A First-of-its-Kind Outdoor Recreation Package and Other Public Land Priorities for the End of the Year
Photo credit: Karsten Winegeart
The lame duck session, the period of time between an election and the start of a new Congress, is a brief and productive window for Congress to pass important legislation that got stalled in the period before the election. With the partisan pressure of the election lifted somewhat, lawmakers are typically eager to see good policy ideas across the finish line.
This winter season, we are eager to see a few key pieces of recreation and conservation policy across the finish line before the new Congress begins in January.
Improve Recreation Policy with America’s Outdoor Recreation Act
At the top of the list is America’s Outdoor Recreation Act (AORA), a first-of-its-kind package of recreation policy that would improve outdoor recreation experiences, address increased participation in the outdoors, and ensure sustainable and accessible outdoor experiences. Along with protections for public lands and waters, AORA would greatly improve how recreation is managed and would have benefits for public health, the environment, and the economy.
Click to read our full letter on AORA and lands protections.
Outdoor recreation participation on the rise, and the recently-released Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers show that the outdoor recreation economy is also growing. Outdoor recreation is now a bigger part of the U.S. economy than oil and gas development. Land managers need policy direction from Congress to ensure outdoor recreation opportunities are sustainable and the benefits are available to all Americans.
AORA was developed over many years of collaboration with the outdoor recreation community, including Outdoor Alliance and our partners. We are excited about many of the provisions, and you can read more in our recent letter to Congressional leadership. The bill offers many important policy directives for outdoor recreation: Among the provisions we are most jazzed about are:
Safeguards Wilderness climbing with national guidance for fixed anchors in Wilderness.
Improves sustainable mountain biking experiences and asks agencies to identify new opportunities for long-distance bike trails.
Facilitates outdoor experiences by improving recreational permitting. This section was part of the SOAR Act, which Outdoor Alliance and our partners have worked on for nearly ten years. It would help recreational outfitters, including our members like The Mountaineers, get permits from land managers to take people on facilitated trips. This is also critical for improving equitable access to the outdoors.
Permanently establishes the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR), which is focused on improving access to nature and expanding outdoor recreation opportunities.
Requires agencies to identify and inventory outdoor recreation, which makes it easier to enhance, protect, and manage for recreation on public lands.
Modernizes how land managers collect visitation data, which is critical to understanding and sustainably managing recreation on public lands and waters.
Codifies the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program, which provides grant funding for urban areas to develop green spaces and outdoor access, with priority given to economically disadvantaged areas and neighborhoods without existing outdoor recreation opportunities.
As far as its prospects, AORA passed unanimously out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this year and has strong bipartisan support. The House Natural Resources Committee has also passed key sections from AORA, including the SOAR Act. Alongside land protections, we expect this to be high on the priority list for the lame duck session. The most likely path for pass is with one of the and two must-pass bills: a government funding package, or the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Protect Outdoor Experiences By Passing Land Protections
Along with this package of recreation policy, there are dozens of lands bills, many of which have passed out of the Senate or House with bipartisan support, that could be a part of an end-of-year package to improve and protect the outdoors.
The House has passed the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act (H.R. 803) numerous times, and this package includes protections for millions of acres of public land and more than 1,000 river miles. The Senate has also advanced a number of lands bills that could be a part of an end-of-year package. The outdoor recreation community has worked to develop, advance, and pass many of these bills, and they include landscapes that are home to outstanding mountain biking, paddling, hiking, mountaineering, climbing, backcountry skiing, and surfing.
Priority bills include:
Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act (H.R. 803) (which includes some of the bills listed below)
Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act (S. 1589)
Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act (S. 1538/H.R.7329)
Bonneville Shoreline Trail Advancement Act (S. 1222/H.R. 2551)
Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (S. 455/H.R.999)
Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act (S. 173/H.R. 577)
Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act (S. 1459/H.R. 878)
Central Coast Heritage Protection Act (S. 1459/H.R. 973)
San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act (S. 1459/H.R. 693)
Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (S. 1493)
River Democracy Act (S.192)
Grand Canyon Protection Act (S. 387/H.R. 1052)
Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act (S. 1769/S.1769)
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act (S. 4080/H.R.6366)
M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act (S. 3129)
Cerro de la Olla Wilderness Establishment Act (S. 177/H.R. 2522)
Buffalo Tract Protection Act (S. 180/H.R. 5805)
York River Wild and Scenic River Act of 2021 (S. 491/H.R. 1469)
Ruby Mountains Protection Act (S. 609)
Land Between the Lakes Recreation and Heritage Act (S. 3997/H.R.7399)
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Access Act (S.4784)
Invest in the Outdoors with an Omnibus Spending Bill
By December 16, Congress also needs to pass a funding bill in order to keep the government open. We are hopeful that lawmakers will pass an omnibus spending bill that increases investments in land management agencies like the Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management, rather than punting this responsibility to next year, when negotiations will likely be more difficult in a divided Congress.
Land management agencies need funding to do their work. Recent nonpartisan research found that, despite a sharp rise in visitation to public lands, these agencies’ recreation and conservation budgets fell significantly over the last decade. This is especially important in light of recent conservation investments like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Great American Outdoors Act. These bills require the agencies to have enough staff and resources to enact new programs and funding opportunities.
Along with these key priorities, we may also see the reappearance of a permitting reform bill. As you might remember, the administration and Congressional leadership agreed to try to pass permitting reform as a condition for securing Senator Manchin’s vote on the Inflation Reduction Act. While lawmakers did not attach the permitting reform bill to must-pass legislation earlier in the fall, it could surface again at the end of the year. Many members of the outdoor community, and others in the conservation movement, were concerned about some of the provisions in the permitting reform bill as it was released.
Whatever happens in the lame duck, there is a huge role for us to play. You can help get important recreation and conservation priorities across the finish line by telling your lawmakers what matters to you. We’ve made it easy: