Outdoor Alliance Advocates for Outdoor Recreation, Celebrates Ten Years of Conservation Wins in D.C.

Image: Torch Pictures

Last week, Outdoor Alliance supporters, staff and board, lawmakers, partners, grasstops advocates, and friends gathered in Washington D.C. to celebrate ten years of conservation powered by outdoor recreation and to advocate for more protections for public lands and waters, better outdoor recreation policy, and climate action.

78 advocates held more than 80 meetings with lawmakers on the Hill, championing some of our biggest policy priorities for the end of the year. These priorities include the EXPLORE Act, a first-of-its kind package of recreation policy that will improve outdoor experiences on public lands; the BLM’s Public Lands Rule, which will balance conservation with development and extraction on 245 million acres of BLM land; funding for public lands and waters to ensure that land management agencies can keep up with increasing visitation and maintain trails and other recreation resources; and protection for more important public lands and waters.

We were joined by champions from American Whitewater, American Alpine Club, Access Fund, American Canoe Association, IMBA, The Mountaineers, Surfrider, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Runners for Public Lands, Bikepacking Roots, SORBA,  CAMTB and Sage Trail Alliance, as well as by partners at REI, Patagonia, and professional climber Tommy Caldwell. Advocates met with lawmakers from across the country, including California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, West Virginia, Montana, Nevada, Tennessee, Arkansas, Wyoming, Maryland, North Carolina, Utah, and many more.

Outdoor Alliance also gathered the first cohort of its Grasstops Collective, a training program for grasstops advocates to build relationships with their lawmakers, understand policy and advocacy more deeply, and drive conservation efforts forward nationally. These advocates received training on meeting with D.C. lawmakers and were able to organize meetings with their elected officials and the administration to share their concerns about both local policy and national conservation policy. For many of these advocates, it was their first time advocating for federal policy change.

Dani Poirier, Director at Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, who is a member of Outdoor Alliance’s Grasstops Collective and attended last fall’s advocacy fly-in, said, “Advocating in DC is a lot like skiing a big line. It's intimidating leading up to it, but you feel empowered and accomplished when the day is done. We helped advance the EXPLORE Act, land protections, and funding for the outdoors by sharing our personal stories about the places we love to play. Conserving outdoor recreation opportunities is important and our collective voice is helping move the needle.”

Outdoor Alliance staff with Chairman Westerman

The team kicked off the week with an event at D.C.’s flagship REI store where Representative Bruce Westerman, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, spoke about the importance of the outdoor community in advocating for the EXPLORE Act and reflecting that EXPLORE passed unanimously in the House is because “everybody loves outdoor recreation….that is a testament to you and to the work that you’ve done advocating and the hard work that’s been done to make the EXPLORE Act.”

"Advocating for public lands in D.C. was an eye-opener,” said Kathleen Baker, Executive Director of Runners for Public Lands. “It’s clear that our voices matter and can drive meaningful change for human-powered recreation. It was inspiring to see how our collective efforts can push for policies that support both our trails and urban recreation areas, as well as our broader conservation goals."

Outdoor Alliance also celebrated ten years of advocacy work since it became a 501c3 in 2014. With 250 partners, board members, friends, and advocates, including Patagonia and professional climber Tommy Caldwell, we toasted some of our biggest successes over the last ten years, many of which were won only after many years of work from countless partners. Adam Cramer, CEO of Outdoor Alliance, shared his appreciation for the collective nature of Outdoor Alliance’s work: “Conservation wins are hard fought, many of our biggest accomplishments took years to cross the finish line, and they are only achieved through years of collaborative effort.”

The outdoor community’s success at moving the needle on conservation over the last ten years is truly a team effort—the result of our powerful coalition of outdoor recreation groups, our partners in outdoor business, our partners in the environment and hunting and angling, the voices of many impassioned outdoor advocates, and many tireless champions in Washington D.C.

They are also the result of many voices speaking up on behalf of the outdoors. You have an important role to play in building an echo chamber of support for public land and recreation priorities. Take action by asking your lawmakers to pass the EXPLORE Act, fund public lands, and support the BLM Public Lands Rule using the tools below.

 EXPLORE Act

The recreation community has been working for years on proposals to strengthen, protect, and expand outdoor recreation opportunities on our public lands and waters. As participation in outdoor recreation grows, it becomes even more important that public land management agencies like the Forest Service, Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management, have sound policies and resources in place that will support sustainable and equitable outdoor recreation access. The EXPLORE Act is a first-of-its kind package of recreation policy to improve recreation across public lands, provisions that would identify and create long-distance bike trails, safeguard rock climbing, improve recreational permitting for outfitters and guides, and make the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership, which provides grants for green space in urban areas, permanent.

Funding Public Lands

Visitation is increasing on America’s public lands, yet funding for outdoor recreation on public lands and waters has decreased over time. This persistent funding shortfall degrades our public lands and waters and negatively affects outdoor experiences. Without adequate funding, public lands see greater maintenance issues, trail erosion, trash, and parking problems. Funding shortages even make it more difficult for volunteer groups to work on trail maintenance and other stewardship activities because of a lack of capacity at the agencies. Adequate funding is important for maintaining sustainable, equitable, and enjoyable recreation experiences. Outdoor Alliance has advocated for better funding for recreation on our public lands, as well as for increased appropriations for public land management agencies.

Support the BLM Public Lands Rule

The BLM’s Public Lands Rule supports conservation on 245 million acres of public lands that will benefit outdoor recreationists now and into the future. BLM lands are under more stress than ever. Climate change, growing recreational use, and the transition to renewable energy will come with even more demands on our BLM lands. The Public Lands Rule will help the BLM manage this increasing stress and ensure that BLM lands will benefit all sustainably and for the long-term. It will help the BLM modernize and better balance the need for recreation and conservation with extraction and development. The Public Lands Rule needs support from recreationists.

Protecting More Public Lands

Our country has the tradition of bipartisan support for protecting public lands, and there are many valuable landscapes that are under threat and deserve lasting protections. Outdoor Alliance has vigorously advocated for more landscape protections, including the Wild Olympics, the Owyhee River Canyon, the Gila River, the Dolores River, and protections for California public lands.