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A first-ever rally of directors of newly formed state outdoor recreation offices at the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show last week hopes to champion recreation as the next economic engine for rural and urban communities from coast to coast.

鈥淭he first step yesterday is just the beginning of a great, great march and it takes all the stuff everyone here is working for and it takes it from being just an idea into a movement and it抖阴ap a movement that is not Republican and Democrat, it is American and it抖阴ap global,鈥� said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, kicking off the largest-ever gathering at the Colorado Convention Center last Thursday.

Hickenlooper鈥檚 outdoor recreation boss, Luis Benitez, corralled his colleagues from across the country. The like-minded leaders from a diverse array of eight states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Vermont and North Carolina 鈥� are the country鈥檚 first state recreation chieftains, highlighting outdoor experiences as a step toward economic vitality and sustainability.

Last week, the recreation industry鈥檚 inaugural G8 Summit forged the Colorado Accords, a first-step platform of shared principles that outlines how outdoor recreation can anchor economic development and foster conservation and stewardship of public lands. The group also established a framework for training workers and promoting outdoor recreation as a path toward improving public health and wellness.

鈥淚鈥檓 a little in awe how nimbly we moved toward saying, 鈥榊ep, we are going to continue to ratify this by spring. We are going to have a working common platform that we can all say out loud,鈥� said Benitez, who assigned each state recreation chief with a mission of identifying their state鈥檚 best practices, which became a springboard for developing the coalition鈥檚 emerging platform.

Utah, hardly a bastion of liberalism, was the first state in the union to create an outdoor recreation office. Utah lawmakers last year implemented a new Outdoor Recreation Fund that delivers $5 million a year over the next five years to support the state鈥檚 Outdoor Recreation Grant program, which invests in trails, campgrounds and other recreation projects to bolster the state鈥檚 $2.8 billion outdoor recreation industry. A big part of that effort was the state鈥檚 outdoor recreation office showing legislators how other states were growing their outdoor recreation scene.

鈥淚t抖阴ap a friendly arms race,鈥� said Jon Snyder, the outdoor recreation and economic development policy adviser to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, joking that he was spotlighting his neighbor Oregon鈥檚 鈥渁wesome tourism promotion to try to leverage more鈥� funding for Washington’s recreation-boosting efforts.

The recreation bosses have a shared history of playing outside. More than a few once lived out of their cars so they could be closer to mountains, rivers and oceans. Today, they are captaining a national movement that shifts economic reliance away from extractive use of natural resources and toward a less consumptive use, where experiences in wild lands count as much as mining, drilling and logging.

The group is quick to dismiss any notion that they are looking to supplant traditional economies.

鈥淚t抖阴ap not a replacement. It抖阴ap a diversification for rural economies,鈥� said Michael Snyder, a former lift operator turned forester who now heads the Commission of Vermont Forests, Parks and Recreation. 鈥淲e are utterly dependent on what we call our working landscape — our farms and forests 鈥� and the rich tradition there. Recreation is utterly consistent with that. It’s win-win.鈥�

Washington鈥檚 Snyder said recreation is an addition to economic portfolios that can entice new businesses and new residents.

鈥淎nd it doesn鈥檛 have to be at this cost to any of the other industries. It can enhance all those other industries,鈥� said Washington’s Snyder, noting how rural Republican districts in his state are starting to consider and install taxing districts to support new trails and parks. 鈥淓ven in very anti-tax areas, there鈥檚 a consensus that this is really necessary for the future.鈥�

No more is the effort of diversification more evidenced than in Wyoming, a conservative stronghold where extractive industry rules. The Republican governor there last fall created the state鈥檚 first office of recreation with hopes of adding more economic fire to the state as it weathers yet another downturn in its energy sector. The Outdoor Industry Association last year found outdoor recreation generated $5.6 billion for Wyoming and supported 50,000 jobs.

鈥淚 don’t care what it is, I don’t think anything will ever get to the level of what our extraction industry is in Wyoming, but at the same time if we are not thoughtful in the way we diversify, we can really lessen the troughs to help us weather some of these downturns,鈥� said Dominic Bravo, head of the state鈥檚 new recreation office who has enlisted energy industry titans such as Anadarko as partners in growing his state鈥檚 recreation-based economy.

Broadening partnerships like that is key, say the recreation champions. And that means getting energy, timber and mining companies on board the recreation movement. After all, most of those extractive industry workers also play outside.

鈥淭he recreation community in Montana works beautiful with the timber industry on issues. In Montana there is a ton collaboration between user groups,鈥� said Rachel VandeVoort, who built a career in the firearms industry before taking the reins at Montana鈥檚 nascent office of outdoor recreation.

In many ways, the nascent group鈥檚 push to create a state-brewed political recreation movement is a matter of messaging. Don鈥檛 think the eight are proposing low-paying hourly jobs when they talk about sparking rural economies with recreation. This is about highlighting amenities that lure doctors, professionals and families to small communities. Each of the state recreation chiefs have examples of former mining or logging towns — such as Utah’s Orangeville and Montana’s Philipsburg 鈥� that have transformed into thriving communities as they embrace recreation.

The eight leaders acknowledge they are challenged by traditional businesses that might see the emergence of recreation as threat that could limit energy or commercial development.

鈥淭here are lot of entities out there who do not want gatherings like this to continue. They don’t want to see states align from different political stripes on a common platform and agenda because that synergy is a threat to keeping us siloed,鈥� said Benitez, who hopes to hold biannual gathering of state recreation bosses as more states form recreation offices. 鈥淲e are beyond a great start. We are there. The train has left the station.鈥�

The hope is that states can bring change as the federal government wallows in partisan politics. By highlighting how recreation can foster economic growth, the protection of public lands and public health, the outdoor industry can deliver more than a spark to revive rural communities across the country.

鈥淲hen you apply this culture to these policy principles, that抖阴ap what makes this truly transformational,鈥� said Vermont抖阴ap Snyder.