n October 2022, Chaffee County Commission passed into law first-of-its-kind regulations to allow for “commercial camping on private lands.” This new ordinance, adopted as part of the county’s land use code update, creates an administrative permitting opti...

Tourism and outdoor recreation are driving new opportunities for local communities in many rural places. Analysis of recent news articles and solutions shared with Aspen CSG by rural practitioners provide perspective on how to do economic development diff...

Almost every winter in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a moose drowns in an artificial pond in someone’s backyard when it breaks through a soft spot in the ice above an aerator. If the moose is lucky, Wyoming Game & Fish Department arrives in time to lasso it arou...

Well, 2022 has come and gone, and it was quite the year! Like many of you, we're looking back on what we accomplished over the last twelve months and looking hopefully toward 2023. Despite being a small program, we kept very busy and are excited to sha

American ranchers and wildlife have long been entangled with another. As a lifelong observer of human and animal behavior, about ten years ago I began investigating these entanglements to determine what was missing from the conservation toolkit and see if...

Besides taking steps to limit sprawl and congestion, ensure affordable housing, and provide a range of pedestrian and transit options, successful gateway communities find ways to control the visual clutter that follows population growth and booming touris...

Growing up in the west, wildfires were a normal part of every summer. I remember seeing devastating images on the nightly news showing acres of burned forest, fire crews creating breaks with pulaskis and mcleods, airtankers dropping retardant on soon to b...

Has your community been considering adopting a Glamping Ordinance? First of all, what is Glamping? Glamping is modern terminology used to define “glamorous camping”. Glamping developments are situated in the outdoors and more exposed to the elements than...

In 2017, professor Philip Stoker from the University of Arizona and I launched a major study to document and begin to understand the planning and development challenges in western gateway communities. At that time, there was no common term or typology for...

Hi, I’m Stephanie Smith, an urban planning grad student specializing in small towns and recreation economies at University of Arizona. I want to share a GIS approach to mapping commutes with you that has helped me and the GNAR Initiative research team I w...

During my time as a graduate student in the City and Metropolitan Planning program at the University of Utah, I have had the opportunity to learn, listen, and work with practitioners working within gateway communities. Through these interactions, it has b...

In mid-February 2022, the U.S. Economic Development Administration provided a major update on their “Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation” funding opportunity, which aimed to support communities that have economic development potential through outdoor ...

My colleague Fran Faulkner and I conceived of the idea to do research on the connection between outdoor recreation and community and economic development on Amtrack’s California Zephyr from Green River, Utah. We were ending a mountain bike hut trip from D...

Most people become engaged in land use issues when someone next door plans to do something that could change the neighborhood – like building an asphalt batch plant to serve the growing need to pave roads for increased traffic.  They are often totally una...

I chose Dover, Idaho as a case study for my book, Pushed Out: Contested Development and Rural Gentrification in the US West, because its transition from bustling mill town, to economically depressed former mill town, to “upscale” waterfront community seem...

As part of our six-part "How to Shred GNARly Problems" webinar series this past spring, the GNAR Initiative partnered with our friends at Granicus and Host Compliance to put together a webinar all about short-term rentals. Using data gathered from over 10...

Have you read your local tax policy lately? Mark Twain said, "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read," and Joe Minicozzi is on a mission to make sure communities read and understand where their funding comes from.

The GNAR Initiative team is excited to announce that we are launching a flagship multi-year study to explore interconnected housing, transportation, and land use challenges and strategies in western gateway communities. Our hope in undertaking this study ...

I first learned about Gateway to Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) communities in a workshop class right after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. My interests had previously focused on “urban” areas; dense, developed, spaces where society had completely tran...

What are a community’s capital assets? Anything tangible and depreciable that a community funds. Things like roads, sewer and water systems, vehicles, and buildings are all considered capital assets for a community. A large portion of a community’s budget...

From Amsterdam to Zion National Park, destinations around the world are speaking up about being “loved to death,” a feeling that visitor behavior is actually damaging the very features that make a destination desirable. Many North American GNAR communitie...

Aspen, Colorado, an elite resort community in the Rocky Mountains, has one of the largest affordable housing programs in the nation. So what can other resort communities that face a shortage of affordable options learn from Aspen?

Researchers and practitioners need to effectively engage with a wide audience, and one of the best ways to communicate data and information is through maps. Maps improve our understanding of gateway communities in a few ways. The connections and linkage

Gateway and Natural Amenity Regions (GNAR) across the American West have experienced unprecedented social and economic change as a result of the pandemic. What was once a steady stream of international tourists has now completely dried up.

What is the GNAR Initiative Toolkit?

Welcome to the GNARly Blog!! We are excited to launch this blog to provide a space for people living in and working with gateway and natural amenity regions across the west to share their challenges, opportunities, strategies, and lessons learned with eac...

As a small program, we kept busy and are excited to share some highlights from our work. Below you'll find an overview of our spring webinar series, a complete list of GNARly blog posts, links to our four new toolkit pages, and highlights from our recent ...