Outdoor Alliance has been tracking and responding to numerous early administrative actions, some of which will affect public lands and waters and outdoor recreation issues.

Among our top concerns are the current government-wide hiring freeze, an action that is already having an effect on land management agencies, with seasonal job offers at the Park Service and other agencies being rescinded. We are particularly worried about spending and hiring freezes exacerbating the already-dire budget situation at the Forest Service. These freezes may ultimately be short lived, but they can have lasting effects on agency efficacy or cause cascading delays, particularly for projects with seasonal windows.

Beyond the immediate impacts, it’s important to recognize that some of these actions seem designed to make it harder for land managers to do their jobs and leading to attrition among agency staff. —While the outdoor recreation community sometimes has its differences with land management agencies, their work is essential to keeping public lands open, accessible, and well-maintained. Employees at the Park Service, the Forest Service, and other land management agencies provide visitor services, maintenance, permitting, campground management, backcountry ranger patrols, and other crucial services that are the backbone of public lands and waters.

Grant and contract freezes also affect public lands and waters—parks and public lands need staff at entrances, contracts for sanitation, and maintenance for Americans to enjoy them. While it is unclear how this situation will play out over the coming weeks, Outdoor Alliance will be advocating to ensure public lands and waters have the staff and resources needed to be maintained and open to the public.

In addition, in the first weeks of the new administration, President Trump has produced a number of executive orders on the environment that affect public lands and waters, most notably “declaring a national energy emergency” which directs federal agencies to use all "lawful emergency authorities... to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.” The EO excludes renewable energy, including wind and solar, from the definition of “energy.”

Another energy EO, “Unleashing American Energy,” directs agencies to review policies and regulations with an “undue burden” on energy production, pauses disbursement of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and directs the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to “assess public lands withdrawals for potential revision.”

Other EOs rescind previous climate and environmental justice Executive Orders, direct the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty, and direct the renaming of Denali in Alaska. The BLM is also putting on indefinite hold its planned Federal Advisory Committee to inform implementation of the Public Lands Rule, on which Outdoor Alliance’s Louis Geltman was slated to serve.

Cumulatively these EOs are in line with what we anticipated would happen early in the administration, with the new administration strongly indicating during the campaign an intention to downsize the federal government workforce and prioritize fossil fuel development.

Public lands and waters are the heart of this country’s outdoor experiences, and support a growing outdoor recreation economy. By some estimates, they return every dollar of investment by a factor of 14. The outdoor community is a large and passionate community that stands up to protect the places we love to play, and has been successful in advocating for balance on public lands and waters that protects landscapes and ensures outdoor access.

Outdoor Alliance will continue to track and monitor issues facing public lands and waters, and provide opportunities to engage where they are most meaningful.

How Early Administrative Actions Could Affect Outdoor Recreation