Few would be surprised to learn about the physical and mental benefits that trails can bring.

Those elements were frequently cited during a Trail of the Year ceremony at the Trails at Jakes Rocks trailhead Friday morning.

But the benefits from the trail system were cast in a far wider context by several of the speakers.

“Today’s event is an opportunity to celebrate a beautiful trail,” Congressman Glenn Thompson said, and “showcase the benefits outdoor recreation provides a community. We see that in so many ways.”

He cited tourism and outdoor recreation and the second largest industry in Pennsylvania and spoke about the importance of “bring(ing) those dollars in from the outside to help our local economy.”

Thompson said that initiatives like the Trails at Jakes Rocks are an “investment in the health and, quite frankly, the economy of the nation.”

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn called the trails part of the state’s future, an element “that will attract people to live, work and play” in the region and serve both as a “pillar” for economic growth but also “hope for our people.”

Ta Enos, founder and CEO of the Pennsylvania Wilds, said growing the outdoor recreation sector in rural Pennsylvania has been a focus for 20 years.

She said that tourism and outdoor recreation is a “job and wealth generator like any industry is.

“Assets like this not only are economic generators (but) make this a better place to live,” Enos explained, calling the TAJR a “really important amenity for us to bring online for our community and our region.”

She added that visitation is going up with investments that are “being done very intentionally so we don’t lose what’s special about our place.”

She said that the development of the Trails is held up as a model for “how to get projects like this done.

“The vision is one thing and implementing it is another. It took real work and perseverance to get this thing funded in rural Pennsylvania. Projects like this, they can be hard to get funded and move forward.”

Perhaps no one is tasked with making the argument for outdoor recreation more than Nathan Reigner, who leads the state’s Office of Outdoor Recreation.

“This is a fantastic place,” he said. “I take note that it was the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry that has really been the community partner on this trail project.”

Reigner called it “unique” to have a recreation project led by a chamber of commerce and claimed that it’s evidence that the community and this part of the states “sees future prosperity and economic competitiveness through outdoor recreation.”

The Trails at Jakes Rocks give “us a strategic tool for economic development,” he added, and is also a “great workforce recruitment and retention tool. These trails attract new workers” and new businesses.

“One of the main things we celebrate,” State Sen. Scot Hutchinson said, “not only do we have the asset, we’re going to use those assets.”

He pointed out that the Allegheny National Forest is considered the “Land of Many Uses.”

“We’re talking about new and innovative ways of using this wonderful asset we have here in Northwestern Pennsylvania” to improve the quality of life and help “drive the economic engine in Warren and surrounding counties.”