After 2.5 years on the job, Brad Petersen, Utah’s first-ever director of Office of Outdoor Recreation, is resigning to work in the private sector.

His replacement has yet to be named.

Petersen was appointed by Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert during the August 2013 Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City. It was the first time a state had created a specific Office of Outdoor Recreation to recognize the industry’s economic and tourism benefits.

Since then, other states including Washington and Colorado have made similar moves. In June, Colorado named Luis Benitez head of its new Outdoor Recreation Industry Office. While, Washington commissioned a blue-ribbon task force on its parks and outdoor recreation.

In Utah, Petersen was part of a plan to ensure the long-term success of the state’s growing recreation economy. The office’s mission would be to shine a light on the overall social, health and economic impacts outdoor recreation has on the entire state and to find ways to grow that impact.

Petersen has focused on expanding and improving Utah’s outdoor recreational opportunities and assets to meet growing demand, as well as used those assets to attract domestic and international outdoor and non-outdoor businesses to the state. He was also a go-between with the Governor and outdoor groups, which sparred over controversial land-use policies, particularly concerning energy-resource drilling and mining.

Petersen helped pass a new Utah Search and Rescue Assistance card program, Created a 25-member Utah Outdoor Recreation Advisory Group, produced two, statewide Outdoor Recreation Summits and numerous industry collaborative events, and created the Utah Waypoint Recreation Infrastructure Grant Program to help fund rural and urban recreational infrastructure enhancement initiatives.  

“Only good can result from our continued focus on growing the recreation economy throughout the state,” Petersen said.

Petersen is departing state government to be CEO of Patriot VUE, a high-tech startup that allows commercial building owners and operators to visualize their buildings energy consumption in real-time in order to identify energy savings opportunities.

Petersen will assist in the transition as his successor is identified over the coming weeks.

–David Clucas