The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) applauded California’s legislature in recognizing the power of the state’s growing $92 billion outdoor recreation economy by passing AB 1918, the bill to create the Office of Sustainable Outdoor Recreation. Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia authored the bill, and it was coauthored by Assembly Members Wendy Carrillo, Frank Bigelow, Kansen Chu, James Gallagher, Marc Levine, Rudy Salas Jr., Jim Wood and Catherine Baker.
“A state-level Office of Sustainable Outdoor Recreation will lead to increased participation in the outdoors by a broad range of Californians as well as a healthy environment for companies involved in our outdoor recreation economy,” said Matt Lyon, president and CEO of Oakland-based HydraPak. “We’re excited to see the focus on this important sector that provides over 690,000 jobs throughout California.”
“OIA looks forward to working with this new Office of Sustainable Recreation to support California’s outdoor recreation economy, the largest of any state,” said Amy Roberts, executive director of OIA. “We also want to thank the legislative authors and coauthors, as well as our California members who urged their legislative leaders and administration officials to support this office and the recreation economy of California.”
Once the office is up and running, Outdoor Industry Association will work closely with the office to further advance the outdoor recreation economy in California. OIA will also continue its work across the country, identifying other states interested in taking a leading role on supporting their local outdoor recreation economy.
AB 1918 now heads to Governor Brown for his signature.
