Governor's office proposes $1 million recreation access study to map rural gaps

Matt Ryan, a fellow in the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, outlined a proposed statewide recreation access study and a recommended $1,000,000 budget line to finance it. He said the study would be issued by RFP and is intended to identify where access can be improved, collect better visitation data and propose project priorities over roughly a 12‑month period. "There's a million dollars recommended for this upcoming fiscal year to, you know, finance the study and [it] should take approximately 12 months," Ryan said.

Ryan told commissioners the idea grew from the governor's office "guiding our growth" work and repeated public feedback collected in nearly 40 stakeholder conversations. He said the study aims to “not only a list of projects, places, pinpoints where there could be access improvements... but also possible new opportunities to collect data and better understand where people are going.”

Commissioners pressed on scope and oversight. Several commissioners said much of the commission's strategic plan already addresses access and asked how the new study would avoid duplication. Ryan and staff said the study would be collaborative: if funded the program would be managed by UDOT with substantial input from the Division of Outdoor Recreation and the commission. "If it is [funded], then it would be a program that UDOT leads, but we are helping shape that study together," Ryan said.

Members also questioned whether $1,000,000 is the right amount. Ryan cautioned that cost depends on scope: if the study remains narrowly focused on physical access points the price would be lower; if it expands to comprehensive data collection, planning and outreach, the work could justify a larger budget. Commissioners asked staff to provide more detail on deliverables and how the commission's existing priorities would be aligned with the study before the January appropriations discussion.

Next steps: commissioners asked staff to circulate a detailed scope and to accept suggestions from members ahead of the committee's January deliberations. The commission did not approve funding at the meeting; the item was presented for awareness and to solicit input.