t Moab, Utah, and Sandpoint, Idaho u are two of the most popular tourism lo- cations in the western gateway region.
cross-university, interdisciplin - ary hub, which we now call the GNAR Initiative and which was adopted into USU IROT in 2020. Describe the GNAR toolkit and how gateway communities are using it? The toolkit is GNAR in action. We’ve curated case studies, tools, templates, and other resources that cover a wide range of top - ics—including sustainable tour - ism, short-term rentals, water conservation, historical preserva - tion, housing affordability, and a lot more. For example, there’s a “Dark Skies Toolkit” that pro - vides best practices and certifica - tions for conserving dark skies in natural areas. There are webinars about communities that have found innovative solutions to things like affordable housing for tourism industry employees (a
Q & A Jake Powell Co-director, GNAR Initiative Extension Specialist Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
T he Gateway and Natural Amenity Re - gion (GNAR) Initiative—hosted at Utah State University’s Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism (USU IROT)—helps western gateway communities like Moab, Utah; Lake Tahoe, California; and Sandpoint, Idaho, preserve the things that make them special and ultimately thrive as they manage their unique challenges. In this Q&A, Jake Powell—GNAR Initiative co-di - rector and assistant professor of landscape archi - tecture and environmental planning at USU—dis - cusses the need for GNAR, how it works, and the impact it’s having on the tourism industry as well as on the quality of life in gateway communities. Why did USU Extension create the GNAR Initiative? Many USU faculty work, live, and play in gateway
first thing we did was host a series of listening sessions. We brought gateway community leaders, organizations that support gateway communities, and state and federal government partners togeth - er to discuss the status of gateway communities and identify gaps in knowledge or resources that the GNAR Initiative could fill. These listening sessions not only provided in - formation and identified immediate needs, they helped us establish a network of thought partners who have supported and guided GNAR through its evolution and growth.
chronic challenge). And there are tools that public officials can use to communicate with the public positively and effectively. The content comes from a variety of public, educational, and nonprofit sources as well as from USU Extension, and we are constantly expanding the toolkit to meet the needs of the communities we serve. How did you determine which community challenges needed to be addressed most? One of the guiding principles of the initiative has always been to “diagnose before intervening.” The
Utah State University jake.powell@usu.edu
communities and have experienced the challeng - es associated with living in and visiting these places. In 2018, Dr. Danya Rumore—a researcher and professor in the University of Utah’s law and planning programs—proposed a hub of resources and research that would help gateway commu - nities overcome these challenges. Because com - munity development is a key Extension focus area, we worked with Dr. Rumore to create a
52 The NET Effect | Extension Foundation/NTAE
Extension Foundation/NTAE | The NET Effect 53
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