The GNAR Initiative provides education and learning resources through our GNARly Blog, webinar series, workshops, and classes aimed at building awareness and understanding of the unique experiences and concerns of gateway communities.
The GNARly Blog
The GNARly Blog is one way the GNAR Initiative hopes to spur inter-community communication and share stories and best practices from GNAR communities addressing challenges on the ground. These posts can be about lessons learned, case studies, model ordinances, new programs, or opportunities for collaboration within communities.
We are always looking for new topics and bloggers! To share your idea, download our blog guidelines and email liz.sodja@usu.edu.
A Dive into the Rural Economic Development Toolkit from the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable
In mid-February 2022, the U.S. Economic Development Administration provided a major update on their “Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation” funding opportunity...
Bringing the Public Up to Speed on Land Use Planning with a Story Map
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.
Can Outdoor Recreation Development Strategies Save Rural California?
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.
GNAR On the Road!
Hello GNAR community! My name is Jordan Katcher, and I have the privilege of working alongside the GNAR Initiative team. In my full-time role, I serve as Initiatives Facilitator within the Wallace Stegner Center’s Environmental Dispute Resolution (EDR) Pr
How to Develop and Strengthen Billboard Ordinances (And Why It Matters)
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
Webinar Series
The series brought together leading scholars, organizations, and practitioners to explore recent academic research, community experiences, and strategies related to amenity migration and related challenges and opportunities
This webinar brought together practicioners and experts around housing affordability and short-term rental management in gateway communities.
This series highlighted ways that GNAR communities can reimagine "planning" to empower their communities
The GNAR Academy
The GNAR Academy is an online learning library that seeks to fill in the gap between what community leaders have the capacity for, and what their communities need, by providing accessible training to help community leaders better understand their challenges, introduce them to resources and best practices for addressing them, and leave knowing how to better advocate for their own needs.
Learn more about GNAR Academy here.
Classes and Workshops
As full-time university faculty, most members of the GNAR Initiative team also teach undergraduate and graduate level classes at Utah State University and the University of Utah. Periodically, our staff also advise Masters and PhD level students in the areas of recreational resource management, bio and regional plannning, and city and metropolitan planning. These students play a critical role in our research projects and leave well-equiped for careers in GNAR communities.