Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation DIY Economic Impact Program, 2025 reports released

Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation DIY Economic Impact Program

In mid-January 2026, Governor Tony Evers, along with the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation, released five reports from the 2025 cohort in the Do-It-Yourself Economic Impact Program, which Harbinger developed and delivers in collaboration with the Office. 

As part of the 2025 program, five teams analyzed the visitation and spending patterns of biking, fishing, hiking, boating and other activities at destinations within Dane, Door, Iron, Oconto, Oneida and Vilas counties and found local economic contributions of:

  • Heart of Vilas County Bike Trail System: $25.7 million;

  • Olbrich Botanical Gardens: $20.1 million;

  • Peninsula State Park new mountain bike trails (preliminary): $1.3 million;

  • Three Eagle Trail: $2 million; and

  • Oconto County, which studied the spending patterns of visitors across various outdoor activities, found that anglers spent the most, averaging over $2,000 per group per trip.

Read the reports from the 2024 and 2025 cohorts and, if you're from Wisconsin, learn more about how you can be involved in the 2026 cohort here.

Through the DIY program, Harbinger works with the Office to support communities—at whatever pace and depth they are ready for—to explore the process of collecting and analyzing visitor data to calculate economic impact. The most in-depth is a nine-month practicum where community teams receive one-on-one coaching and technical assistance as they collect visitor data, conduct an analysis and create a final report.

Sunflower Trails: Paving the Way – From Blazing Trails to Building Community Grant Program

Harbinger will support three cohorts of Kansas communities through a trail-focused initiative funded by the Sunflower Foundation. The Paving the Way – From Blazing Trails to Building Community grant program—central to Sunflower's support of trails over the years—that trails are not just recreational amenities, but also contributors to health, connection, and local vitality.

Sunflower is supporting three cohorts of communities at different stages in their trail development: 

  • Communities pursuing their first public trail, or emerging trail champions advancing new public trail projects;

  • Communities with existing trails seeking to elevate impact and diversify users/supporters; and

  • Communities along rail trails that wish to pursue a Trail Town model and certification in a new Trail Town program being developed in concert with Kansas Trails Inc.

With this cohort, we are combining training, coaching, and peer exchange to strengthen trail community efforts — and Sunflower is providing $10,000-$25,000 grants to support the work.

Pennsylvania Outdoor Ambassador Program Launches

Pennsylvania Outdoor Ambassador Program Launches

Harbinger provided research support for the development of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Ambassador Program, which was created in by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC). The purpose of the program is to provide training, resources, and a peer network for those who interact with visitors to the region’s outdoor spaces.

Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation Releases Five Community-Generated Economic Reports

Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation Releases Five Community-Generated Economic Reports

On January 15, the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation released the first reports from the Do-It-Yourself Economic Impact Report program — a pilot to assist local governments and nonprofits in identifying the local value of outdoor recreation. The reports detail millions of dollars in economic activity generated by visitation to outdoor destinations across Wisconsin.

Harbinger assisted with the workshop series and one-on-one coaching for community teams that collected and analyzed visitor data to estimate the economic contributions of the City of Eau Claire’s paved trail system, Dodge County Parks and Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center, the Cheese Country Trails in Lafayette County, Nine Mile County Forest in Marathon County and WinMan Trails in Vilas County.

Free Webinar — Building a Trail-Friendly Community: Three Things You Can Start Today

Free Webinar — Building a Trail-Friendly Community: Three Things You Can Start Today

Michele Archie and Amy Camp (Cycle Forward) explored what it means to be a trail town (hint: you don’t have to be part of an established program) and how communities can benefit from building stronger connections with trails and trail users. This free American Trails webinar introduced three simple, concrete strategies to engage communities, entice locals and visitors, and take the next steps toward making the most of outdoor recreation and trails.

Creating Regional Markets for Artisan Grains Solutions Roundtable

Creating Regional Markets for Artisan Grains Solutions Roundtable

The Artisan Grains Marketing Solutions Roundtable (November 6, 2024) was hosted by the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center with assistance from Harbinger’s Michele Archie and colleagues at the Western Community Assessment Network.

Growing markets for climate-resilient artisan grains requires working together — growers, processors, distributors, buyers. It can also mean building support and investment in processing, infrastructure, product development, marketing, and other things that could involve other partners—financial institutions, individual investors, economic developers, nonprofits, community groups, local governments and others.

Harbinger Builds Online Community Platform for Economic Recovery Corps

Harbinger Builds Online Community Platform for Economic Recovery Corps

In August 2023, 100 finalists in the selection process to host one of 65 Economic Recovery Corps fellows took part in a 6-week accelerator to refine proposed project plan, learn more about the practical aspects of hosting a fellow, and engage with peers from across the country. Harbinger helped build an online community platform to connect the group, provide a central place

WeCAN Rural Mental Health Solutions Roundtable

WeCAN Rural Mental Health Solutions Roundtable

Harbinger helped plan, promote and facilitate the Rural Mental Health Solutions Roundtable organized by the Western Community Assessment Network (WeCAN) on February 8, 2024. The 1/2-day virtual gathering drew participants from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and 35 other states. Like the housing and workforce solutions roundtables that came before it, the Rural Mental Health Solutions Roundtable was aptly named, with a focus on what's working in small towns and rural communities.

Report on the Economic Benefits of Ag Conservation Easements

Report on the Economic Benefits of Ag Conservation Easements

Harbinger contributed to the Working for Montana Agriculture: Economic Benefits of Conservation Easements for Montana’s Farms, Ranches and Communities report. The idea for this report—produced by the Montana Association of Land Trusts, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Heart of the Rockies—was spawned by a cohort of Montana participants in our Tell the Economic Story of Your Trails and Conserved Lands Without Hiring an Economist course.

Michele Archie speaks at the Sunflower Foundation "Powered By Trails" event

Michele Archie speaks at the Sunflower Foundation "Powered By Trails" event

From January through April 2022, Harbinger guided participants from 16 Kansas communities through a curriculum of weekly sessions focused on trail user and visitor research, economic impact and community benefits analysis, and how to communicate using data. Harbinger principal, Michele Archie, spoke at the culminating event on April 27 on the topic of Using Data to Move Bodies, Hearts and Minds.

Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Rural Community Bootcamp Wraps Up

Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Rural Community Bootcamp Wraps Up

The WeCAN Community Bootcamp wrapped up on April 13. This four-week program helped six ad hoc, cross-sector teams from small communities in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming fast track a priority community project. The focus was on placemaking, youth development, beautification, events, and other projects that often don’t get done unless community members take the lead. Harbinger helped design and facilitate this inaugural bootcamp, which will be offered again in Fall 2022.

Countdown to 2026 webinar series with Washington-Rochambeau heritage groups

Countdown to 2026 webinar series with Washington-Rochambeau heritage groups

On April 6, Harbinger principal Michele Archie met with a group of partners of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in the first of two meetings, focused on gathering data and translating economic value so that it can be understood and leveraged for informing and influencing stakeholders and the community. Taken together, the two sessions will cover a lot of ground: understanding heritage tourism, the kinds of economic and community values associated with it and how heritage organizations, museums and historical sites, and local communities and businesses can collect visitor data and other information, analyze it and use it to benefit their work.