People who don’t know Pennsylvania can be forgiven for associating it primarily with its big, vibrant cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Those areas are indeed economic engines and cultural hubs.

But Penn’s Woods, the state’s vast outdoor resources, still are fundamental to the state’s character, economy and culture. And a solid body of evidence suggests that they are underappreciated, under-marketed and underused.

For example, even though a study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association found that tourism supports at least 6.5% of all jobs statewide and generates $43.8 billion a year in state and local taxes, the total state budget for the Pennsylvania Tourism Office is just $9.1 million, less than a third of the $29.8 million that the state budgeted in fiscal 2009.

The study estimated that the state lost $4.48 in state and local tax revenue for every dollar it saved in tourism promotion over that period.

Now the Shapiro administration has taken a modest step toward more aggressively promoting the portion of the state’s tourism draw connected to its natural assets.

The Office of Outdoor Recreation, budgeted at just $422,000 for its inaugural year, will work with state agencies that operate state parks and forests and other recreational assets, and private sector businesses to develop ways to improve parks, forests and other natural assets, and better promote them to increase visitation.

Already, according to state figures, outdoor recreation generates about $14 billion a year in economic activity statewide. The new office will work with the private and public entities involved in the industry to increase that economic performance and to use it as a catalyst for other sectors of the economy.

The agency will rely on successful operations such as the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, which helps to drive economic activity in the Pennsylvania Wilds, a wildly remote area of 2.1 million acres across 13 north central counties that fosters conservation- and recreation-related business development.

The idea behind the new office is to more effectively marshal existing private and state resources to attract more visitors and investment. It’s worthy exercise to make Penn’s Woods even more valuable.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre via TNS