WHEREAS, Vermont's landscape of forests, farms and human communities and their associated outdoor recreation opportunities are major reasons why people visit and live in Vermont; and

WHEREAS, in Vermont, outdoor recreation accounts for 34,000 direct jobs and $2.5 billion in consumer spending; and

WHEREAS, our natural, cultural and physical recreation assets can and should be leveraged to sustain, grow and drive economic development in all sectors of Vermont's economy with particular attention to the segment that includes outdoor recreation industry businesses that are most closely aligned with the State's outdoor recreation brand; and

WHEREAS, those recreation assets must be wisely managed and strengthened, not only to grow the economic development potential of this sector, but to sustain and enhance the value of the Vermont brand, the experience of visitors to Vermont and Vermonters' quality of life;

WHEREAS, there exists a broad set of outdoor recreation stakeholders but no platform for collective focus for accomplishing major efforts in this regard; and

WHEREAS, it is important to establish a mechanism to identify and engage outdoor recreation businesses and other stakeholders to create a Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative ("VOREC") for purposes promoting prudent stewardship of State recreation assets and marketing the outdoor recreation values and attributes of Vermont to effectively foster economic growth.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, Philip B. Scott, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of Vermont, do hereby create the VOREC Steering Committee ("VOREC Committee"), as follows:

I. Composition and Appointments

The VOREC Committee shall be comprised of no more than fifteen members to be appointed by the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation from inside and outside of government in consultation with the Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development ("ACCD"), with the approval of the Governor. The State members shall include the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation or designee who shall serve as Chair and the Secretary of ACCD or designee. Non-State members shall include five representatives from companies within Vermont's outdoor recreation industry, one representative from a Vermont nonprofit conservation organization, two representatives from the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council, one representing motorized recreation and one representing non-motorized recreation, three representatives from other Vermont nonprofit recreation organizations and two at-large members with experience in other Vermont economic development initiatives and/or outdoor recreation planning.

The VOREC Committee may, in its discretion, establish working groups to support its mission, drawing membership from any agency or department of State government or private/non-profit entity. The VOREC Committee may, at its discretion, engage with private sector professionals in order to develop and implement the goals of this Executive Order.

The VOREC Committee shall receive administrative and staff support from the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and ACCD.

II. VOREC Charge and Process

The VOREC Committee shall be advisory to the Governor. The VOREC Committee shall meet at the call of the Chair. The VOREC Committee shall adopt bylaws for governance of its meetings and engagement of the greater Collaborative before July 1, 2017. The VOREC Committee shall identify and engage a broad set of outdoor recreation businesses and other stakeholders for purposes of creating the VOREC. The VOREC Committee shall develop a strategy and specific action plan with measurable outcomes to, at a minimum, address the following:

VOREC will report all findings and recommendations to the Governor on or before September 15 of each year, beginning September 15, 2017. VOREC will advise the Governor on the effectiveness of this Order on the development and implementation of VOREC initiatives.

III. Effective Date

This Executive Order shall take effect upon execution.

Dated June 15, 2017.