For the first time the Powell Economic Partnership has an Americorps volunteer focusing on outdoor recreation, and considering the surveys, listening sessions and hike reviews, it shows.

“Having a VISTA dedicated to outdoor recreation makes logical sense for PEP,” executive director Rebekah Burns said. “We are so happy that Kiran joined in our efforts and is pushing the needle forward to help execute PEP’s vision and long-term goals for outdoor recreation.”

Kiran Darai’s main goal for his year of service is to research and identify gaps and opportunities for outdoor rec in Park County, Burns noted. He is doing this through pop-up survey events, interviews, focus groups and participating in the Park County Outdoor Rec Collaborative. Additionally, throughout his year of service he has been doing activities like hiking, rafting, skiing, biking and has motorsports planned for this spring.

He has even documented these experiences, some of which are on PEP’s blog at powellchamber.org/category/quality-of-life/.

All of this research, including a survey, will go into a final report/presentation that will be presented at the June Park County Outdoor Rec Collaborative Meeting as well as PEP’s June board meeting.  Darai came to Powell last June from the greater Boston area and his year of service ends this June.

“The community’s input is invaluable to me because as a VISTA, my entire goal is to serve the people of Park County and hopefully assist on-going, incredible efforts that will improve the user experience of outdoor recreation opportunities in Park County,” Darai said. “So, for my work to serve the peoples’ needs, they need to be the driving factor in my findings and proposed solutions for improving the outdoor rec experience.”

The survey, then, is another part of Darai’s community outreach to support the research to identify gaps and opportunities that Rebekah highlighted. He said the goal of his community outreach is to add the community’s perspective to the final report he’ll be submitting.

“Eighty percent of Park County is owned and managed by federal land mangers: Yellowstone National Park, Shoshone National Forest, Bureau of Land Management Lands, and the Bureau of Reclamation,” Burns said. “It is crucial that these land managers are properly funded so that residents and visitors can have frontcounty opportunities to recreate. These opportunities are safer for the public and are mindful of wildlife habitat areas.”  

Darai is making sure his year in Powell is well spent. He’s even revamping John Wesley Powell Days to make it a bigger community event. Burns said this will include Bike to School days, Bike to Work days, and a Memorial Weekend bike parade and Drive-In Movie showing of RAD, a nostalgic cult classic.