A report of Partners Outdoors 2006 held January 8-11, 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona entitled “Making the Toolbox for the Great Outdoors a Gold Mine for Enhancing Recreation Opportunities on Public Lands”is now available in PDF format. To view the report, conference schedule and action team reports, click here.

This was the 15th gathering of Partners Outdoors which was initiated in 1992 to draw together tomorrow’s leaders from federal recreation-providing agencies and the recreation industry in order to reinforce an awareness of the interdependence of the two sectors, and to catalyze partnership-based actions to better serve recreation visitors to public lands.

Highlights of Partners Outdoors 2006 and a preview of the primary work product of the group – a new web-based reference guide to funding and other resources available to enhance recreation opportunities on public lands – were the subject of a two-hour broadcast on January 12th from the Bureau of Land Management’s National Training Center. The program is available now to the public by webcast. Viewers will need at least version 9 of Windows Media Player to view the program. To access the program, [click here]. For a Segment Index, [click here].

On January 8-11, 2006, key figures in America’s recreation community – top federal and state agency representatives, recreation industry executives, and non-profit recreation leaders drawn from both the public and private sectors – will be gathering in Phoenix for three days of sharing and brainstorming at the fifteenth annual conference of Partners Outdoors. Their goal will be to harness the power of new recreation tools to connect 21st century Americans to public lands and to enhance the way great experiences for visitors are delivered.

Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, will give the keynote address. Also participating are Fran Mainella, Director of the National Park Service; Dale Hall, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Tom Dyer of the Bureau of Land Management; John Keys, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation; Steve Stockton, Deputy Director of Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, USDA Forest Service and top private sector officials.

Date: January 8-11, 2006

Location: National Training Center, Bureau of Land Management 9828 North 31st Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85051 (602) 906-5531

Four Points by Sheraton Phoenix Metrocenter 10220 North Metro Parkway East Phoenix, Arizona 85051 (602) 997-5900 Fax (602) 943-6156

Theme: Assembling a comprehensive guide to programs that can supplement appropriated funding to enhance recreation opportunities and visitor services on and near America’s public lands and then developing on-going efforts which will (1) disseminate understanding of these tools and provide assistance in their usage, (2) refine, strengthen and improve these tools and (3) continually “grow” a library of examples of the use of these tools available to federal program managers and their partners.