02:55] went through um engineering uh aspects

[1:02:58] last fall, geotechnical and then a a

[1:03:02] notice to proceed in full compliance

[1:03:05] package um landed on our division desks

[1:03:08] back in March of this year. And so we've

[1:03:10] been able to hit the ground running. Um

[1:03:12] Jones and DeLill has been doing the

[1:03:14] construction or the design and

[1:03:16] engineering and um uh Brown Brothers

[1:03:19] Construction has done the actual work on

[1:03:21] site and they've been fantastic. They're

[1:03:23] based out of Lowa.

[1:03:26] And so here's a um bird's eye view of

[1:03:30] the existing takeout in the the

[1:03:33] construction area. Kendall, if you're on

[1:03:36] online, do you want to chime in here?

[1:03:41] » Yeah. Uh what are you what are you

[1:03:43] looking for?

[1:03:44] >> Oh, just if you want to talk about the

[1:03:46] site and Kendall's been based out of

[1:03:49] Blanding, so he's been boots on the

[1:03:50] ground for us.

[1:03:52] >> Yeah. I know it's it's been it's been

[1:03:53] great. The um Brown Brothers

[1:03:56] Construction got in and they moved dirt

[1:03:58] very quickly. Um we the the ramp is

[1:04:02] essentially finished other than we are

[1:04:05] waiting for the surface mat uh a block a

[1:04:09] concrete block mat to arrive from back

[1:04:12] east. And that's that's what we're

[1:04:14] waiting on. So the project is is nearing

[1:04:18] completion. They the contractors say

[1:04:20] that they'll need about a day or a day

[1:04:22] and a half of work uh once the mat the

[1:04:25] matting arrives for them to be

[1:04:27] completely finished.

[1:04:31] Thanks, Kendall. Here's that

[1:04:33] articulating block mat that Kendall was

[1:04:36] talking about here. Um it's supposed to

[1:04:38] really help uh provide a sustainable

[1:04:41] ramp solution to get back down to the

[1:04:44] water.

[1:04:46] And this is the reason why we are here

[1:04:49] today requesting additional funding to

[1:04:51] help support and cover the bases to wrap

[1:04:53] up and complete the project. Um due to

[1:04:55] freight costs and that this is a

[1:04:57] material that's not locally sourced or

[1:05:00] product that's not locally sourced,

[1:05:02] we've had to um the the project cost has

[1:05:06] increased a little bit. You'll also see

[1:05:07] that there's um I think there's a

[1:05:10] handout at the front that kind of breaks

[1:05:11] down the costs. Um due to some of the

[1:05:14] geotechnical complications on site,

[1:05:16] there's some added jersey barrier just

[1:05:17] for added safety. Our boating program

[1:05:20] was able to contribute some funding for

[1:05:21] ongoing geotechnical monitoring to

[1:05:23] ensure that the site is safe and

[1:05:25] sustainable. Um and so we're here today

[1:05:27] to just um request funding to help uh

[1:05:30] the get the project over the finish

[1:05:32] line.

[1:05:34] Um here's a a photo um from April, so

[1:05:38] last month. It's already May if you can

[1:05:39] believe it. Um, and we actually have a

[1:05:41] party that was getting out of of the

[1:05:43] water here. Um, and Kendall and I were

[1:05:46] able to meet with um, some of the guides

[1:05:47] and outfitters and the National Ability

[1:05:49] Center and some other folks um, to help

[1:05:52] kind of prep them on what to expect on

[1:05:54] the site when they're taking boats out.

[1:05:55] And one of the people said, "You know

[1:05:57] what? We are so excited from National

[1:06:00] Ability Center." They said, "We have not

[1:06:01] been able to do programming down

[1:06:02] Cataract Canyon because the the boat

[1:06:04] ramp has been so so terrible. And so

[1:06:07] this is the first time we're going to be

[1:06:08] able to start bringing that programming

[1:06:10] back. So that means veterans, people

[1:06:12] with mobility limitations are able to

[1:06:14] now access this river for the first time

[1:06:17] in a while. So really, really gratifying

[1:06:19] to hear about that. Um the project's

[1:06:22] almost done. And yeah, this was just a

[1:06:25] fun visual um to look at where we were

[1:06:28] in 2023 when we first started kind of um

[1:06:32] coordinated state support to to help

[1:06:35] improve the access year and now where we

[1:06:37] are right now until the delivery of of

[1:06:39] the block map. So, we've got live um

[1:06:42] project updates on our website if you're

[1:06:46] interested in following along.

[1:06:51] another photo and the the funding

[1:06:53] request. Happy to take any questions.

[1:06:57] >> Just a quick note, there will be uh

[1:06:59] ribbon cutting June 4th. Um obviously

[1:07:02] anybody who wants to go and attend,

[1:07:04] you're welcome, but uh it's probably

[1:07:06] going to be in the news just like a lot

[1:07:07] of the projects that this group has has

[1:07:09] already approved in years past. The

[1:07:11] Colorado River pathway that was just in

[1:07:13] the news last week with Governor and UD

[1:07:15] do and their project to connect there.

[1:07:18] Um, Forest Road 85 up American Fort

[1:07:20] Canyon was was high-profile in the news.

[1:07:22] So, the work that this commission does

[1:07:24] is is recognized by a lot of folks. But

[1:07:27] this this one has been a long time

[1:07:29] coming and uh not not without some real

[1:07:32] tenacity from from Carly and Kendall.

[1:07:34] And so, well done.

[1:07:39] » Thank you, Joey. We appreciate your

[1:07:42] updates on this. It looks It's nice

[1:07:44] seeing the pictures and the uh the

[1:07:46] progress that's made for government

[1:07:48] work. That's pretty quick. So, it's

[1:07:51] pretty good.

[1:07:52] >> Took us 20 years, but now that we we

[1:07:54] have

[1:07:55] >> once we got on it, it went pretty quick,

[1:07:57] right? So,

[1:07:58] >> y

[1:07:59] >> All right. Uh thank you. Does Does uh do

[1:08:02] any commissioners have any any questions

[1:08:03] for Carly?

[1:08:07] » I think we'll get to that later on.

[1:08:10] Yeah. And when we get to agenda item

[1:08:12] number six,

[1:08:13] >> Jason, um, if I could number two in the

[1:08:16] is that the request on the back? Uh, it

[1:08:19] says additional boat ramp, Matt. And

[1:08:21] sorry if I missed this in your

[1:08:23] presentation, but did you change the

[1:08:26] project like covering more ground or is

[1:08:28] it just an increased costs?

[1:08:30] >> It's increased cost due to complexities

[1:08:32] on the site. Um, we actually did our

[1:08:34] best to try to shrink the we had our our

[1:08:39] constituents wanted a 30- foot wide ramp

[1:08:41] and we had to shrink it down to about 16

[1:08:43] feet um just due to the site

[1:08:45] complexities. Um, but there was still

[1:08:47] some overages with the freight and the

[1:08:48] material costs and I think Kendall can

[1:08:51] help me out if I'm missing anything

[1:08:53] there. Yeah, I mean we another effort

[1:08:55] that we made was the the map material um

[1:08:59] is not going to cover the full 16 foot

[1:09:02] width of the of the travel area. It's

[1:09:06] only going to cover 10 feet um down the

[1:09:09] middle, which everybody everybody

[1:09:11] involved, the contractor, the engineer,

[1:09:13] Carly, myself, we we feel like that's

[1:09:15] sufficient um for the traction and for

[1:09:17] the stability, but we've even we've even

[1:09:20] gone so that far to try to reduce the

[1:09:22] costs as much as as we could.

[1:09:26] >> Yeah, and I apologize. Yeah, you were

[1:09:28] right. We we do need a motion at this

[1:09:30] point. We're I was reading the agenda

[1:09:32] wrong. So, um, somebody would like to

[1:09:35] make a a motion.

[1:09:37] >> There there's a question online, too.

[1:09:38] Commissioner Taylor has his hand raised.

[1:09:40] >> Oh, go ahead.

[1:09:41] >> I

[1:09:42] >> Yeah, I don't have a question. I I I I

[1:09:45] love this project and I'm glad to see it

[1:09:47] going forward. Um,

[1:09:50] we do a lot of good things in this

[1:09:52] commission and I'm really pleased with

[1:09:53] this. Pleased that we're getting it

[1:09:55] done.

[1:09:57] >> Thank you, Commissioner. Would anybody

[1:10:00] else like to uh have any questions,

[1:10:02] comments?

[1:10:02] >> I have a question. So,

[1:10:05] do we have where will the additional

[1:10:07] funds come from? Will they come from the

[1:10:10] new fiscal year's OI bucket of money or

[1:10:15] >> they can come out of the prior fiscal

[1:10:16] year? So, the current there was a little

[1:10:18] bit of a rollover from funding last that

[1:10:21] kind of lapsed through. Um, so there's I

[1:10:25] think we had a a meeting with our

[1:10:27] finance manager. there was 3.5 that

[1:10:29] wasn't spent or had uh come back into

[1:10:32] the account. So I think we can utilize

[1:10:34] that from the last fiscal year and

[1:10:36] everything else will roll into this

[1:10:38] upcoming cycle and fiscal year. Did that

[1:10:42] answer your question?

[1:10:43] >> Yeah, that that helps a lot because it

[1:10:46] it's one thing to be as supportive in

[1:10:49] concept when you have a project overrun.

[1:10:50] It's another thing to figure out how

[1:10:51] we're paying for it.

[1:10:53] >> Absolutely. You need to know those

[1:10:55] numbers. I appreciate that.

[1:10:58] Great question, mayor. If I can follow

[1:11:00] up. So, I appreciate, you know, trying

[1:11:03] to make it affordable and stay within

[1:11:05] the budget, but is there a desire to get

[1:11:09] more resources to get the full 16 ft?

[1:11:12] >> So, that's a really excellent question.

[1:11:15] So, the one of the reasons why this has

[1:11:17] been a hangup and a project that hasn't

[1:11:19] come to fruition for over 20 years is

[1:11:21] because it's technically not an official

[1:11:23] asset as identified by the National Park

[1:11:25] Service. And so because of the

[1:11:27] hydraology in the canyon, they're

[1:11:29] wanting to actually make a more

[1:11:31] permanent longtime sustainable ramp up

[1:11:35] upstream of where this site is. And so

[1:11:38] if just because of the hydraology in the

[1:11:40] canyon, there could be a pretty

[1:11:41] significant rapid that forms just

[1:11:44] upstream in which case that this site or

[1:11:47] this particular ramp that we've put

[1:11:49] state resources into might not be

[1:11:51] accessible. When that will happen, it's

[1:11:53] hard to say. We don't know. But because

[1:11:55] this is a key a key access point that

[1:11:58] kind of unlocks this regional guiding

[1:12:00] economy um and ecosystem there if it it

[1:12:03] was um important for the state to to

[1:12:06] step in and and be involved. So the park

[1:12:08] service is is um going to create a a a

[1:12:11] north height ramp um that'll be more

[1:12:14] longterm just upstream. So yeah, we

[1:12:17] wanted to keep it simple and improve the

[1:12:19] access for the time being. We are not

[1:12:20] sure exactly the the timing on that

[1:12:23] other ramp. So,

[1:12:28] » good question.

[1:12:30] >> Any other questions or we'll we'll look

[1:12:32] for a motion?

[1:12:34] >> I'm prepared to make a motion that we

[1:12:36] approve the additional funding the

[1:12:38] additional cost for the um the boat ramp

[1:12:41] of $140,200.

[1:12:45] » I'll second that.

[1:12:46] >> We have a second. Thank you. Um the

[1:12:50] motion is that we approve the uh funding

[1:12:52] request to cover the remainder of the

[1:12:54] project costs for the Northwash boat

[1:12:56] ramp of $140,000

[1:12:59] $140 thou,200.

[1:13:02] Um.

[1:13:04] >> All in favor say I.

[1:13:06] >> I.

[1:13:08] >> And those against.

[1:13:10] >> Okay. I rule that passes unanimously.

[1:13:12] >> Thank you for your support of the

[1:13:14] project. I'm excited to see you all

[1:13:15] again in the fall with hopefully some

[1:13:16] more more good updates.

[1:13:18] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:13:19] >> Just one thing on that. I hope they have

[1:13:20] a video so we can watch people back down

[1:13:23] that [laughter]

[1:13:25] >> there's already a video on on YouTube of

[1:13:27] someone that was so excited about the

[1:13:29] project that they they filmed the

[1:13:30] construction.

[1:13:31] >> Those are fun videos to watch. People

[1:13:32] trying to back down that don't know how

[1:13:34] [laughter] to back down.

[1:13:35] >> Hence the Jersey barrier, which thank

[1:13:38] you for for funding the Jersey Barrier.

[1:13:40] >> There we go. Yeah, if you can find that

[1:13:42] YouTube video and send it out to us.

[1:13:44] >> Absolutely.

[1:13:45] >> All right. Thank you. Um, so we have

[1:13:49] that. We're going to go to uh agenda

[1:13:51] item 6B.

[1:13:54] Uh, uh, Patrick Morrison again. Thanks,

[1:13:57] Patrick.

[1:13:58] >> It's me again. Um, so I'm just going to,

[1:14:00] uh, introduce our two commissioners here

[1:14:02] to present. Make sure I'm on the right

[1:14:04] slide. So, um, you may remember, I think

[1:14:07] it was in the January meeting last year,

[1:14:09] you granted me, uh, some authority for

[1:14:12] contract modifications. I believe it was

[1:14:14] 10% of the award up to 20,000 scope of

[1:14:16] work changes that didn't, you know,

[1:14:18] really alter what the project was

[1:14:19] awarded for and then like budget line

[1:14:21] items that don't, you know, necessarily

[1:14:23] change any uh total award. Um, this one

[1:14:25] I I think is an example of what I feel I

[1:14:27] wanted to bring them in to make the

[1:14:29] formal request for your approval. I felt

[1:14:30] this one exceeded my authority. Um, so

[1:14:32] just a little background, this was award

[1:14:34] um not this most recent cycle, but the

[1:14:36] 2425 year um for the Mud Springs Trail

[1:14:39] System phase two. Um phase one uh has been great. Um it got a um awards

[1:14:45] from our recreational trails program and

[1:14:46] our Utah recreation grant. Um so this

[1:14:49] was going to be the continuation of

[1:14:50] that. I don't want to kind of step on

[1:14:51] the presentation and and they drove all

[1:14:53] the way down here uh to present. Um but

[1:14:55] more just kind of want to introduce um

[1:14:57] Commissioner Winfield from Grant County,

[1:14:58] Commissioner Man from San Juan County.

[1:15:00] Um this has been a great partnership

[1:15:01] between the two counties and and I guess

[1:15:03] I'll just kind of let you take it away.

[1:15:04] Um so this is just a scope of work

[1:15:06] adjustment. This is not a funding

[1:15:07] adjustment. Um but just here for your

[1:15:09] approval. So, please take it away.

[1:15:17] » We might fight over who gets the

[1:15:18] clicker.

[1:15:19] >> Right. Will you guys uh introduce

[1:15:21] yourself and and tell us who you

[1:15:23] represent as well as you get as you get

[1:15:25] started?

[1:15:25] >> Sure. Thank you.

[1:15:26] >> I'm Commissioner Lorie Man and I

[1:15:28] represent Sanan County.

[1:15:30] >> And I'm Commissioner Bill Winfield and I

[1:15:33] represent Grand County. Um before we get

[1:15:36] started, I would like to thank you for

[1:15:38] that Northwash boat ramp because that

[1:15:40] industry that you were talking about

[1:15:42] that that's our counties, right? So

[1:15:45] that's that's huge for the boating

[1:15:47] community and I know my commissioner

[1:15:49] Martinez, fellow commissioner, has

[1:15:51] worked on that long and hard for years.

[1:15:53] So we're very excited even to see the

[1:15:56] YouTube videos of somebody backing down

[1:15:58] it.

[1:15:59] >> And actually I was there a couple months

[1:16:01] ago. Commissioner Martinez and I went

[1:16:03] down there and said, "Yeah, what a

[1:16:04] need." So to see those pictures now,

[1:16:06] it's great. So thank you as well.

[1:16:08] >> Yeah. So So this mud spring system that

[1:16:13] started there, the phase one has been

[1:16:16] completed other than just a little tiny

[1:16:18] portion which will be completed this

[1:16:22] year before the NIKA races start. The

[1:16:25] problem that existed is after phase one

[1:16:28] was built, they hadn't put a whole lot

[1:16:30] of thought or had a construction

[1:16:32] manager, anybody involved and the road

[1:16:34] system to get into this, which will

[1:16:37] handle up to, I'm told, 5 to 10,000

[1:16:41] people will come to these Nika events,

[1:16:44] these high school races.

[1:16:46] That that was kind of left out of the

[1:16:48] plan. And so what we're trying to do is

[1:16:50] pivot and take money from phase two that

[1:16:53] would enlarge the trail system and be

[1:16:56] able to use that to build the road and

[1:17:00] the um

[1:17:02] >> parking lot

[1:17:02] >> parking lots. And just for a little bit

[1:17:06] of

[1:17:08] um I don't know what I'm trying to say

[1:17:10] here to show you the size of those

[1:17:12] parking lots. A football field is very

[1:17:15] close to an acre and so we have 15 acres

[1:17:19] that we have to prepare in parking alone

[1:17:24] and it's out in basically it isn't a

[1:17:27] sand dune because it's growing sage

[1:17:29] brush and tim tumble weeds but we've got

[1:17:32] to prep that land and then put a base

[1:17:34] down for all these people to come in and

[1:17:37] be able to be participate in these

[1:17:39] races. And so there's an ex pretty

[1:17:42] extensive amount of money that's going

[1:17:44] to have to go into the infrastructure to

[1:17:46] open this up. And a lot of the costs are

[1:17:50] borne by the two counties. We're doing

[1:17:52] as much inind as we possibly can with

[1:17:55] our road departments. Um Todd Adair from

[1:18:00] San Juan County and Cody McKini from

[1:18:02] Grand County are participating in those

[1:18:04] efforts where the expense is coming in

[1:18:08] as the surface that's needed to put

[1:18:10] down. It's an extremely clay area out

[1:18:13] there, sandy clay. And so that it's

[1:18:16] going to require a rock subbase as well

[1:18:18] as then a road base on top of that.

[1:18:21] We've also collaborated quite a bit.

[1:18:23] Feel free don't let me do all the

[1:18:25] talking with you Dodd who's helping us

[1:18:28] with the majority of the road work not

[1:18:30] all of it the inind is coming from the

[1:18:32] counties but they are also helping with

[1:18:34] the surface on the road itself

[1:18:37] and so we've worked with Jared Beard and

[1:18:40] Dan Hinckley mostly the two of them I

[1:18:42] know there's a few others that have been

[1:18:43] involved but

[1:18:45] >> so the other problem we have is when you

[1:18:48] um in San Juan County if you're heading

[1:18:50] if you're coming south and headed north

[1:18:53] there's a an area called um Blue Hill

[1:18:56] and you descend down and then you turn

[1:18:59] to get into the access in that mud

[1:19:00] springs area and it's just very very

[1:19:04] dangerous and UDOT has approached us

[1:19:06] several times about shutting that

[1:19:08] ingress into that. So the the reason for

[1:19:12] moving this road is to move it further

[1:19:14] down for safety. It's more cost

[1:19:16] effective to move that down further than

[1:19:19] to do a turning lane for them. So,

[1:19:22] that's another thing we've been working

[1:19:23] on is trying to get this access better.

[1:19:25] And oh, yep, there's our slide. And you

[1:19:27] can see that when you come in, if I Yep.

[1:19:30] Right there access, that's the danger

[1:19:33] point. And what we're ending up doing is

[1:19:36] coming clear down to this cross section

[1:19:39] here

[1:19:41] is all the new road being built in

[1:19:44] there.

[1:19:45] >> So, when you're trying to turn right,

[1:19:46] those those trucks are what's on your

[1:19:50] tail basically. and it's really

[1:19:51] difficult to make a turn, right? And

[1:19:53] then you're slowing everyone down

[1:19:55] behind. So it's it's like we said, it's

[1:19:57] a dangerous access to come into. So

[1:19:59] that's hence the change of the road.

[1:20:05] So we're basically here just asking you

[1:20:07] to allow us to divert the phase 2 funds.

[1:20:10] And it's possible that we don't use all

[1:20:13] of them. Whatever isn't used up will

[1:20:15] then go back towards phase two in in the

[1:20:18] future there. But currently what we have

[1:20:20] is some worldclass Nika racecourses that

[1:20:23] we don't have access to get people

[1:20:26] safely into. And so that that's what our

[1:20:29] ask is today is to be able to use funds

[1:20:31] that you've already

[1:20:33] approved but to use them towards the

[1:20:36] infrastructure that'll be required

[1:20:38] there.

[1:20:40] >> Any questions?

[1:20:45] » I don't have a question, Mr. chairman,

[1:20:47] but um I help uh coach a local mountain

[1:20:51] bike team and so I'm familiar with the

[1:20:52] Niker races and the vast amount of

[1:20:55] people that um a Niker race uh puts out

[1:20:58] for one of these races, which is both a

[1:21:01] blessing to a community when the

[1:21:02] mountain bike community descends to buy

[1:21:04] stuff in your your area um and use hotel

[1:21:08] rooms and all of those things, but also

[1:21:10] it's it's a lot of people that show up

[1:21:12] all at once um to to get to these areas.

[1:21:16] is. And so, um, I can absolutely

[1:21:19] understand how it would it would back

[1:21:21] up, uh, a highway, um, with a lot of of

[1:21:25] vehicles coming from all different parts

[1:21:27] of the state to attend the races, um,

[1:21:29] based on the regions. And I'm sure

[1:21:31] you're hosting multiple weekends in a

[1:21:33] row u, as well, because that's usually

[1:21:35] the goal of a of a NIKA facility. So,

[1:21:37] that would that would mean that you'd

[1:21:39] have multiple weekends throughout the

[1:21:41] fall season where you

[1:21:42] >> are experiencing those same safety

[1:21:44] issues. So, we just want to validate

[1:21:46] that having been to many Nik races that

[1:21:49] um you travel in a pretty big pack.

[1:21:53] >> That's what we

[1:21:54] >> with with a lot of equipment.

[1:21:55] >> Yes.

[1:21:57] >> And we we currently have two Nika races

[1:22:00] scheduled for this this fall at this

[1:22:02] place. So,

[1:22:03] >> I think I'll be at one of them.

[1:22:06] >> Oh, great. Join us.

[1:22:08] >> All right. Um

[1:22:11] any other questions, Natalie?

[1:22:13] >> Yeah. Um

[1:22:15] just a question about the funds you're

[1:22:18] redirecting from phase two. What won't

[1:22:22] be done as a result of that? Is it the

[1:22:24] additional trails that are being that

[1:22:25] would have been built during the phase

[1:22:27] two?

[1:22:28] >> So we'll just have to reapply to get

[1:22:30] that expansion of the phase 2 trails,

[1:22:33] but phase one does the trail system for

[1:22:35] phase one does us no good if we don't

[1:22:37] have the infrastructure in. So yes.

[1:22:40] >> Yeah. And it seems like you just need

[1:22:42] that critical access point again

[1:22:45] >> um to be able to have them access those

[1:22:47] areas and those trails especially for

[1:22:48] the Nik races as

[1:22:50] >> Raj

[1:22:51] maybe I'm not going backwards. I was

[1:22:53] just going to show you but that that cut

[1:22:55] off that's in there currently

[1:22:58] >> UD do wants to close that down

[1:23:00] completely because it is such an unsafe

[1:23:03] >> access there for either direction

[1:23:06] >> to get into that. So that little portion

[1:23:08] will eventually be closed off right at

[1:23:11] the highway so that people can't get in

[1:23:13] and out of there.

[1:23:15] >> And phase one in its current completion

[1:23:17] already allows for Nika to come in

[1:23:20] >> without wait

[1:23:22] >> trail system itself is built up enough

[1:23:25] to allow for a Nika raceourse.

[1:23:27] >> Yes. Yes. the trail system is completed,

[1:23:31] >> but we just don't we can't we can't park

[1:23:33] people

[1:23:34] >> in those parking lots without the the

[1:23:37] infrastructure in

[1:23:41] » Thank you. Yeah, I had I had kind of

[1:23:43] similar question. I'm glad she asked it.

[1:23:45] Um I just pulling I'm just pulling up

[1:23:47] the code here on what what is approved

[1:23:49] because um we've had a lot of pe I

[1:23:52] believe in the past we had a lot of

[1:23:53] people saying, "Hey, we need roads." And

[1:23:55] it's like, "Okay, this isn't a road

[1:23:56] thing, but Uh, I just want to clarify

[1:23:58] for the the commission u what a rec what

[1:24:02] the code says is a recreational

[1:24:04] infrastructure project.

[1:24:06] I think this would qualify but just just

[1:24:10] let's let's let's get it on record here.

[1:24:12] So recreational infrastructure project

[1:24:15] means an undertaking to build, improve

[1:24:18] or restore and approve facility,

[1:24:20] installation or natural feature needed

[1:24:24] for the public to access and enjoy the

[1:24:26] state's outdoors. So recreational

[1:24:29] infrastructure project may include the

[1:24:32] establishment, construction or

[1:24:33] renovation of a trail, trail

[1:24:35] infrastructure or a trail facility.

[1:24:37] Construction of a project or restoration

[1:24:40] of a water body for a water related

[1:24:42] outdoor recreational activity.

[1:24:44] Development of a project for a wildlife

[1:24:47] watching opportunity including bird

[1:24:49] watching. Development of a project that

[1:24:51] provides a winter recreation amenity.

[1:24:54] construction or improvement of a

[1:24:56] community park that has an amenity for

[1:24:58] outdoor recreation and construction or

[1:25:00] improvement of a naturalistic and

[1:25:03] accessible playground. So I don't

[1:25:06] >> furthermore

[1:25:07] >> go ahead.

[1:25:08] >> What section is that?

[1:25:09] >> Um it's

[1:25:12] um this one.

[1:25:13] >> Yeah. 78 79-2

[1:25:16] >> and and more specifically in the outdoor

[1:25:17] venture fund um very explicitly in in

[1:25:20] 519 909 902 um subject to appropriation

[1:25:24] the money from the account may be used

[1:25:26] for construction upgrades replacement

[1:25:29] acquisition and then E under three E

[1:25:32] providing access from state highways so

[1:25:34] pretty pretty clear

[1:25:35] >> so yeah so yeah we're I think we're good

[1:25:38] >> thank you Patrick

[1:25:39] >> yeah so u at this point are there any

[1:25:42] other questions or

[1:25:48] comments.

[1:25:50] All right, at this point we'll look for

[1:25:52] a motion. Somebody would like to make

[1:25:54] that one.

[1:25:55] >> Natalie, go ahead.

[1:25:56] >> Yeah, I'd be happy to make a motion to

[1:25:58] approve the Mud Springs Trail System

[1:26:02] phase 2 scope change.

[1:26:03] >> Okay. Do we have a second?

[1:26:06] >> Mr. Chair, I'd second.

[1:26:10] » All right.

[1:26:11] >> Multiple seconds,

[1:26:12] >> Mr. Taylor. Thank you for the second.

[1:26:14] All right. The motion is that we approve

[1:26:16] the the phase 2 scope change for the mud springs trail system. All in favor

[1:26:23] say I.

[1:26:24] >> I.

[1:26:27] >> And those against. All right. I rule

[1:26:29] that pass unanimously. Thank you.

[1:26:31] >> Thank you.

[1:26:32] very much.

[1:26:33] >> Thank you.

[1:26:35] >> Okay.

[1:26:38] >> I just turned it off myself. Okay. So,

[1:26:40] um, well, thank you, uh, for joining our

[1:26:43] make make meeting. Uh, before we close

[1:26:45] the meeting, uh, I've been told to make

[1:26:48] sure that everyone remembers to mark

[1:26:49] their calendars, uh, for the our next

[1:26:53] for the our second and potentially final

[1:26:56] outdoor adventure commission meeting for

[1:26:59] ORI project approval on Monday, November

[1:27:03] 16th from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. So, uh, all

[1:27:08] right, we'll be looking for, uh, one

[1:27:10] final motion.

[1:27:15] All right. Uh, motion to adjurnn. All in

[1:27:17] favor say I. Thank you. I I

[1:27:21] >> We are adjourned. Thank you.

Outdoor Adventure Commission 5/4/2026

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