Transition Recommendations for Our 44th President
Outdoor recreation contributes over one trillion dollars annually to the U.S. economy. The vast majority of this powerful economic activity takes place on public lands and waters managed by federal, state and local governments. Federal support for public lands; recreation infrastructure; and the programs that support outdoor recreation, wildlife, habitat and active, outdoor lifestyles is critical to the health and well being of the American people and these treasured landscapes. The role of standard bearer for these places and activities presents the new administration with an opportunity to connect with the American people and reconnect us all with the benefits of outdoor recreation and our public lands.
Perhaps at no other time in our country’s history has the need to support outdoor recreation been greater. A federal budget that will be constrained; a growing and increasingly diverse population that will be seeking enjoyment and renewal in the great outdoors; dramatically declining health of young and old due to lack of activity; and a recreation infrastructure that is deteriorating in the face of rising demand create a “perfect storm” that must and can be addressed.
Recreational access and capacity are threatened. The federal government is facing extremely challenging economic times and there is no long-term, comprehensive strategy for the management and funding of public lands to support and sustain recreational activities and access. This is the fundamental challenge generic to the interests of all of us.
The founding members of Choose Outdoors [Outdoor Industry Association, National Ski Areas Association, and America Outdoors (guides and outfitters)] and others joining our coalition will work with the administration on comprehensive strategies to 1) promote the benefits of public lands, outdoor recreation and active lifestyles and 2) inventory, map, construct and maintain Americas’ outdoor recreation infrastructure. Our combined constituencies will pursue the following priorities and believe the new administration should build upon the following platform as fundamental to the health and prosperity of the American people:
Establish the physical and mental health of the American people – with a spotlight on our nation’s youth – as cornerstones of the new administration. Working with the outdoor industry, traditional partners such as the federal land, water, and wildlife management agencies, and defining new ways of doing business with federal programs from the departments of Education, Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor and others, the administration can define for Americans the benefits of healthy, active lifestyles and connections to our great outdoors. Through engagement in outdoor activities Americans will come to know our neighborhoods, our communities, the natural world and the incredible benefits derived from the legacy that are America’s public lands and waters.
Potential initiatives include:
- Build upon or within the AmeriCorps model to create a National Sustainability Corps to provide leadership, engage our youth, and spearhead volunteer activities related to public lands, recreation infrastructure, wildlife and aquatic habitats. A new initiative will provide training and jobs, tap the rapidly expanding base of Americans volunteering on public lands, and engage our youth in the outdoors.
- Revitalize the Recreation program managed by the U.S. Forest Service with the overarching goal of establishing Recreation as one of the priority programs managed by the agency.
- Work with policymakers to ensure that wild fire suppression costs are managed in a way so that they no longer negatively impact other fundamental missions of the Forest Service, other federal and state agencies.
- Recognize the vast recreation, wildlife and habitat potential of Bureau of Land Management resources and the National Landscape Conservation System.
- Reinforce the Bureau of Land Management’s Multiple Use mandate to reflect the economic contributions and benefits from hunting, fishing and recreation constituencies.
- Invest in wildlife, partner with state agencies, and build on the success of the federal programs funding wildlife plans, conservation, wildlife and fish habitats.
- Increase reasonable efforts to address climate change and its impacts on recreation, winter recreation and wildlife habitat.
- Increase investment in close-to-home recreation through the success of Stateside Land and Water Conservation and Urban Park and Recreation Recovery programs.
- Revive the LWCF framework in future energy and off-shore drilling negotiations to dedicate funding streams [severance, mitigation] for public lands, wildlife habitat, and recreation infrastructure.
- Promote the appropriate use and local reinvestment of existing recreation fees to benefit recreation and allow for quality visitor services.
- Seek second-year funding of the National Park Service Centennial Challenge. Work with the National Park Service to actively support projects related to active, outdoor recreation in the full spectrum of NPS units.
- Support/reauthorize recreation components of the Transportation bill, including the Recreational Trails Program, the Federal Lands Highway Program, and the Transportation Enhancement Program -- all provide critical funding for recreation infrastructure.
- Support the recreation missions and capacities of the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Tennessee Valley Authority, focusing on the national network of water-based recreation provided by these agencies.
Leadership is the critical component. With recognition of demographic and economic realities related to public lands and recreation; reprioritization of agency missions and budgets; and targeted new appropriations, true change can be realized in the ways we fund, maintain and utilize these national legacies. Outdoor recreation is an arena where significant gains can be made with relatively small investments. The Forest Service budget stands at $4 billion – nearly half of which is currently consumed fighting fires.
Equally important, the outdoor industry and the American people stand ready to help. Thousands of companies, organizations and associations – coast to coast, large and small, for- and non-profit – comprise the outdoor industry. Every year more Americans engage with and volunteer on their public lands and waters. These forces are combined in true partnership. The final ingredient is leadership in Washington. Choose Outdoors is coalescing the primary players across the recreation spectrum. We stand ready to work now and on January 20, 2009.
