Topeka ? Gov. Sam Brownback has formed a committee to advance recreational and tourism opportunities on the Kansas River.

Brownback, Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Secretary Robin Jennison will hold a news conference Thursday at the Kaw River State Park access ramp in Topeka.

The committee’s work will build on last year’s designation of the Kansas River as a National Water Trail by the U.S. Department of Interior.

Members of the Kansas River Development Committee are Abby Amick, economic development director for Wabaunsee County; Laura Calwell, Kansas Riverkeeper with Friends of the Kaw; Robert Cole, director of the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation; Beth Fager, campaign director, Great Overland Station Museum; Connie Hall, executive director, Geary County Convention & Visitors Bureau; Charmion Harris. owner, Lake Adventures, Milford; Karen Hibbard, vice president, Manhattan Convention and Visitors Bureau; Bridgette Jobe, executive director, Kansas City Kansas Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc.; Eric Laws, president, Kansas Canoe and Kayak Association; Brian Leaders, landscape architect, National Park Service.

Corey Mohn, director of Statewide Programs, NetWork Kansas; Shalyn Murphy, communications and marketing director, Visit Topeka; Greg Panichello, Kansas Small Business Development Center, Fort Hays State University; Christina Phelps, Visit Lawrence; Sara Ritter, executive director, De Soto Chamber of Commerce; Julie Roller, development associate, Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation.

Sue Stringer, Kansas Byways and Agritourism manager, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism; and Roger Wolfe, committee chair, Northeast Kansas Wildlife Supervisor, KDWPT.