Eureka to host California's first Outdoor Economy Summit, June 3-5

Eureka is set to become the state’s testing ground for whether trails, parks and stewardship can generate more than scenery. Cal Poly Humboldt will host California’s first Outdoor Economy Summit June 3-5 at the Adorni Center, alongside Redwood Region RISE and Humboldt County’s Economic Development Division, with the business question centered on jobs, visitor spending and new revenue for rural Humboldt.

The scale behind that question is already large. Cal Poly Humboldt says outdoor recreation generates $81.5 billion in value added and supports more than 545,000 jobs in California. Nationally, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says outdoor recreation accounted for 2.4% of U.S. GDP in 2024, equal to $696.7 billion in value added. The numbers help explain why camping, RV travel, fishing, festivals and trail use are now being treated as economic drivers, not just lifestyle amenities.

For Humboldt County, the local case is just as concrete. Caltrans says tourism activity brings in more than $400 million a year for restaurants, hotels, bars, shops and related businesses. Humboldt County also has Redwood National Park and more than 10 California state parks, a landscape that already draws visitors to Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, McKinleyville and the coast. County economic development priorities also point to the industries most likely to benefit if outdoor spending grows, including arts, hospitality and tourism, forestry and logging, and aquaculture and fisheries.

The summit also fits into a wider infrastructure play around the Great Redwood Trail. State Sen. Mike McGuire’s office describes it as a 320-mile, multi-use rail-to-trail project linking San Francisco and Humboldt Bays, with a master plan that covers 231 miles in Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt counties. If more of that corridor comes together, local businesses will be looking for more than foot traffic. Outfitters, lodging operators, food service businesses and small retailers in places such as Redway and Weitchpec will be watching for whether trail users stay long enough to spend.

Policy is part of the equation too. Assembly Bill 2578, introduced Feb. 20, 2026, would allow the California Natural Resources Agency to enter into a statewide agreement with a public recreation access and outdoor economy support organization. The bill is meant to help expand funding, trail corridors, youth programming and technical assistance, while supporting Outdoors for All, Jobs First and the state’s joint strategy for sustainable outdoor recreation and wildfire resilience. That strategy also elevates Native governments, communities, peoples and priorities, an emphasis that fits Humboldt’s tribal landscape.

Cal Poly Humboldt says the summit will bring together leaders from the California Natural Resources Agency, the North Coast SBDC, Nevada’s Division of Outdoor Recreation and Earth Economics, which has conducted several statewide recreation analyses over the past decade. Genevieve Marchand, the summit coordinator and a recreation administration professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, is steering the event toward a practical goal: turning the North Coast’s public lands and recreation assets into a stronger, more resilient local economy.