UERPC’s Aaron Detter and Ashley Christensen attended one of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s (IEDA) “ Downtown Forums ” in Forest City on June 26th. Over the event’s networking lunch, Detter had the opportunity to talk with Stephanie Neppl from the Iowa Tourism Office. Neppl and others at the event were sharing stories of trail projects and Detter mentioned the Northeast Iowa Regional Trails Economic Impact Analysis that he and UERPC colleague Michelle Barness had completed in 2021. Neppl and other attendees remarked that they were very interested in seeing the study, because good data about the economic impacts of trails is hard to come by, especially anything specific to Iowa. A week after the conference, Neppl followed up with Detter, looping in her colleague Matthew Kodis, a data and research analyst at IEDA. After reviewing the report, Neppl asked permission to feature the document on the IEDA/Iowa Tourism Office’s website. The study is now available on the Iowa Tourism Office’s Industry Partners Research webpage, where it will hopefully be of use to organizations throughout the state in understanding and promoting the enormous positive impact that trails can have on local economies.