vidence was appropriate, that is a mistake. it is still lasting. one of our jobs is to pursue data and evidence that answers fundamental question, are we making a difference in the lives of people that we serve? leadership. i will into with this. i have passion for the role that we play and the difference we make for people we serve. that passion comes from a little girl who i will introduce you to. she was a second grader. i wandered into her classroom and the teacher said, boys and girls, stop what you are doing we have a visitor. this is the superintendent of schools. does anybody know the superintendent does? i mentioned earlier, i was not trained, so i had an interest in this question.

what does the superintendent do? this was second grade. they will answer anything. every hand in the room went up. write down in front was this little guy named michael. he was trying to follow the rules. he is just trying to get called on. he jumps up and says, i know. the teacher says, all right what does the superintendent do? that is the guy in charge of super nintendo. [laughter] it sounded like a better job. this brilliant teacher says, that was a creative interpretation of the language, but actually the superintendent is the leader of the schools. does anybody know a leader does -- what a leader does?

there was a little girl sitting in the back. as far back as he possibly could. she had her hand raised so high. the teacher called on her. the teacher says, ok what does a leader do? she looks at me and says, a leader is someone who goes out and changes being to make things better -- changes things to make things better. i have read probably almost every leadership book there is and that is the single best definition i've ever heard. i got all the principles together and i said i got good news and bad news. the good news is, we have a new job section, make things better. the bad news is the second graders already know. where we live, out with the

people we serve, they already know. they do not elect you to maintain the status quo, they elected you to change things and make them better. delivering results is how we do that. the better we are looking for is what we make the extraordinary ordinary. they do not expect us to do it all tomorrow, or all at once. they expect us to show up and make one thing better in the direction of making the extraordinary, ordinary. when we do that we win the fundamental competition for public support. and then we strengthen the institutions that are the essence of our culture. and that is worth getting excited about. thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> thank you peter for you limit

eating -- and eliminating -- an illuminating presentation. we can now have questions. >> when you look back over your work, where do you think relative to state government where is the greatest opportunity? where do you get the biggest thing -- bang for your buck? peter hutchison: in state government, what we do is educate, medicaid, we incarcerate and we obligate. if you think about your budget, that is probably 90%. k-12 and higher, your public

safety systems, pensions, and other obligations. we need to target those cards of the territory. that is where the action is. that part is easy. i think the two things that are hard are actually the governor of iowa told me this story, he said the thing you need to remember to do in these jobs you need to touch people where they touch government. we don't have the luxury of doing that everywhere. much money passes through to someone else. so the second part of the answer, we should touch of them brilliantly where we do touch them. those things where we actually touched human beings, tuition payments, all of those things. we should make those experiences

as easy and simple. i believe that the goal for the public sector is no touch service. getting to the point where we can literally pull out the phone and do what we need to do. we are close to that today. i will say and 10 years we could do that everywhere. but there is a fundamental challenge i think us in government. the government we have today was invented 100 years ago. our government is a reaction to the corruption and the trust and terrible things that happened at the turn of two centuries ago. we elected people like teddy roosevelt to kick up dust and fix things. we went from a government of chaos and corruption to a government of control. if you think about -- if you think about the dna of

government, that is fundamentally about control. all kinds of control, control procedures, we are focused on controlling things and we needed that. we call it bureaucracy. the color red tape. it worked. we don't have that kind of corruption today. we do not have arbitrary things going on like it was. but the world changed. this is not the same world. we are trying to run current governments with early 20th century systems. the hardest challenge, while we win the right to do this in the way that we touched citizens behind that we have to get out the dna of bureaucracy and replace it with the dna of results. we are doing it. all of you are doing pieces of

this. all of you know what has to happen. but we are not systemic about it. it will happen. this took time to come into being. it will come into being, because citizens will demand it and we will have the capability to do it. >> governor herbert and governor nixon. >> thank you for sharing your expertise. when you talk about leadership, making things better, i think that all of us have been involved in efforts of campaigning saying, elect me. i will make things better. and then there are debates on those issues with whoever. whoever is involved in the campaign. how much of it being a leader is based on personality?

you hear about the charismatic leader, the natural born leader how much of that is an eight -- part of your personality and how much is learned? can leadership be learned? we talk about a lack of leadership in politics and certain areas of politics, mainly washington, d.c. can we improve leadership capabilities and how? peter hutchison: that is a profound issue. i think that the answer is yes and yes. i believe the qualities that we have, they are what we are born with or what we grew up with depending on family circumstances. and we learn along the way.

i don't think of myself as a great leader, but i do think that i chose a lot. when i was younger, i thought that i knew the answers. now i know that i don't. and i believe my ignorance is my greatest weapon, that i learned from my warehouse example, i didn't need to know the answer. i needed to make it possible for people who knew the answer to go to work. i think that is the secret to success. it is not about serving were being smarter, i'm not smarter than anybody, but if we can organize the way that things happen in our organizations so that those who are smarter can do what they know how to do and feel like they have the authority and power to do that, then my experience is, you can count on people too. off. that seems counter intuitive based on usual definitions of

leadership, that it is a person riding in on a white horse to save us. i actually think that it is a person writing in on a mule, that is tearing down the things in the way of our organizations letting people do what they want and what they are capable of. a friend of mine said that a leader is someone who makes fires and that makes it possible for people to do the right thing. that is learned. i think that you learn to do that. you learn how to not not do what everything in you tells you to do. i cannot tell you how much i wanted to get in there in that warehouse and organize the thing. but it never would have happened . they had to do it.

i had to get out of the way. to make it possible. >> i was a just not use the fire analogy in the summer meeting. [laughter] but an alternative definition of leadership that i got a couple of months ago is, a leader is someone that persuades someone to think and do something that they otherwise did not believe. it takes it back down to the granular level and talks about does everybody have an opportunity to lead in some way? if you convince people that everyone is a leader, you open up the field. >> some major industries have gone through a transition over the last few years. we have had to downsize.

governor nixon: what insider advice do you have motivate folks -- to motivate folks during that had the process and it is difficult during that time , what advice do you have when it is clear at the end of the process that the same or even more work will be done with your people getting paychecks? peter hutchison: two things -- governor nixon: how to motivate them. peter hutchison: 10 years from now the government will be smaller than they are today. it is inevitable. we will not have the resources to afford the scale of government we have today, but more importantly technology will

drive work away from human beings and into the hands of technology. over time, we will not have people doing those things. we will get smaller. i have been through this personally, the key is to keep people connected to those they are serving. what allows people to move forward is their passion and commitment to purpose, their belief in what they are trying to achieve. part of our job is to help people disconnect themselves from the process we are using today, because those processes will not be the ones we use 5-10 years from now. technology will replace things. we will use evidence to make it -- target new resources and so on. what i hear when i work with

organizations downsizing, people are worried about their jobs, but they are mostly worried about that the rivers will be dirty, the air will be foul people do terrible things if we don't keep doing things the way we have done for the last years. we need to help people realize that in the course of getting smaller, we are not giving up on big ideas. we have new capabilities that will allow us to deliver better outcomes than today, but differently. different approaches. back to my warehouse if you are tight and fixed on outcomes and loose on means, people will figure it out. this is human nature. they want to push back and say, you figure it out. but we have to resist temptation. and say, we have an obligation

to the people we serve, here are the resources we got, figure it out. it is a design problem. most people will do that. they will rise to the occasion. they want to know if at the end if you have these people getting laid off, they want to know yes or no, but i know that the answer needs to be no. this guy gave me advice, he said cut once, don't cut again and again, you will lose people. >> peter, please tell me that when i got call you to say he had fixed that meter, you hired him. i had a golf that i had a guy in my state government coming you

was hired because he did something like that. peter hutchison: to make sure this is clear how systemic this is, in my family we call 311. they called me three times. i called them 10:00 at night when night, in the morning they were there replacing a lightbulb. and we found a dead animal, my family was concerned, my wife called 311, this guy could not have been, there is no way that this guy was reading from a script. whoever hired this person hired someone who was naturally sympathetic. in that moment, that is what we needed. 343. whoever is organizing this ring they get it.

it is about those people. it is about their experience. we can do this. >> i would love to have them in virginia. >> i would argue if you can call at 10:00 at night and it's :00 in the morning, they are -- 6:00 in the morning, they are doing the job, you might be overstaffed. i would also say that my first response might have been, don't call citizens before 7:00. [laughter] >> they are more laid-back in colorado. we will leave it at that. other questions? yes? >> peter, you were the financial officer, to ask you what you think the long-term outlook is for state budgets? do you think there is an

inherent desire for more services and at the same time, lower taxes inevitably it drifts in the unending deficits and more of a federal government type of problem long-term? peter hutchison: three things, the first is no question on average state are not going to be in a fiscal bind. the underlying costs are rising faster than the underlying revenues. that is a condition. i don't see any reason why that would change. there are so many other things going on in the economy that will suppress the growth rate. and there are so many things going on in society that are pushing up the costs.

that is the condition we face. we can't print money, so we have to deal with it. i think the central challenge this is what will probably happen over time, in most states when we begin the budget process , we say, how much did we spend last year? and him we look at how much it will cost to do the exact same thing next year, and the answer is more. it is a was more the and we have . and then you as a chief executive, your job is to figure out of that more keep doing what we need to do, how much more can people not have? when you start announcing those things he aren't -- things you are not going to do, those are cuts.

it is the system we are mostly operating in. i think for our own self-preservation you should end that system, stop asking people how much would it cost next year to do exactly what we did last year. instead, you should say to people, here's how much money we have. here's how much money you have. what i need from you is the same quality of service that we delivered last year, if not better, with the money we have. people should be coming to you not with proposals to spend more, but with ideas about how to redesign their services so they can deliver more with the money they have. the shorthand is right now we have budgets that are paying for costs and we convert to budgets that purchase results. we're just not doing it. and states that have tried this,

and counties and cities, you get amazing results, but it is like the example of the warehouse. you got to change the rules of the game. the rules are stacked against governors. they put you into the position of having only to say no to people. when i got to be finance director in or minnesota, we had a time which is one of the craziest experiences. we had about $500 million available. we had $4 billion in requests. basically 3/4 of the requests will get turned down. we have people thinking they are going to get something they will never get, and our job is to say you will not get it, and they will say this is not -- we have got to change the rules.

who pays the debt service on these bonds? we do, so the people who are asking for this money have no obligation to pay it back? i want that deal. we have changed one rule. the next day $2 billion was the request that disappeared. disappeared. if it was not free, and i had to think about if i wanted to spend the money. it is about changing the incentives inherent in budgeting systems. i believe we are ultimately going to alter how you do budgeting and move away -- and the reason for this system is that bureaucratic thing about controlling costs. we need to focus on buying results, making sure we are

getting our money's worth. we have to make it the essence of how we spend. we have to say there's no other way unless it results -- we expect a quality product. right now they are not set up to do that. you have a chart of accounts? you have no chart of accounts. you have no chart about results. our system is not designed to focus on results. until they are, we will probably not get them. >> one thing we all have, a

retirement rate over the next 10 years that will allow us to use technology to do things, not all things, and that is more of an optimistic side. governor hutchinson? governor hutchinson: great presentation, very thought-provoking. when you talk about government getting smaller reduced money, technology assisting, i thought of two challenges. when you are looking at transactional services like collecting taxes, license fees delivering licenses and so on, it is all transactional technology. the answer, i can see that. when you are talking about child protective services, human touch is required to go in a home and see if a child is well taken care of. processes in court, human delivery, i see greater challenges. the other challenge is higher education because many of us do

not have a level of control over that. what is it going to take to get this message of efficiency of technology, of changing to a results-oriented environment in higher education -- is there any hope in that environment? mr. hutchinson: yes, but i want to talk about child protective services. one of the challenges even in those parts of what we do is the amount of administrative stuff that our caseworkers are going to do. we have caseworkers who are spending 50% of their time doing administrative work instead of taking care of kids. that is where we can offload a fair amount of time and repurpose those resources back to kids. higher ed and education, this is my passion. it makes me nuts.

on the one hand, our k-12 system is not producing the results we need. they are being lied about what is happening in the k-12 system. we have a different problem what happens after that. what governor fallon asked us to focus on, a major disconnect between the requirements of the work system and what is coming out of our higher ed system. we are graduating people with all kinds of degrees with jobs that do not exist. that is much more evident today than in the history of the country. it is not anybody's fault. it is in the design of the system.

we have tools that can assess what the labor force needs to look like, the ability to help employers -- what are the skills and competencies i am looking for? we now have the capabilities to tell young people what skills, competencies do you have, not what degree do you hold, not what your major was, but what can you do? we have to change the conversation from degrees and graduation rates to the acquisition of competencies required in the workforce. if we can arm both sides of that transaction to talk turkey about what it is i need to be able to do and what i need you to be able to do and change the way those two things are connected with one another, what will happen is students will push the higher ed system to change. they will drive the outcome. they have been doing that in a sense because there was a time

when everybody thought being a lawyer was a guaranteed road to success, and now they found that's not true, and legal enrollments are in decline because there are no law jobs. and the ones that are there are terrible. the word got out. that is the power of not the market, but of the young people to drive the way our systems change. i think our job is to get the transparency out there so people can see what is labor force is going to need to be able to do and what are our systems to producing, and who does it best? if you need a numeric control operator, who is the best person in the state to get that done? if you need higher order data skills, that is the best place

in my state to get that done? young people will drive this then, because they know about the system. i am sensitive to this legal thing because it costs so much to become a lawyer, and i cannot get paid. the system is wrenching itself without anybody passing a law to make that happen, because the transparency caught up with the reality. there are new tools available to look at higher ed curriculum and connect it to competencies, to look at skills and capabilities of people in the workforce, the capabilities coming to the job systems. we can make this connection. we can make this powerful. i think the initiative last year was a great start doing this. because we do not have other controls, we need to change the

things we can control and surround the system -- if we to allow it to change, we will never make it do it. allow it to feel the consequences of not changing. governor hickenlooper: governor fallon? governor fallon: how do we deliver results in higher education, how do we deliver results when you look at the increasing costs of medicare. there is an article in a paper this week when they are going to run out, and i hope i will still be alive. back to delivering results, one

of the things we moved to realign our educational force, to keep our economy strong, we moved on to the challenge, and you will have at times strong economies at times and other times you have dips. right now my state has a dip in the economy because the energy sector is beyond my control. you have a budget shortfall and you have to cut back on spending or deprioritize your spending. we have to do that periodically. getting back to the initiative how do we make sure we're not spending money on things we hope might work in reducing children in state custody or improving our education -- how do we produce things that we

know do work? we have moved into a system to devise a system called performance informed today. -- budgeting. we outlined five areas of improvement that we thought were important. there are five things to improve upon in our state that we think are important. we asked all state agencies to develop metrics and data and goals with specific data points, and i will give you examples. we want to have a higher high school graduation rate. we want to reduce recidivism in people coming out of facilities and going back in. or we want to reduce childhood

deaths. we gave these agencies the authority to talk about if you have a clean slate, what would you do it education, transportation, whatever the issue might be, and develop goals, but set the year you want to hit that marker. then we base our budgeting on how do we find programs that can have measurable metric data to prove it does work, and then we publish it on the internet so that taxpayers and say you failed in this area or did well in this area, so you need to put your funding up on this area. that is how we have been doing

what governor hickenlooper has been stressing, producing results and being accountable for that as a state. >> i could not be more enthusiastic. we did a couple projects like this. i have been involved in probably 10 budgeting project like this. one of the things that was most interesting to me was when a state said their goals were educating kids successfully, preserving the health of the population, transportation, they took everything in the budget. there were 1400 programs and said every program needed to be attached to one of these goals. every one. they needed to figure out, what is this program's purpose?

we think of education as k-12 and higher ed. one of the largest educational organizations was in prisons. we never thought of it in the education system. when you start thinking of them in the education system, that is a different group of people who have terrific challenges and impose massive costs on societies. what if that system worked, then what can help us think about what our targets are? is there some way we could do that better than what we are doing separately? we think of budgets in terms of agencies, but we need to think of them in terms of results. the other thing i saw was at the question of balancing budgets, especially in bad times.

i saw a governor do this, and i had never seen it done before. he asked for volunteers, and if you volunteer, he made a deal, and it was the following -- you give me 10% of your budget, that is your cut, i give you greater felxibility. i think a lot of the administrative away. i eliminate rules and regulations. i let you run your organization. he had a whole bunch of agencies that took it, then the budget got worse, and the question was, would he go back and cut the agencies that made the deal, and he did not. that was important because it sent messages. he got his 10%, and 10% was a lot in the context of the budget they faced, so a double degree unfair, but it encouraged other

agencies to take that deal when he offered it next. it changed their culture. it change the character of the way people thought about their relationship with the executive branch. i thought it was an interesting experiment in that worked. it got agencies to think differently about what it would take to deliver. they were signing up for the same results they had signed up for the year before, with 10% fewer resources. all they wanted in return was flexibility, being able to change the organization, and they did it. governor hickenlooper: anything else? >> i am happy to ask a question. peter, good to see you.

i know that some states have taken the path toward budgeting for results, and my regulation is a governor make great strides. i'm curious whether state were local governments have been able to get on this path and sustain that path? mr. hutchinson: what the governor is talking about is altering the way we think about spending money, purchasing results instead of paying for costs, so that south carolina did this at one time, michigan washington state did it, illinois has a version of it still in place today. this gets at the systemic challenges that we face. it is not easy, but possible to do this one. you disrupt what is going on jury-rig the system, and budget

for results. the problem is it is not baked into the system. you are fighting against the system because that machinery is churning out all this cost information in standard forms, and all the stuff that we have no state to my knowledge, has gone in and altered the system. i cannot tell you, but we are on the verge of this conversation in one state. it is another one of these revelations i had when i do not understand how things work, you if you do not change things like having a chart of outcomes in the budget system, the budget will not be about outcomes. you'll just have costs. you have to get into the nitty-gritty of how the machinery works if you want people to change, because they are willing to change. they find this interesting, come

up with solutions, but the machinery gets in the way. i feel the real challenges is to figure out how to change the machinery. the second thing which is difficult is none of the legislative process is set up to do this. it is all agency budgeting and cost-based budgets, and we successfully did this with the legislature in michigan and learned that the legislators can do this. it is warping the system they have to make it possible. they did it, and did it very well, but they were term limited, everybody left. when you come back, the old system is still in place. those systems are 50, 60 years

old. yes, you can do it, but to sustain it, we've got to change the system, actually manipulate what the reports look like and what the hearings look like, and we know how to do it, we know what it would take, but it would take a state with a courageous executive and matched up with a courageous leadership in the legislature to get it done. we have seen this in cities and counties that have sustained this over time. governor hickenlooper: "courageous" is the right word. it reminds me back when i was trying to start a restaurant that was brewing its own beer -- it is hard to get people themselves to invest in something. this is an investment of time and credibility and future. when people have not seen something -- we were trying to get people to invest in a concept -- my mother would not

invest. she said, who wants to eat dinner in a brewery? unless people have seen something, it is hard to persuade them to try something that new. that is the challenge, to use words and diagrams in a way where you can persuade people to take the leap of faith. that is what changes, when people take that leap of faith. anybody want to ask questions before we adjourn? i forgot to gavel in. this is not the end of this session, but now we are officially gaveled in. i am not sure about parliamentary procedure, but i want to make sure we are not engaged in some level of misconduct. we are done with this session.

thank you all for being here. peter, thank you very much. we appreciate your taking your time. [applause] >> more now for the national governors association with a discussion about boosting states on -- speakers included robert nutting who serves as chair of the board for pittsburgh pirates. this is one hour and 20 minutes. calling the meeting to order, officially gathered. i am the west virginia governor. it is my pleasure to welcome you to the session on economic development. it is a great opportunity to highlight some exciting initiatives. and you're about the work from

shining stars in the private sector. joining me are the alabama governor and wyoming governor. i would like to introduce my guests who will provide a report on state activities. under the economic committee and natural resources committee. >> i would like to express my thanks. each committee has a summary --

it is in your binder. i want to take a few minutes and highlight two issues. for the natural resources committee,, i want to speak about the fund. it provides matching funds to your state. the fund's current authorization expires september 30 of this year. since last year, this committee and natural resources committee has been working with key congressional stakeholders and interested parties to help maintain the lwcf. if the program were the stateside assistance grants would revert back to read it is interesting to note with some

the last 24 hours, senate energy and natural resources chair include a bipartisan language in the comprehensive energy bill that was recently introduced that would permanently reauthorize the lwcf. it is a great signal of where congress is right now on this issue. we look forward to seeing that move forward. we think this issue will carry forward into the incoming natural resource committee's agenda and we look forward to that committee taking the baton and running this issue. on the second issue for the economic development and commerce committee, it is all about transportation. this issue is very fluid right now. governors will continue to discuss this tomorrow in more detail but i wanted to give you the highlights of where we stand as of friday afternoon. they continue to change.

where we stand now is that this morning, the senate agreed to move forward with hr 22 or was --cloture was filed on three amendments. there is an amendment on the reauthorization of the export import bank. there is an amendment offer to repeal aca. the third is important from the procedural standpoint. a second-degree amendment that would provide for a 60 day extension of current transit programs. what does this mean? this means the senate is working through procedural timelines right now, we are in a state of hold. the senate will reconvene sunday afternoon to begin their votes on these amendments depending upon how those in amendments end

, we see what other activities will pop. at present, all amendments have been filled. there may be an opportunity for debate on other amendments but as of right now, there are only these three amendments that are currently pending for the senate. i would like to turn over to my colleague, the division director for the center for best practices for a short report on what the center is doing on issues under the committee's jurisdiction. sue. ms. sevier: we are here to help you do your jobs better and help you hear about what is going on at the state level. any way we can share with your

staff what is going on, that means we are doing our job. last year for the division that focuses on energy and infrastructure, we engaged in 40 states and projects. we are excited to be able to work with that many states and the able to engage all of you. that means working across a variety of topics. everything from alternative fuel vehicles to shale energy development. i'm going to highlight briefly three new opportunities that are coming your way so you can keep your eyes out. one is we are going to be hosting our third annual shell ale energy forum. states are really grappling with how we take advantage of the development in the area in a way that is responsible.

we have had convenience where folks have come together with states across the country to share ideas and walk away with things they can take back and implement in their states. keep an eye out for that. we think it is an exciting project. we will be doing a second-round of energy efficiency retreats, going into the states and helping you put together teams from your state. you choose who was around the table to help you work on an issue of your tailoring, something you defined as a struggle in that area. then we are also doing a second-round of retreat on public-private partnerships. david mention the transportation challenges. this is one way states are trying to look at how they can move projects forward in their state. we did select four of the states we will be working with and i'm happy to say connecticut and arkansas are two of the ones here we are looking forward to working with along with washington and utah. that is a chance to help states look in detail at what some of

the options are they can explore and put together a strategy they can move forward on. we are excited about those projects and hope all of you will look to us for answers to some of your questions. on behalf of jennifer brooks here with the economic development division, we engage with your advisors on that topic last year, we had an advisors institute that included representatives from 32 states , a large number of states, so they are coming to our meetings and getting ideas on things they can do. we will continue that engagement and have a focus on workforce and the role that workforce development plays. we're looking forward to working with all of you. govenor tomblin: thank you. now we will turn to our committee discussion. tourism is a big business in west virginia as i know it is in many of your states.

we are very proud of the work we're we are doing to increase the number of visitors and business investments in our state. while you're here, hopefully you will have a chance to experience what we are calling real west virginia, which is the theme of our new tourism campaign. west virginia is home to real farm to table dining, real outdoor adventure, real history, and a number of other authentic experiences. tourism brings in more than $5.1 billion and supports more than 46,000 good paying jobs in west virginia. research shows that for every dollar we spend to promote tourism, we see a seven dollar return. with this in mind, we are committed to dramatically increasing the amount we spend on tourism promotion. we've also worked with have it investors and others to have

exciting attractions people want to experience in the mountain state. i am sure a number of you saw coverage on the pga tour's greenbrier classic that took place two weeks ago. it showcased out only the amazing resort but also our beautiful state. next week, governor jindal's new orleans saints will arrive at the greenbrier for the initial half of their training camp. west virginia is a proud partner of the greenbrier classic and we use it as a tool to recruit as businesses. we are taken efforts to support small businesses across the state as well. one of the most talked about deals we passed last year played a great part in that was a lot

aw made it easier for our growing craft beer industry to thrive. we will have our first craft beer week with events scheduled at several pubs across the state. this legislation not only encourages tourism but supports entrepreneurs. we are also proud of several public and private partnerships that have helped to encourage economic development and private investments to enhance both our local communities and tourism industry. these partnerships can take several forms, including significant infrastructure improvements that make it easier for people to access businesses and attractions. for example, the west virginia division of highways worked with our county commission and a local developer to fund a new interstate exchange providing direct access that only to resell stores but new, state-of-the-art stadiums. thanks to our program, the

developers were able to issue nearly $45 million to support construction of the highway and the roadway to the site as well as other infrastructure. the athletic facility itself, which is being used by west virginia university, a minor-league pittsburgh pirates affiliate, and community teams was built with financing bonds. you will hear more about this exciting project from bob nettie in a few minutes. i assure you, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. bob has been the chairman on the board of the pittsburgh pirates since 2003 and is the driving force behind a number of programs that made pnc park america's best ballpark of 2014. he brings a long history of building a successful

organization and a long-term commitment to economic growth in west virginia. before we hear from all of our panelists, i would like to turn it over the governors to give them an opportunity to introduce their guests. governor mead: we have had a wonderful time here. i do wonder about having a beer festival a week from now, it seems like it would have had good business with this group had it occurred now. governor hickenlooper is an expert. i want to thank you for your leadership on the economic development in the commerce committee. i think this may be one of the first times that we combined

this committee with the committee i am vice chair with along with governor brown of california. it is an appropriate fit because we recognize that the two go together hand-in-hand. wyoming, we are probably the state with the first national park, forest, monument. we are proud of that because we recognize what it means in terms of the opportunities our citizens have in terms of enjoyment and quality of life. we are also proud because it is such an economic driver to have that. we also have about 2.9 million acres of wilderness, which is roughly the size of connecticut. on top of that, the state itself has been working to have an endowed fund of $200 million to work on conservation efforts within the state. we do this for a couple of reasons. one is we recognize the economic

benefit. we recognize the quality of life it brings to our citizens. we do it because it is the right thing to do and we recognize we cannot take for granted what our states have. i am more familiar with the west but i know in the west, one of the treasures we all appreciate is the opportunity to not only have the recreation the great outdoors provides, but the hunting and fishing opportunities and what a great way to show off our state. i would say it is the states that have provided tremendous leadership in this area. in the 20th century, states developed a north american system of wildlife conservation and it is the most successful in the world. at the turn-of-the-century there were 500,000 deer in the country. now, there are 20 million. 100,000 elk has become one million.

there were 300 bison, now 530,000. these success stories occurred before the endangered species act. i think that shows the states collectively our commitment to wildlife, recreation, open space means to our citizens and the economic opportunity it provides to all of us. the states have an important role in continuing this because the opportunities and for quality of life. david allen. a little about you. david became ceo of the rocky mountain elk foundation in 2007.

since 2007, the foundation has opened and improved secure public access 20 cabot 10. -- to elk habitat. just on a personal note, when i go to some of your banquets in wyoming, they are some of the largest i have the occasion to attend and always a great time. although my wife questions the number of lottery tickets i buy that i never win. we want to turn it over to governor bentley. >> thank you. it is always good to be with both of you. in alabama, we are continuing to develop innovative strategies with a focus on preserving our state's natural resources. we are also preserving our recreational opportunities and the historic landmarks we have in our state.

we are attracting new residents and businesses and strengthening alabama's economy. tourism is a key component of alabama's overall economy. in 2014, over 24 million people visited the state of alabama and they spent $11.7 billion will hile visiting our state. the beautiful beaches of the alabama gulf coast account for about 40% of the tourism that occurs in our great state. the reason is it is so important that we preserve and restore and expand our goal state -- gulf state park, which was damaged by hurricane ivan in 2004 and the deep horizon oil spill in 2010. we want to present two years ago to expand and renovate the gulf state park.

you will hear more of that in a few minutes. speaking of the state parks, alabama has 22 of the most diverse state parks. from the goal state park to a part in the foothills of the appellation mountains. our state parks feature fishing and hiking and mountain climbing and so much more that visitors can enjoy. alabama has a significant historical presence that many visitors come to experience. we hosted more than 150,000 visitors to selma this year for the 50th anniversary of the selma to montgomery voting rights march. just two weeks ago, a small town in southwest alabama drew thousands of people for one particular person who wrote "go set a watchman.” harper lee is the most famous

person who lives in monroviaill e, alabama and people consistently come because she wrote a bestseller "to kill a mockingbird.” alabama draws thousands of visitors annually to that small town. my special guest today is cooper, the executive director of alabama's gulf state project . he is also my former chief legal advisor. today, cooper will address how alabama's natural resources recovered following the 2010 d eep horizon oil spill and the future of the gulf state park. this project will be a critical step to continue to draw visitors to the alabama gulf coast. before i conclude, let me say thank you to governor tomblin and governor mead. i've enjoyed serving with you and i hope you and all of the

governors enjoy these goodie bags i have let for you which talks about sweet home alabama. thank you. govenor tomblin: thank you. we will turn it over to our panelist, bob. mr. nutting: thank you for the introduction. let me add my west virginia welcome. west virginia is a special place. we hope you all enjoy it. welcome. i am a member of the fourth generation of a family run newspaper publishing company. we are headquartered here in west virginia with newspapers, magazines, in 13 states.

i have an appreciation for what so many of you do as leaders and ceo's of your states. it was fascinating to hear the earlier session talking about delivering results because i live in a world where we have to build a culture around customer service every day. nobody has to go to a baseball game. no one has to buy a newspaper and putting the customer first is a pretty revolutionary idea for state government and i think west virginia certainly has taken that seriously. what a great message for all of us. it is an honor to be here with really smart presenters and i'm not sure exactly how you got me on the list but i sheeted. -- i appreciate it. one of the things i will but to talk about is my role at the newspaper. i service chairman of the board for the pittsburgh pirates, a

very important asset for our family to take care of and steward. i want to talk a little bit about the partnership that was forged with the city of pittsburgh and state of pennsylvania as we rebuild a community around a ballpark. even 30 years ago, pittsburgh 's north shore had three rivers stadium. a lot of these were built in the 70's, surrounded by parking lots. there was a dilapidated warehouse, a bar, some old road houses. really not a lot of activity. we have beautiful, iconic views and bridges in pittsburgh but

looking across from downtown there was not much reason to go across the river other than to attend a game and certainly was not the community asset or long-term funding source the community needed. today, it is a completely different environment. it has become a real entertainment destination not only for pittsburghers for people throughout the region and now in addition to the park, we have six new office buildings, 750,000 square feet of new construction in the last year. we have four new hotels with about 700 rooms. an 8000 seat amphitheater with 200 events a year. we have three more restaurants scheduled to open this fall. we have an improved and expanded

science center. i am currently cochairing the $45 million capital campaign for the renovation and i will bring pledge cards of any of you will ould like to participate because we are only about halfway there and looking for support. significant green space built into the environment to make sure we are celebrating the region as well. a river walk that brings thousands of people every day. really that is just the beginning of the story. you all see developments all over but this is one that really has worked to drive energy and life into the north shore and drive revenue streams. baseball teams fundamentally our

businesses so we are focused on the revenue. in the final year of the stadium, that facility generated about $9.8 million of tax revenue. last year, that number tripled and in the last three years, the park in heinz field combined had a direct impact of over $100 million in taxes and fees, surcharges. that really provide an economic driver that impacts our community incredibly effectively. pittsburgh is not unique in that at all. if you go to baltimore, a third of all the fans that go to camden yards come from outside maryland. it is about not just a ballpark but renovating a downtown.

in denver, coors field became an anchor, along with the pubs. which i am sure drove most of the economic development but i'm sure the rockies helped. it really transformed that section of the city. the housing base has tripled in the past eight or 10 years since that field has been built. san diego, a more remarkable story because the petco park project really went into a slum and blight and now it is home to high rise condos, trendy restaurants, luxury hotels. a fun destination to visit. i am a big fan of baseball and i think none of those projects could have happened or what have the impact without the catalyst and volume driven through baseball.

just at pnc park, we put 2.4 million people through the turnstiles and twice that many people touching the north shore. just on the baseball site. the impact is not limited to major cities. there is a limited number of major league franchises but there are 173 minor league franchises that hit smaller communities throughout the region. one of our important minor-league affiliates is in charleston, west virginia, the charleston power. we are thrilled to be there and came in just after that field was renovated six years ago. it has been a home run for us, literally. this spring, we opened up in morgantown a really dynamic and creative partnership with the state, the ballclub to build a

world-class facility for the university so they now for the first time really have a tremendous recruiting tool and baseball facility. they play through the spring and we have a short season team. relocated in morgantown and we are becoming an anchor of a pretty remarkable retail development. the interesting thing is it is not just about the baseball but what has happened because of the interchange, the broad support. you have a development anchored with a minor league team that has five new hotels, 500 hotel rooms. 300,000 square feet every tell -- of retail development. a hundred thousand square feet distribution center. new office space.

in an area that just four years ago was a hilltop. a really remarkable success story. governor, thank you again because that could not have happened without your support and impact but i believe from my perspective, these are important and good investments to make because they pay back over and over for those communities. frankly, unlike any other sport, i think baseball really takes its role as a social institution to heart. we play a lot of games so we have a big impact on the community. 162 games, 81 home games. it gives us a chance to connect to the community. we have been very active with our charities outreach program. we donate $2.5 million a year.

field for handicap accessible play, one in florida, four in the pittsburgh region. we can really have an impact and lastly, it is a family game. one of the last where is still affordable enough, particularly in a ballpark like we build in morgantown where people can come out and enjoy time together. i wanted to touch on one other area. that is the public access and green space and land driving the tourism in our state. the beautiful settings, the iconic views, and the clean water, clean air, and forests are a reason people come to west virginia and a reason people

want to live and work and play here in west virginia and these partnerships, which are funded by things like the water conservation fund -- critical in west virginia. we have an outdoor heritage conservation fund. critical internal funding inside of the state. it is a huge impact. to recognize -- i believe in conservation, green space, the importance of preserving those views. as a businessperson, i also respect and appreciate and understand how much of an economic driver these

conservation easements can be if we provide public access once those lands are preserved. whether it is for hunting, i am a fly fisherman, those are so important and to recognize these projects are incredibly difficult. the canyon took eight years. two governors. it took a consistent pressure of time and patience and work from the nature conservatives, the outdoor heritage conservation fund, dcnr. your leadership driving those kinds of programs to completion and the patience to be able to work beyond the administration and preserve a space that will be an asset for our state for future generations really is important. while the payback may be less

obvious than 2.4 million tickets sold at a ballpark, i really believe it is no less important and i want you to know it certainly is no less appreciated by someone like me. my family has been here in west virginia since the 1840's. our publishing company since september 1890. we are committed to making this a better state and doing that for all of the people and so, if there is a common theme, it is again to be grateful for your leadership as you are driving forward and improving the quality of life and our communities and providing those recreational opportunities which makes an enormous impact and i really appreciate you having me here to share my perspective and it certainly

reaffirms to me what you all as the leaders in your states are doing to advance and make it a great place for us all to live. thank you. govenor tomblin: thank you, bob. we appreciate what you and your family have done for the state. next, we will go to david allen. he has formed a connection with west virginia, also. mr. allen: thank you. i appreciate the opportunity and i especially thank governor mead for the invitation. quickly around the table, we have relationships here. wyoming is historically our number one fundraising state every year. your wife has called us a couple of times. governor tomlin is about to

become our newest elk state. he has been supportive in ohrid inductions4 -- elk reintroduction's. kentucky is the ninth elk state in the country. it is on reclaimed coal mine property. we appreciate your support. arkansas has a very special elk herd and we appreciate that. colorado is home to the largest elk herd in the world and we certainly appreciate that. probably the most progressive department of wildlife as well in terms of promotion so we appreciate working with them. missouri, our newest elk herd. it was about three years ago and they are doing very well and the

numbers are growing so we appreciate that. oregon is home to our largest membership. we do appreciate that. oregon is tremendous country the largest land project we completed was in the central oregon area. spectacular piece of ground. montana is our home, the number two elk state in the country and number two in membership but certainly number one and our heart because that is where we are from. we are based in missoula montana. based. i grew up in the dakotas. i have covered both of your bases. thank you for that. yes. the subject before us today is what outdoor facilities provide to our states.

i will primarily address the world of the american sportsmen contrasting with professional sports our facilities or venues, if you will, are the greater outdoors that include 5 million acres of public land and million more acres of private land. is in excess of $900 billion which would make us equal to the 24th greatest corporation on the fortune 50 list. it is the greatest wildlife system in the world. that is able statement but it is easy to backup. and it's absolutely true.

this is built over the last 110 years over the efforts of american sportsmen and women. the states definitely have it writes. there are many many recreational assets and the recreation for the american sportsmen and outdoor industry is the wildlife-based agencies that provide for the management and the -- the most unique aspect of our state-based model is the significant portion of the state raised revenue stems from what we call a user pay system. this revenue is generated from sportsmen activities like hunting, fishing licenses, boating, fees.

revenue, or as it is more commonly known, the sport fish restoration models. one of the most significant contributors is the lwcf. i will not dwell on this, as what the gentleman said was correct. we have seen considerable movement in the last 24 hours. it is very encouraging. whether we will see this authorized before the september 30 deadline is yet to be seen but we are encouraged. consider the following partial data relative to our activities in 50 states. hunting, fishing and shooting

sports alone represent over 2 million jobs. anglers in the u.s. spend in excess of $38 billion each year. americans in total fish a combined 557 million days each year. one example of the trickle down -- i love this 1 -- anglers in the united states spend in excess each year of $290 million on ice. there are over 14 million hunters, 19 million archery shooters in the u.s. today. hunters alone spend $21 billion annually. hunters alone spent over 600 million dollars on their hunting dogs each year. sportsmen provide in excess of $3 billion annually for state wildlife cultivation and this

comes through the wildlife tagging system. all of these require a vast and healthy landscape of public and private land. we cannot do it without the land. combine the hunting, fishing, and shooting sports with these activities that take place primarily on public land sometimes on private. birdwatching, mountain biking, four wheeling, snowmobiling skiing, and many, many more. one begins to see the wits and the depth and the significance of the outdoors, especially our resources of land, water, and wildlife. most importantly, these resources are renewable and will contribute to state economy as

long as man recognizes our role as the stewards of the land. it is our responsibility. the public and private land represents one of the most value for -- valuable assets we have and each state has its own unique outdoor assets contributing to their economy. we have the american sportsmen and women primarily to thank for much of this success. it is critical that we continue to use the model of conservation and do not fall prey to the lock it up and look at it preservationist model. nature does not manage itself as long as man is here. man has a significant stewardship responsibility. excuse me. the cornerstone is the land

phase management system. primarily state wildlife and natural resource agencies are able to provide conservation and management of our natural resources, enhancement of wildlife habitat, they regulate and enforce management laws. they provide access opportunities through fees and revenues provided by sportsmen and women each year. i will close my remarks by outlining some of the many challenges i believe we face today. first and foremost, most all of our states manage fiscal challenges. we are well aware of that and we are very concerned about it. today, we have a lakh of adequate funding for our public land management. we need more access to public lands and we need a corporate of planned between public and

private landowners for more and better access. we need more state-based input into public land management. the new farm bill provides for some of that. i believe that governor bullock is involved in the project, at least one i am aware of, but the new farm bill does have provisions that allow for this and we would like to become more aggressive partners with a lot of states in pursuing these opportunities. we need more commonsense environmental policies and less policies with extremist agendas. we need congress to fund lwcf fully. not just authorize it. we need it fully funded. we need coordination among all 50 states in recruiting hunting and fishing a must our youth.

a number of ngo's most all state wildlife agencies are part of it -- we need all of the efforts we can get today. finally, local and regional management of our wildlife and public lands is more critical today than ever. it is the citizens within a given locale or region that give what is best for managing natural resources in their backyards. a one-size-fits-all policy does not work today. we need to get our natural resource management back. this is one of the best ways to sustain rural areas and put it in the vernacular of nowadays, rural life matters and it

absolutely represents a culture that we believe is country cannot lose and should not lose. management is a must or more of our public land will deteriorate. these are a venue for the public outdoor industry. that is the end of my comments and i again appreciate the time to be here. thank you. >> thank you, david. >> my thanks, governor mead, governor bentley, governor tom lee -- titombley for being -- tomblin for being here.

wraps a beautiful bucolic outdoor scene like we've find ourselves surrounded with today -- outside anyway -- or perhaps it is a political ideology or political initiatives or environmentally focused initiatives such as recycling. and regardless of your political persuasion, there is something that i think that we do not talk about enough. what does think green really mean? thinking green matters to everyone. that is the perspective i want to share with you today. when you think about green projects or environmental projects, so many people are dismissive of them as flop. 99% of environmental projects are construction projects. and the vast majority are from

economic development. i wanted to show you one example of how an economic development project helped deal with the catastrophe that faced our state. in our experience, it stems from the deepwater horizon oil spill. as you know, in 2010, the deepwater horizon went down and the oil began to gosh. 68,000 square miles of ocean were eventually covered with oil . that is the size of oklahoma. what we began to realize it was an economic disaster. i worked with governor bentley and people along the alabama and

gulf coast and throughout the gulf coast. we did not realize which a clean environment affected our businesses. you see, the businesses along the gulf did not really go anywhere. there were still restaurants there were still shops, there were still souvenir places. and they kept coming -- but people quit coming because of the damage to the environment. after cleanup, then we began to work to restore. the work began early on with cooperation with bp and we negotiated a billion dollars in early restoration funds through the natural resource damage assessment process. and bp understood that if were -- if they were to fund the

restoration of natural resources, they could protect themselves from liability and the federal and state trustees realized we could put that money to work. we could mitigate not only the damages, but the economic impacts as well. of the billion dollars that was secured from bp, our state received $100 billion. of the $100 million, we decided with the agreement of the other trustees that we were going to enhance our gulf state park. the gulf state park is located along alabama's gulf coast. it is 650 acres. from the white sand beaches to the coastal woodlands, the wetlands, the natural resources that were there were just waiting to be enhanced. as the governor said, we lost a

lot since the 1970's. it was lost due to hurricane ivan. so, the question people have is why in the world are you using funds to do other enhancements to the gulf state park. the reason is it provides what we restore is not just natural resources, but the use of them. in order for natural resources to be appreciated, people have to use them. we see a history of building boardwalks and sidewalks and ramps so the people could get to natural resources. our project is no different. what our project does is give the people of alabama the people of this nation and opportunity to access the natural resources. not just for a minute, not just

for an hour, but to stay overnight, to be one with the environment as they spend time on vacation or otherwise with the natural resources. our project consists of five elements. one, enhancing the visitor experience, including an additional five miles of trails for biking, birding. this is an addition to trails that already exist. areas to pause and take a break. the second element is to restore the dunes. that is clearly a natural resource that needs to be restored. what we have now is a berm. we built a berm to protect the highway that runs along the be from hurricanes. but firms do not -- firms do not

survive naturally like dunes. we will restore 50 acres of dunes on alabama's gulf coast there any park. we will also build an environmental information center. this will serve as a gateway to the park, so people can learn more about these natural resources. after all, if we are going to reserve the outdoors, we have to educate people especially children, as to their importance. and that is a fourth element, creating an education and resource center. it will have labs. it will have dorm space, taking 12 students to come through these school year, to learn about our environment, space for them to get hands-on, to perhaps remove some of the species that

have invaded the gulf state park and replace them with indigenous species, and finally to rebuild the lodge. the plan is to build a 350-room lodge that is within the footprint of the lodge that has existed there from the 1970's, and also to create meeting space so people can have an opportunity to get together and meets, to create an opportunity to have space there as well. this construction project will cost more than the 85 and a half alien dollars we have secured. it will probably cost an additional $50 billion. we have plans to raise that financing through the state which is pending in our legislature now. but $35 million that is the construction cost. the impact is close to $300

million for our state. over $160 million as a contribution for the gross domestic product for our state over $79 million in earnings. that is just construction. once it is built, you will see economic impacts substantially more. the potential economic impact will be 68.2 million dollars each year for the city of gulf shores were the park is located in baldwin county. the project itself, directly and indirectly, through the jobs that will be created as the park is enhanced will support over 616 new jobs -- new jobs -- and 16.4 million dollars in annual payroll. the annual off-site spending --

14.2 million dollars i the year 2020 and 19.6 million in economic impacts from that point forward. so, you see in thinking green there is an additional green element to consider. not just the natural resources but also the economic development. i will leave you with that thought. something you already know, but as we share it, to think green differently. >> thank you for that. thank you to all of our panelists. i would like to thank the newest member of this committee, oregon governor kate brown. we are glad to have you with us. now we would like to open up a meeting to any discussion, any questions from the governors --

comments? >> thank you all three for the great presentations. we appreciate you being here. david, this is a question for you and i appreciate your presentation. one of the challenges, it seems that we face -- we recognize the hunters and those who fish -- they pay a lot of the bills in terms of wildlife, but there are many beneficiaries -- photographers, people would just want to hike, and we are looking at the state model how do we monetize some of that? how do we do that because we recognize too often it is just put on sportsmen's shoulders to do that. we actually have gone to the general fund to do that.

when we look at states, had we make sure that we continue this great model of conservation and continue to do the job? and the second question is -- continually we have programs -- i know other states do, as well. for the continuity of this, for us to go back, for those of us you've got to engage the next generation, you've got to engage the young people. i do not have any data on this, but anecdotally, we worry about our young people spending more time inside. what do we have to stimulate that interest? they spend time on their cell phones and they are entertained with something that is, in my view, not as valuable as taking

a look outside and seeing the vistas in the wildlife. so, those are the two questions. mr. allen: ok. i will do the second one first. we wrestle a lot with trying to crack the code with the kids today in the youth. that age group, 12 to 20, if you will roughly, their whole world is here, it seems like. i've got two teenage sons and unfortunately, that is where they are at. i think one of the things we have learned is we have to make it more relevant in their terms which some of it has to go there in the delivery system. one of the encouraging things today is a lot of the young kids are kind of into their own little mini adventures, if you

will, primarily driven by this so they can share with their friends and do what they do when they are doing all of that. so, we are trying very hard to figure out how do we do that? we spent a fair amount of money. we are starting to retain -- this old white guy here is not going to do it for them, and i and not relevant to what they are thinking. the path we are going down. that has every state represented. we are moving rapidly towards creating a campaign, which will

be very similar to the boating taking the fishing, taking the campaign that has been running for some time now and we are trying to find what is that relevant message that will resonate with the kids and get them out and the outdoors? i don't have the answer to that today, beat -- to be totally honest. one of the things that is driving right now that is very interesting is called the locavore movement in some of our urban areas. that is, some of the twentysomethings, even thirtysomethings they want to know where their food comes from. they want to eat meat that they know where it comes from and they wanted to be organic.

we live in montana and wyoming. i say locavore, and they are like, you are speaking a foreign language. in the urban areas it is happening more and more where they are deer hunting to provide their own food. interestingly enough, one of the most high profile individuals is mark zuckerberg, who is the founder of facebook who does it. when he started talking about it it started getting attention. how do we embrace that in capture that and how do we make it more relevant? i live in billings, montana. i can go into a lot of schools in billings. west high, probably the largest high school in the state probably.

you would not dare talk about hunting and fishing and whatnot. that should not the -- that should not be in montana. it is a reality today. we have to get around those issues if we are going to maintain, not only this culture, but what we have for resources. i am kind of getting off on a tangent. it's all related. it has to go into a bag that we address with you. your other question about state models, state budgets being stretched and stretched and there's more and more demand. the new word today is a non-consumptive species and whatnot. it is a real issue for a couple reasons. one, you have your key customer, your best customer is the hunter and the fisherman and they are scared to death they are going to lose their relevance and

their seat at the table, if you will. and at the same time, you have the birdwatcher or the wildlife photographer and they are using as much of the resources as anybody else, and they are really not contributing to the management and the enforcement etc. we have to figure out how they do contribute, and we have to not resist as hunters and fishermen -- we have to not be afraid -- again, they say have a seat at the table. i'm afraid the real seat at the table is the election every year. that is your seats. that is your voice is as citizen. to have them participate without having us give up what we have -- we being these sportsmen. that is the dilemma we have today. i am sitting on a council that is going through this.

we have a meeting in august. how do we address that? what do we had then if i that will contribute to the state budgets, to help provide resources and help manage for them? it will take some willingness to give on both sides of that table for this to happen. what you guys did an wyoming a couple years ago when you are faced with that budget issue, i believe the general fund started to cover the retirement and benefits for your game and fish employees. it is something we have been talking about with montana's group and i think that is one significant game. i know there is several million dollars that was gained.

how do we get all of these other users of the resource into the pool of contribution is the $64,000 question. do we expand the pitman robinson to expand more equipment being used for wildlife and outdoor resource? it is plausible, but where does that line get drawn? which product is it? etc.. think we will have to be bold and be willing to take some steps, because i know a lot of the states, especially the western states that we work with most are really stretched. i know were again is facing significant fiscal challenges right now and they are all in the same boat. i do not have the answer, these

silver bullet, but i know the answer is going to include we have got to all come to the table and be willing to solve the problem and not played defense quite as much. governor tomblin: -- governor mead: thank you, david. governor tomblin: governor bullock? governor bullock: i had 11 million visitors last year. if i go down to the hunting, fishing -- we can quantify chartered 50,000 residents 150,000 nonresidents. they spent $907 million on our state. on the hunting site is $350 million in our state. we certainly struggle with it. as david knows fish and wildlife issues are probably the most controversial things we deal with every single session

but by the same token, there are times when those pitman robinson dollars and others are inadequate. to be able to sell -- our chores bring in $300 million of state and local tax revenues each year. the only way we continue to do that or annually on the hunting side is there are times it cannot all be put on the sportsmen's and the women -- sportsmen and women's back. mr. allen: i live in montana. it is the best bargain in town as a resident, the residents hunting license and all the things i can do with it. i know i will get fired for this. we should be spending more as residents for the privileges we have as -- in hunting and

fishing. that will not generate the answer. it will help. we have been non-residents fees just about as high as it will go . it is a dilemma. it has to be addressed because we are running rapidly into a brick wall. just about all of the western states i know of. governor tomblin: further questions? if not, i think our panelists -- oh, did you have something you wanted to say. >> i know i am not allowed to ask a question, but i wanted to add a comment. they have been very active studying youth engagement. i think there are a lot of parallels. the boys scouts had dropped from 34% to 8% participation over the

last 20 years. what west virginia has done has been pretty remarkable because it brings in nontraditional activities that kids want to engage in. baseball, we found two things. one thing youth involvement is determined by our early was your first experience at a ballgame and did you actively participate or play? it seems to me a parallel is how early did your dad take you fishing? i remember the first day my dad took me fishing. i have tried to fish every day since then. we can't all do that, but how do we make it fun, make it engaging, capture kids early or younger, because we not going to compete with the mobile device.

it has killed all of us not to have the machine out in front of us the last hour. there is no substitute for the resilience that kids learn from being outside. so, whether it is providing a resource. earl tomblin tries to preserve 11 miles of the river. having that resource, benefiting the early activity and did you actively engage simply turns the switch on for kids and baseball is a lifetime. i know it did for me, the same thing with the love of the outdoors and love of fishing. mr. allen: in a follow-up to that, i know several states have -- colorado has, maintain a -- montana just approved it -- a mentor license. kids before they have had hunter

ad, where they are required to be with a parent or guardian -- before they have had hunter ed, where they are required to be with a parent or guardian, but they were allowed to go out and hunt certain things. getting them hope during gauge that a younger age, and it has proven to be successful in many states. and the other thing that is encouraging is the statistics for the growth of females in hunting and fishing and -- believe it or not -- archery is really helpful about that, if mom is engaged, everybody is engaged. that is a strong plus for us. we are seeing a lot of growth in that area. we hope to sustain it. governor tomblin: governor bentley? governor bentley: let me say --

i am closing. i would like to say thank you. out of the tragedy we had, not only alabama, but the entire gulf coast this community deals with commerce. we have a combination meeting dealing with tourism. out of tragedy, we are developing something that is very important. no one wants tragedy. no one wants disasters to hit their state, but when disasters do hit their state, you need to find a way to make lemonade out of lemons. i cannot speak for the other southern states, but i just want to thank cooper, who was my legal advisor. they let him continue to work with me. we are going to bring back 32 miles of the whitest sand in the

world. we want to bring back a convention center and we will have conventions -- not in florida. i do not go to florida anymore to speak to alabama people. i refuse to do that. we are building a convention center and we will have conventions in alabama for this. the university of alabama has allowed him to do that and he has helped me. >> there is one for alabama, there is one for wyoming. ours does not have sand in it -- [laughter] governor tomblin: ok, are there further questions or comments? do any of the governors have anything else to bring before the committee? if not, i decl

>> we will have more from the national governors association today when they continue their summer meeting in west virginia. the day begins with prescription drug abuse and later a discussion with labor secretary thomas perez about ways to stimulate local economy. the meeting concludes with the hss secretary sylvia burwell. all that begins at 9:45 a.m. eastern here on c-span. on newsmakers this weekend kentucky congressmen and harold rogers is our guest. as chair of the house appropriations committee, he talks about the budget process and the potential for an ongoing resolution or omnibus spending bill.