Made for the Job

A hiker, hunter, fisherwoman, rafter, mom, lifelong Montanan, Rachel VandeVoort has been hired as the first director of the Montanan Office of Outdoor Recreation, created this year by Governor Steve Bullock. She started last week.

We have been advocating for this office for more than four years now and applaud the governor’s choice to lead the office. As someone who has spent nearly her entire career in the outdoor industry, Rachel comes with the kind of first-hand knowledge and background this position demands. Indeed her resume reads as though she were made for the job.

She spent her early career working in the ski industry as a regional sales manager at Whitefish Mountain Resort. She then served as a sales and marketing project manager at Glacier Raft Company in West Glacier. She’s spent the last seven years, as an account manager and trade relations manager, working for Kimber, a Kalispell-based company that produces hunting and other types of firearms.

Rachel VandeVoort

By creating this office, the governor continues to recognize the importance of outdoor recreation in Montana and the public lands on which it depends. This office has incredible potential to boost the economies of small towns across the state and to ensure more communities benefit from the outdoor recreation available in our backyards. Rachel is the right person to lead us in this work. 

Her hiring comes at a time when outdoor recreation has topped agriculture as the largest sector of the state’s economy. According to the Outdoor Industry Association’s new figures, outdoor recreation generates $7 billion per year in consumer spending and supports over 70,000 jobs that pay more than $2 billion worth of wages.

We look forward to working with Rachel on expanding Montana’s outdoor recreation economy. Join us in welcoming her and thanking Governor Bullock for hiring her.

– Kayje Booker, MWA state policy director