Oregon's Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan

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SCORP 2025-29 is open for your Review

The draft 2025-2029 Oregon Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) titled Balance and Engagement: Sustaining the Benefits for All Oregonians for public review and comment. A copy of the draft SCORP document and support documents are posted here:

SCORP 2025-29 Documents for Review

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) will accept comments until June 28, 2024.

Responses can be made through the following channels:

  • A comment feature on the above website
  • By email to Caleb Dickson at dickson@oprd.oregon.gov
  • By mail to Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, 725 Summer Street NE, Suite C, Salem, OR 97301, Attn: Caleb Dickson.

SCORP: Oregon's Outdoor Recreation Grant Tool

Oregon’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) provides necessary guidance for OPRD administered grant programs including the Local Grant, County Opportunity Grant, Recreational Trails, and All-Terrain Vehicle Programs.

Oregon’s SCORP is an essential tool for federal, state, and local units of government, as well as the private sector, in delivering quality outdoor recreational opportunities to Oregonians and out-of-state visitors.

Public Workshops

We recently invited comments and questions from the public, to ensure that our collected report is clear to users across our state. To that end, Virtual Public Workshops were held in February and early March, which were online and open to all. The 30-minute presentation session was recorded, viewable below. 

 

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Benefit #1

Identifying trends, options and opportunities for outdoor recreation in Oregon

A thorough understanding of Oregon residents’ and recreation providers’ needs. A wide-reaching survey of Oregon residents will explain recreation patterns and interests across the state, while an investigation of recreation providers and land managers will identify existing assets and areas for improvement.

 

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Benefit #2

Understanding the outdoor recreation economy in Oregon

Focused effort on managing conservation, inclusion, and economic success in Oregon. This SCORP seeks to highlight the outdoor recreation economy in Oregon, healthcare savings from recreation participation, the risks of overcrowding from visitors to delicate or protected ecosystems, and issues of equity and access to the outdoors.

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Benefit #3

Investing in outdoor recreation for Oregon

Established priorities for future spending and development for outdoor recreation. By providing documentation of the state of recreation in Oregon, SCORP will qualify recreation providers for Land and Water Conservation Funds programs, ensuring resources are directed to sustaining outdoor recreation in Oregon.

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2024-2028 SCORP

OPRD, in collaboration with CORE at OSU, is currently in the process of preparing a new five-year SCORP plan for the state. The plan will build on the contributions of previous plans by quantifying and identifying the ways in which outdoor recreation provides benefits to Oregonians.


Key Interests

The 2024-2028 SCORP is focused on informing outdoor recreation providers on how to better address barriers to recreation in Oregon. The report will focus on three themes that reflect some of the more salient issues in Oregon’s outdoor recreation landscape: the economic impact of outdoor recreation, balancing recreation with conservation, and equitable access to participation.

TOPIC 1: Outdoor recreation matters to Oregonians
Almost all residents of Oregon participate in outdoor recreation. In addition to providing enjoyment and adventure, these activities benefit Oregon by bolstering the recreation economy, while health benefits from outdoor activity reduce medical expenditures at the individual and state level. This SCORP will prioritize finding ways to keep Oregonians active outdoors while helping them save on health expenses and maintaining the tourism economy.
TOPIC 2: Resources are under pressure from over-crowding
With the rise in popularity of outdoor recreation in Oregon comes the risk of over-crowding outdoor sites. Crowded recreation areas can diminish the visitor experience and damage or disturb natural resources. This SCORP will identify ways recreation providers can work to minimize this pressure on natural areas while seeking out public opinion on the balance of recreation and conservation.
TOPIC 3: Participation in outdoor recreation is still not equitable
Recreation participation in Oregon has been shown to underrepresent racial minorities, people with limited incomes, and people with disabilities. This SCORP will seek out ways to provide equitably accessible recreation to all Oregonians. It will also look for ways to increase diversity in recreation organizational leadership as well as in outdoor spaces.

About Us

The Oregon Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan is made possible by a dedicated team of program directors, researchers, consultants, and committee members. Our shared love for the natural outdoors guides our team as we seek to empower others to build a more sustainable and accessible Oregon.

 

Research Team

 

Brady Callahan

GIS Coordinator

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Kate Porsche

Interim Director

Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy, OSU

Caleb Dickson

Research Analyst

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Erin Gaines

Government Relations and Consortium Manager

Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy, OSU

Lydia Gorrell

Research Assistant

Forest Ecosystems & Society, OSU

Chris Havel

Associate Director

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Wayde Morse

Associate Professor

Forset Policy Center, Auburn University

Dakota Nelson

Administrative and Operations Coordinator

Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy, OSU

Cailin O'Brien-Feeney

Director

Oregon Office of Outdoor Recreation

Dr. Randall Rosenberger

Department Head

Forest Ecosystems & Society, OSU 

ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

Kris Ammerman, City of Wilsonville, OR | Skyler Archibald, Oregon Recreation Trails Advisory Council | Dave Ballinger, Bureau of Land Management | Scott Bricker, Travel Oregon | Mark Buckley, EconNorthwest | Jon Burpee, National Park Service | Tracy Calizon, US Forest Service |Brady Callahan, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |Brian Carroll, Linn County Parks and Recreation | Caleb Dickson, OPRD | Laura Fredrickson, Oregon Department of Forestry | Roger Fuhrman, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife | Nick Green, John Day | Wesley Heredia, Vamanos Outside | Ross Hoover, City of Tualatin, OR | Liam Hughes, Oregon Recreation & Park Association | Steve Lambert, Jackson County Parks Office | Nicole Lewis, Oregon Metro | Fraser MacDonald, Oregon Recreation Trails Advisory Council | Kim McCarrell, Oregon Equestrian Trails / Deschutes Trails Coalition | Shelly Miller, OPRA / Eugene | Georgena Moran, Access for All, LLC | Wayde Morse, Auburn University | Josh Mulhollem, OSMB | Steph Noll, Oregon Trails Coalition | Darryl Ramsey, Outdoor Afro | Jahmaal Rebb, Oregon Department of Forestry | Melissa Rinehart, United States Army Corps of Engineers | Jackie Rochefort, City of Corvallis, OR | Ryan Singleton, Department of State Lands | Alan Thompson, Oregon Department of Transportation | Kelly Chase Veach, US Forest Service | Michael Yun, Knot Design


Planning Timeline

 

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2019-2023 SCORP

The 2019-2023 Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, entitled Outdoor Recreation in Oregon: Responding to Demographic and Societal Change, constitutes Oregon’s basic five-year plan for outdoor recreation. You can read the executive summary here.

 

 

 

Supporting Documentation

2017 Oregon Resident Outdoor Recreation Survey

The full report for the statewide survey of Oregon residents regarding their 2017 outdoor recreation participation in Oregon, as well as their opinions about park and recreation management.

Learn more.

See All Other Docs

There are numerous reports, analyses, and plans that are published in support of the development of Oregon's SCORP. Each of these provides a critical lens into the needs and issues within outdoor recreation in Oregon.

Learn more.

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Who We Are

The Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy is dedicated to advancing research and curriculum development, technical skills training and leadership programming for the U.S. outdoor industry.

Learn more about our team.

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Contact Us

We'd love to hear from you. Contact us at outdooreconomy@oregonstate.edu.


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