Explore Outdoors:
Go Urban!
Go Rural!
Go Wild!
Go North Florida!
The mission of Explore Outdoors is to promote Tallahassee and the surrounding areas (including Leon, Gadsden, Jefferson, Franklin and Wakulla counties) as a premier outdoor recreation destination by encouraging participation in the multitude of outdoor activities and lifestyles available in our region.
The initiative will focus on the following:
Promote – to inform and educate an existing outdoor activities and territorial assets. Primary activity is the development of an interactive map and calendar that will be available online. Promotion also includes outreach, which will actively reach out to the community and various populations within the region to encourage participation in and awareness of the physical, cultural, historical and educational outdoor opportunities of the region.
Create – to create new events or features related to outdoor pursuits. The flagship event will be an adventure race in August 2010 that will end with a celebration showcasing vendors, as well as live music, food and adult beverages. Smaller events would occur on a periodic basis and would be focused on different outdoor opportunities in the area each month.
Advocate – to encourage and support active lifestyles through advocacy for policy change, strategy development or support of new initiatives. Advocacy encourages the creation of development incentives, the incorporation of outdoor considerations in policy discussions, planning strategies, etc. It aims to create a channel to the political and business communities to encourage and support development of new outdoor and/or conservation focused business initiatives.
Sustain – to support the ability of this group to execute the other channels. Sustainability means pursuing funding and grant opportunities, sponsorships, recruitment and management of volunteers and establishing the legal structure for long-term maintenance of the group’s activities. This includes establishing an advisory committee and assisting with any logistical issues facing the other work streams.
For more information, contact Leslie Mille at lmille@cob.fsu.edu.
Catalysts: Leslie Mille, Doug Wheeler, Crystal Green, Casie Reinholt, Betsy Barfield, Lewis James, Sarah Wilson, Gerri Seay
Project Update – December 2010
Explore Outdoors Task Force
The Explore Outdoors initiative has created the Explore Outdoors Task Force, a partnership with Visit Tallahassee, to promote the Big Bend region as a premier outdoor recreation destination with world-class nature-based resources. The Explore Outdoors Task Force is designed to provide support towards a cohesive marketing effort that engages and educates tourists, residents, students, and businesses about the wealth of outdoor recreation and resources the Florida Big Bend region has to offer.
Abandoned Fields Adventure Race
The Explore Outdoors initiative has also created the Abandoned Fields Adventure Race, scheduled to take place on April 23, 2011. The race will be a non-stop expedition during which teams must complete a course from checkpoint to checkpoint as a group. Teams of 2, 3 or 4 will travel by methods such as biking, trail running, paddling, and orienteering facing various mystery elements. The event will also feature a post-race celebration in Midtown the same evening. For more information, visit http://www.abandonedfields.com.