Parks director cites 1.6 billion outdoor-recreation impact, asks for continued capital funding to reduce deferred maintenance backlog

Cody Schultz, director of North Dakota Parks and Recreation, told the House Energy and Natural Resources committee the agency’s work contributes to the state’s outdoor-recreation economy and outlined infrastructure, staffing and program priorities for the upcoming legislative session.

"Our mission is to enrich generations through experiences that connect people and places," Schultz said, using the agency’s mission statement to frame his overview. He told legislators that outdoor recreation contributed an estimated $1.6 billion to North Dakota’s economy in 2023 and that state parks account for roughly $154 million of that figure in a typical year.

Schultz said the agency manages a substantial infrastructure portfolio across 15 destination properties and about 21,000 acres: 13,170 campsites, more than 330 buildings, roughly 60 cabins or overnight rentals, 238 marina slips and hundreds of miles of trails and roads. The parks system reported about 1.2 million visitors and just over 95,000 overnight camping nights in 2024, which Schultz described as the department’s third-best…