From building trails to opening doors: Williamsburg’s Paul Jahnige named state’s outdoor recreation chief
James Pentland | Daily Hampshire Gazette | September 12, 2023
A Williamsburg native with many years of experience as trails program director for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has been tapped to head the state’s new Office of Outdoor Recreation.
Paul Jahnige said he was “humbled and a little daunted” but also eager to get to work on enhancing Massachusetts outdoor opportunities.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to develop and grow this office, and to promote Massachusetts as a place to come and play,” he said after his appointment was announced Tuesday.
The office was established in December by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs with the aim of promoting and expanding outdoor recreation, and making it as welcoming and inclusive as possible, Jahnige said.
He said he expects to start broadly by listening to others, but he said he sees opportunities to develop grant programs that expand access.
“I think events are wonderful ways to engage new people in outdoor recreation,” he said.
Outdoor recreation plays a significant role in the overall economy of Massachusetts, adding $9.5 billion to the state’s gross domestic product and directly supporting 93,000 jobs in 2021, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The office will coordinate its efforts with other state agencies, including DCR, the Department of Fish and Game, the Massachusetts Marketing Partnership, and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
Jahnige, 56, has been a trail planner for about 17 years, working out of the DCR office on Damon Road, with responsibility for planning and construction of trails in state parks and forests.
Since the pandemic, he said, he has been working mostly from home, and will continue the hybrid schedule, though his commute — to Cambridge Street in Boston — will be longer.
Born and raised in Williamsburg, Jahnige lives in the house he grew up in with his wife and family — two grown children and the youngest a high school senior. He did a lot of hiking and recreation with his family growing up, and served as a trip leader in his college days with the Student Hosteling Program run out of Conway, taking student groups across New England, Quebec and Prince Edward Island.
He earned a master’s degree in environmental studies from Yale, did conservation work in Ecuador and Kenya, and returned to found Community Resources in Baltimore, an urban environmental nonprofit that develops programs in minority, low-income communities across cities in the Mid-Atlantic.
After returning to Massachusetts in 2000, he also found time to coach youth soccer and ultimate, and helped found Northampton Ultimate and Pioneer Valley Ultimate.
“Paul has dedicated his career to enhancing and expanding outdoor recreational activities for the residents of Massachusetts and is uniquely qualified to advance the goals of this new office,” Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, said in a statement.
“The Healey administration could not have made a better choice for the commonwealth’s very first director of outdoor recreation, and I look forward to working with Paul in this exciting new endeavor.”
Jahnige starts in his new position Sept. 25.
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