The economic outlook of the great outdoors
Make Me Smart
Marketplace
4.6 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Are you team camping or glamping? On today’s show, we’re checking in on the outdoor recreation economy in the Western United States. KUNC’s Mountain West News Bureau reporter Rachel Cohen joins Kimberly to unpack the pressures facing the industry, from climate change to Trump administration policies. Plus, will President Trump’s new $100 foreign tourist fee hurt national parks?
Here’s everything we talked about today:
- "The Mountain West’s outdoor economy continues to grow – but pace may be slowing" from KUNC
- "Ski resorts gain year-round adaptability in Forest Service rule" from KUNC
- "Visits to national parks dipped slightly in 2025—after a record-breaking year" from KUNC
- "Forest Service plans to move D.C. headquarters to Salt Lake City" from KUNC
We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This Marketplace podcast is supported by Fay Grie Drinker, one of the largest law firms in Minnesota, |
| 0:06.4 | with nearly 300 Minneapolis attorneys helping clients solve complex legal issues in meeting their goals in the Twin Cities and Beyond, |
| 0:15.2 | Faygriddrinker.com. |
| 0:25.6 | Hello everyone. I'm Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us. |
| 0:29.6 | Welcome to the weekend. |
| 0:31.6 | Thank you if you were joining us on the YouTube live stream, or if you're listening later on the podcast. |
| 0:35.6 | Clearly, we all need it to be the weekend. |
| 0:38.1 | This is Economics on Tap, our weekly happy hour episode, and it is that time of year when the weather is getting nicer. |
| 0:45.0 | Even though we had some rain in D.C. today, it's warmed up and it's nice now. And lots of people |
| 0:50.3 | want to get outdoors. So maybe you're planning a camping trip or planning to go hiking. |
| 0:56.2 | Today, we wanted to use the moment to check in on the state of the outdoor recreation |
| 1:01.1 | economy in the United States. And here to talk about this with me is Rachel Cohen. She's with |
| 1:06.5 | the Mountain West News Bureau for KUNC in Colorado and is joining us from Boulder. Welcome to the show, |
| 1:11.9 | Rachel. Hi, thanks for having me. We're going to talk a little bit about the outdoor economy in a bit, |
| 1:19.2 | but first, of course, we have to start with drinks. What are you drinking today? |
| 1:24.8 | Okay, so I have a pineapple sour. It's actually from a local brewery here called |
| 1:32.7 | Weldworks in Greeley, Colorado. Okay. How does it taste? It is, it's definitely fruity, but like |
| 1:42.3 | more subtle than you would expect okay well i um was sort of |
| 1:48.2 | raiding my drawer here at the office to see what i could cobble together and so my cocktail |
| 1:53.1 | is a mix of um a lemon blueberry shrub and soju so cheers and welcome to the show. That looks so good. It is. It's nice and |
| 2:04.4 | summery and refreshing and I figured since we were talking about outdoorsy stuff, it kind of reminds me of |
| 2:09.8 | like, you know, foraging for wild blueberries or something like that, which feels like a bit of a vibe. |
... |
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