These rural towns are banking on outdoor recreation to boost their economies

When Amber Toler was an accounting student at Utah State University Eastern in Price, Utah, she also worked as a river guide and with Carbon County Recreation. She'd grown up camping with her family and loved getting outside, but those experiences showed her that someone could have an actual, full career in outdoor rec. It changed her trajectory.

"In the back of my head, it was always, 'OK, well, accounting's really the plan B. Eventually, I want to open a climbing gym somewhere,'" Toler said. "But I didn't know where or how."...