Trip Report: Advocating for Public Lands and Recreation in Washington D.C. with Outdoor Alliance
OA Washington, the Grasstops Collective, and Tommy Caldwell meeting with Senator Cantwell
Written in collaboration with The Mountaineers
Each year, The Mountaineers joins Outdoor Alliance in Washington, D.C., uniting leaders in the human-powered outdoor community to advocate to lawmakers and land managers for shared conservation and recreation priorities. While we remain engaged in coordinated advocacy together throughout the year, meeting with decision-makers in person builds support for outdoor advocacy on a larger scale.
To elevate our priorities, Outdoor Alliance Washington and human-powered recreation partners from across the country came together in Washington, D.C. in September for our largest advocacy “fly-in” to date. Nearly 80 advocates held more than 80 meetings with decision makers, championing some of our biggest policy priorities like the EXPLORE Act, a first-of-its-kind package of recreation policy that would improve and expand outdoor experiences on America’s public lands and waters.
We also celebrated ten years of Outdoor Alliance, which officially formed as a coalition of human-powered recreation groups in 2014. Between meetings with lawmakers, we were able to reflect on all we’ve achieved together for the outdoors—training the next crop of outdoor recreation advocates and building support for the next big wins for public lands and outdoor recreation.
Building Conservation and Recreation Champions in Congress
Congress has a lot to accomplish in the remaining weeks of this session, including passing a federal budget to avoid a government shutdown. We also see opportunities to pass recreation and public lands legislation, issues that continue to draw broad bipartisan support.
Washington state’s congressional delegation has many champions of conservation and recreation issues in part because recreationists like you take action to protect public lands and the outdoor recreation experience. There are so many important issues to work on in Congress, and lawmakers and their staff have a finite amount of time, so your letters and our in-person advocacy meetings are key to maintaining support for the issues our community cares about.
Meeting with Washington State Senator, Patty Murray
Outdoor Alliance brought twelve Washington-based outdoor advocates from The Mountaineers, Washington Trails Association, Surfrider Foundation, American Whitewater, American Alpine Club, REI Co-op, Patagonia, and Cascade Backcountry Alliance where we met with the offices of nearly every member of Washington’s congressional delegation. This in-person advocacy is important for elevating recreation issues before the end of the year.
Outdoor Alliance meeting with USFS
We reiterated our support for the EXPLORE Act, the Wild Olympics bill, increased appropriations for land management agencies like the Forest Service, and for the reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA).
We met with Washington state Senators, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both strong champions for both conservation and outdoor recreation. Senator Murray continues to lead the effort to protect key areas of Olympic National Forest as Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers by passing the Wild Olympics bill. Senator Cantwell recently led on a letter to federal land managers on the importance of the use of fixed anchors in Wilderness. She is a champion for outdoor recreation and landmark programs like the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and the Legacy Restoration Fund. Professional climber Tommy Caldwell joined to present Senator Cantwell with an award for her leadership, and the two enjoyed reminiscing about trips to the Olympic coast.
We also had an opportunity to discuss climate policy and how public lands can be leveraged as natural climate solutions with leadership from the National Park Service, Forest Service, and the White House Center for Environmental Quality. We received a positive reception during our Administration meetings, and agency staff encouraged our community to continue speaking up on behalf of conservation and climate goals.
In particular, the Forest Service shared that our advocacy for public lands funding is making a difference. While the Forest Service remains severely underfunded, funding for sustainable recreation management has seen an increase in recent years thanks to our advocacy.
Elevating Constituent Voices
Outdoor Alliance also gathered the first cohort of its Grasstops Collective, a leadership and advocacy development program that trains leaders in the outdoor recreation community to build relationships with policymakers and advocate for conservation priorities. For our Washington state crew, one of the trip’s special opportunities was the chance to team up with four outdoor advocates from Washington state who are members of the first cohort of the Grasstops Collective.
Outdoor Alliance’s Grasstops Collective
Longtime Mountaineers leader Danielle Graham, Cascade Backcountry Alliance’s Kyle McCrohan, American Alpine Club Cascade Section Chair Andreea Gabor, and Patagonia’s Denis Tuzinovic added value as additional constituents and community voices to our meetings with congressional offices. The growing engagement of these recreation community leaders in outdoor advocacy is helping write the next chapter for Outdoor Alliance’s legacy and impact.
Where Our Priorities Stand
During our trip we were able to generate momentum for our top recreation policy priority: the EXPLORE Act. EXPLORE includes the Simplifying Outdoor Access to Recreation (SOAR) Act and the Protect America’s Rock Climbing (PARC) Act. The PARC Act would help safeguard Wilderness climbing and the SOAR Act would secure much-needed reform to the federal recreational permitting system. Both bills are included in both the House and Senate versions of a recreation package.
The EXPLORE Act passed the full House by voice vote last April. In May and June, committee staff from the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee worked to align the text of the House and Senate versions. EXPLORE is currently under consideration for inclusion in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is commonly viewed as “must-pass” legislation.
After making considerable progress in Congress over the last two years, we’re hopeful that the Wild Olympics bill could advance all the way through Congress this year as part of a potential public lands package.
Take Action for EXPLORE and Wild Olympics
We’ll keep you updated as our priorities continue to move through Congress, and share future opportunities to advocate for the Wild Olympics and the EXPLORE Act with your members of Congress this year. In the meantime, we encourage you to take a few minutes to send a personalized letter to your lawmakers in support of the EXPLORE Act and also send a thank you letter to Senators Murray and Cantwell for their strong support of the Wild Olympics bill.