Dr. Steven W. Burr

Courses:
ENVS 4130/6130 - Recreation Policy Planning

 
Biography:
Dr. Steve Burr is currently an Associate Professor of Recreation Resources Management, Director of the Institute for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, and Extension Specialist in Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in the Department of Environment and Society in the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University.  After receiving a M.S. in Recreation and Park Management from the University of Oregon in 1977, with an emphasis on organized camping administration and outdoor education, Steve worked professionally for over fifteen years in outdoor education, outdoor leadership training, program development, and organized camping administration for both the YMCA and Outward Bound.  After this professional work, he enrolled in a graduate degree program of study in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies at Penn State University, focusing on outdoor recreation and rural community tourism development, receiving his Ph.D. in 1994.  He then served on the faculty of Western Illinois University’s Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration for six years, prior to arriving at Utah State University in 1999.

In Utah, Steve served for six years on the Governor’s Office of Economic Development—Utah Office of Tourism’s Board of Directors and is still the Board’s liaison to the Utah Council for Outdoor Recreation (UCOR), which he chairs.  He also serves as Vice-President for Education on the Friends of Utah State Parks Board, serves on the Bear River Heritage Area Executive Council, and serves on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Advisory Committee, which he chairs, representing social sciences with expertise in outdoor recreation and tourism, and community development.  Steve was recently appointed by Secretary of Interior Salazar to the BLM-Utah Resource Advisory Council representing dispersed recreation, tourism, and community development.  Nationally, Steve has chaired the National Extension Tourism (NET) Design Team since the fall of 2006, chaired the 2009 NET Conference in Park City, Utah, and the 2011 NET Conference in Charleston, South Carolina.  Steve also serves as the Western Representative on the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) Board, and is co-chairing the 2012 NACDEP Conference. 

Current areas of interest, expertise, and research include outdoor recreation and natural resources-based tourism policy, planning, management, and marketing; rural and community tourism development; sustainable tourism development; and the human dimensions of natural resources management.

Leisure interests include a variety of recreation activities in the great outdoors, including whitewater rafting, backcountry hiking and camping, wildlife and bird watching, and visiting out-of-the way and undiscovered places in the diverse landscapes of the West.