The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) recently held a first-of-its-kind meeting with the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR).
The meeting brought together all of the land and water management agencies and leading outdoor recreation and technology companies to advance collaboration on recreation data, technology and access.
ORR President Jessica Turner said the discussion marked important stakeholder engagement by the FICOR and focused on how improved data sharing, interoperability and public-private partnerships can enhance visitor experiences, support land management decisions and strengthen outdoor recreation economies across the country.
“Outdoor recreation is one of the most powerful tools we have to support public health, local economies, and our natural resources,” Turner said. “This meeting represents an important step toward aligning how government and industry use data and technology to expand access and improve outcomes for communities and public lands and waters alike.”
ORR Senior Program Director Ambreen Tariq said federal agency participants highlighted ongoing efforts to implement the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (Explore) Act, including a coordinated approach to reporting recreation data across agencies. A pilot project was proposed on federal sites nationwide to improve recreation visitation estimates.
“Better data leads to better decisions,” Tariq said. “By working together, we can move toward a more connected recreation ecosystem where agencies, businesses and communities have the information they need to improve access, manage resources and meet growing demand.”
Industry leaders emphasized their ability to complement federal data efforts by providing anonymized, aggregated insights that can help validate trends and improve decision-making, while maintaining strong privacy protections.
Tariq said, “this work must also address key challenges, including differences in data collection across agencies, the need for clear privacy and compliance guardrails and barriers to integrating federal systems with state, local, and private recreation platforms.”
ORR said the conversation also identified key challenges to be addressed moving forward by agency leaders and industry partners to create more interoperability and data validation.
The meeting with the FICOR, which was formally reestablished by the Explore Act, was a key outcome of ORR’s Outdoor Recreation Technology & Innovation Summit last year.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the FICOR as Explore Act implementation advances,” Turner said, “ensuring that innovations deliver for businesses, agencies and the millions of Americans who recreate on public lands and waters every year.”
