Regional Outdoor Recreation

Regional Trail Connections

An Outdoor Industry Association report concludes that outdoor recreation accounts for 6.1 million direct American jobs, drives $646 billion in direct consumer spending each year, and creates $39.9 billion in federal tax revenue and $39.7 billion in state and local tax revenue. 75

Building on the success of whitewater paddling sports in promoting tourism and economic development downtown, Columbus has invested heavily in developing bicycling and multi-use trails to diversify the outdoor recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. The Columbus Dragonfly Trails System currently comprises 34 miles of trails across the city that promote recreation, transportation, and interaction. In addition, Fort Moore currently hosts more than 20 miles of publicly accessible trails. Following the hub-and-spoke model discussed above, adjacent communities are already seeing the value of extending this system through Harris County, north of Columbus, and Russell County to the west. Other efforts in Chattahoochee County were just starting up as the RVCCD project began. Public input during the RVCCD planning process indicated strong support for taking a regional approach to this trail network to attract more attention and resources to it. A large regional trail network is far more attractive to visitors than an assortment of separate, unconnected trails. As the trail system gets built out, communities in the region can adopt a joint marketing and outreach plan to create a shared identity.

The RVCCD planning team identifi ed this growing effort as a prime mechanism to support compatible land use patterns in the region. The expansion of the trail network serves two important functions: (1) providing important corridors for protected habitat, and (2) making the lands conserved part of a growing local industry, thereby adding to their value. Growing the outdoor recreation economy in the region creates an economic incentive for communities to invest in conservation and draws a clear connection between the natural resources in the landscape and the future economic and social prosperity of the region.