From the mountains of the Tennessee Valley to the shores of the Gulf Coast, and every part in-between, our state is second to none within the nation on the subject of lovely outside and recreation.
Whether or not it’s tenting and climbing throughout Alabama’s state parks, fishing our streams, rivers, coastlines and bays, or looking in our state’s sprawling forests – there may be really one thing for everybody who has a love and appreciation for the outside.
However Alabama’s pure magnificence is about extra than simply recreation. It’s a highly effective financial asset – and one that’s more and more central to our state’s capacity to compete for expertise in a quickly altering financial system.
At present, when people and households are deciding the place to stay, one of many first questions they ask is easy: What’s the high quality of life? And a serious a part of that reply is entry to out of doors recreation. Folks need to know if they will bike on scenic trails, paddle down clear rivers, hike by means of preserved lands, or spend weekends looking and fishing. They need to stay in locations that permit them to unplug, recharge, and join with nature.
Alabama is uniquely positioned to satisfy that demand. We now have the pure assets that individuals throughout the nation are trying to find – however we have to be intentional about leveraging them.
Every year, Alabama produces extra proficient graduates than ever earlier than. But too a lot of these younger folks depart our state seeking alternatives and life they consider they can’t discover right here. If we’re critical about retaining that expertise, and attracting new expertise from outdoors our borders, we should absolutely embrace and promote what makes Alabama particular.
That’s precisely what we’re doing by means of Innovate Alabama, a statewide public-private partnership targeted on entrepreneurship and financial development. As Chairman of the Outside Recreation Committee, I’ve seen firsthand how our pure property have gotten one among our strongest instruments on this effort.
Innovate Alabama acknowledges that expertise drives financial growth. And expertise right now is cell. Younger professionals, entrepreneurs, and innovators are selecting the place to stay based mostly not solely on job alternatives, however on way of life. By elevating out of doors recreation as a central a part of our price proposition, we’re exhibiting that Alabama affords each.
And it’s working.
We’re listening to straight from entrepreneurs and younger professionals who’ve launched companies by means of Innovate Alabama packages that entry to our outside, and the standard of life it creates, has been probably the most compelling causes they selected to construct their future right here. They’re discovering that in Alabama, they don’t have to decide on between profession success and a top quality of life. They’ll have each.
That may be a highly effective message, and one we should proceed to amplify.
We now have been blessed with unimaginable pure assets. Now, we should proceed to put money into them, defend them, and guarantee entry to them. By doing so, we aren’t solely preserving our heritage, however we’re constructing our future.
On the Alabama Division of Conservation and Pure Sources, we’re dedicated to increasing entry to out of doors recreation alternatives throughout the state. Since 2017, we now have invested greater than $500 million in out of doors recreation entry enhancements! Whether or not it’s bettering our state parks, enhancing trails and waterways entry, or conserving vital habitats, our work is straight tied to Alabama’s long-term financial success.
By working in partnership with Innovate Alabama, we will proceed to place our outside as a cornerstone of our development technique, serving to us retain the proficient younger individuals who would possibly in any other case depart, whereas attracting new people and companies who’re in search of a spot to thrive.
Alabama’s nice outside are greater than some extent of delight. They’re a aggressive benefit. And if we proceed to lean into that benefit, we are going to make sure that our state stays not solely an exquisite place to go to, however among the finest locations within the nation to stay, work, and construct a future.
Chris Blankenship, Alabama Division of Conservation and Pure Sources commissioner and chairman of the Innovate Alabama Outside Recreation Committee
