It was an honor to accept the "Beehive Award of Excellence" on behalf of the GNAR Initiative and our online course: Understanding and Managing Short-Term Rentals at this year’s APA Utah Fall Conference. When the GNAR Initiative launched back in 2020, on

Hey there, friends! Today, I want to share an inspiring story about how our small town, Nevada City, faced a major challenge in protecting our community from the threat of wildfires. Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, we’re a charming historic...

As I’ve moved through the West—both personally and professionally—I’ve had the privilege of working alongside small communities to improve water and wastewater infrastructure. Through these experiences, I’ve developed a deep respect and affection for our ...

The work of the GNAR Initiative has always been one rooted in our team’s love for the vibrance, charm, and enduring character of gateway communities throughout the west. Although we tend to do this quietly, often our work gets noticed – and occasionally r...

Dr. Jordan Smith reflects on new research that challenges assumptions about the link between national park visitation, in-migration, and income trends in Western gateway communities.

Dr. Jordan Smith reflects on new research that challenges assumptions about the link between national park visitation, in-migration, and income trends in Western gateway communities.

Dr. Jordan Smith reflects on new research that challenges assumptions about the link between national park visitation, in-migration, and income trends in Western gateway communities.

Since the GNAR Initiative launched in 2020, one topic has surfaced over and over as a source of challenges and disagreement in gateway communities: short-term rentals (STRs). When we launched GNAR Academy last April, we hoped we'd someday be able to devel...

Across the western United States, small towns nestled near national parks and public lands are facing an unexpected dilemma. Once known for their scenic beauty and small-town charm, these gateway communities—places like Moab, Jackson, and Aspen—are now st...

Well, 2024 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 2025.

Western states are often characterized by a strong connection between clean water, abundant wildlife, productive agriculture, and cultural heritage, which has provided a high quality of life for generations. Planning for sensitive lands in concurrence wit...

Western states are often characterized by a strong connection between clean water, abundant wildlife, productive agriculture, and cultural heritage, which has provided a high quality of life for generations. Planning for sensitive lands in concurrence wit...

Between October 13-19, over 130 people converged on Moab, Utah. They came from universities, federal land agencies, state land agencies, local governments, non-profits, and the private sector, and they all had two things in common: They were dedicated to ...

Like many residents of amenity-rich communities in the Mountain West, I have witnessed drastic and swift changes in my community over the past decade that went into warp speed during and since COVID-19. Those changes include several catalogued on the GNAR...

In March, I travelled from Tucson to Southern California to visit the gateway communities around Joshua Tree National Park. Scraps is not allowed to hike around the National Park which is unfortunate for the both of us and the premise of “Scraps and Phil...

His name was Shamar – a bright, smiling, and contagiously positive (most of the time) fifth grader living in East New York, Brooklyn. Though possessing all the social skills a kid could ever hope for, Shamar was missing something. He couldn’t read...

In February, Scraps and I spent a few days in the gateway community of Sedona, Arizona. I’ve made the three(ish)-hour drive from the University of Arizona in Tucson up to Sedona many times in the last few years, and have always enjoyed staying in town and...

GNAR Researcher Dr. Philip Stoker and his cute little dog, Scraps, are travelling across the Western U.S. this spring and summer for his sabbatical research into gateway communities. This new blog series – "Philip and Scraps' GNARly Adventures!" – will hi...

Well, 2023 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 2024.

To help equip communities with tools and skills to help them navigate these challenges more effectively, the GNAR Initiative is launching a new program we’re calling the GNAR Academy. The GNAR Academy is an online course library that seeks to fill in t

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...

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...

What makes a Resilient Outdoor Recreation Economy? This was the subject of a panel during the 2023 Western Governor's Association annual meeting this past June.

In October 2022, Chaffee County Commission passed into law first-of-its-kind regulations to allow for “commercial camping on private lands.”

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.

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.

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...

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 news showing burning forests, fire crews creating breaks with pulaskis...

Has your community been considering adopting a Glamping Ordinance? First of all, what is Glamping? Glamping is modern terminology used to define “glamorous camping”.

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.

Hi, I’m Stephanie Smith, an urban planning grad student specializing in small towns and recreation economies at University of Arizona.

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.

In mid-February 2022, the U.S. Economic Development Administration provided a major update on their “Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation” funding opportunity...

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.

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.

I chose Dover, Idaho as a case study for my book, Pushed Out: Contested Development and Rural Gentrification in the US West...

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.

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.

I first learned about Gateway to Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) communities in a workshop class right after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

What are a community’s capital assets? Anything tangible and depreciable that a community funds.

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.

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.

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.

My father was a pretty firm believer that there wasn’t much worth seeing beyond the borders of the intermountain west.

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 ...