05/28/2026
Last week I was able at attend the .ca conference and I have so many thoughts I’m still trying to process and put into words.
One thing I keep coming back to: if tourism and outdoor recreation are becoming major economic strategies for rural communities, then stewardship needs to become non-negotiable too. This isn't just about tourism companies this is about anyone that recreates outdoors.
Wildlife, water, trails, ecosystems, local communities, all of it is impacted by human presence, even when our intentions are good.
I say this as someone who runs an outdoor tourism business and is actively questioning parts of my own role in the industry too.
I don’t think the answer is shutting people out of nature. But I do think outdoor communities need to stop equating growth and access with sustainability automatically. I think that anyone in the outdoor industry whether it be a volunteer group, hiking guide, outdoor educator, mountain biker..got into it because of their deep love and respect for nature. But it can't just stop there. We need to look at what our impact does. Things like wildlife displacement, trail widening and erosion, increased waste, increased use, sensitive alpine damage, social media geotagging impacts, increased helicopter/recreation pressure.
I also think we need to hold governments and tourism bodies accountable for stewardship and sustainability because once places start being viewed primarily through an economic lens, it can become very easy to prioritize growth over protection.
We need to know the land intimately and see the impacts directly. Mostly hoping to start more honest conversations around what responsible recreation and tourism could actually look like moving forward.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully join in the conversation 🌲
