Momentous ‘DC Fly-In’ Brings Outdoor Priorities to Legislators’ Doorstep

It’s been a long time since outdoor advocacy has seen a coalition like this. More than 75 leaders in outdoor recreation will descend on Capitol Hill this week to convince U.S. lawmakers that the industry deserves more money and protection. Foremost among the group’s objectives will be shoring up support for the EXPLORE Act, which advocates call the “first big package to deal with outdoor recreation on federal lands.”

It’s the most ambitious push yet for the Outdoor Alliance, which has been working toward this moment since its founding in 2014.

“Before we were a coalition, you had the groups going separately. But Congress likes a consensus,” said Tania Lown-Hecht, Outdoor Alliance’s vice president of communications & strategy. “That consensus position is just gold in D.C. …The outdoor industry is finally coming together.”

It’s also no accident the organization is celebrating its 10th anniversary by flying in outdoor advocates to lobby Congress. Outdoor Alliance has grown its influence partly by bringing together diverse outdoor organizations (climbers, skiers, hikers, etc.) that had previously lobbied independently of one another.

So this week, Congress will hear from representatives from Patagonia and REI. They’ll hear from legendary climber Tommy Caldwell. And they’ll hear from dozens of runners, kayakers, skiers, and hikers leading outdoor recreation in communities across the country.

An ‘Inflection Point’ for the Outdoors

The outdoor recreation industry has gained much more clout than it had just 10 years ago, according to Outdoor Alliance CEO Adam Cramer.

Back in 2014, Cramer felt like outdoor recreation was an “underdog.” That was especially true when comparing it to the influence of extractive and natural resource industries or traditional conservation interests, like the preservation of specific species or habitats. While outdoor recreation has scored a few big wins over the last decade, the industry has arrived at “an inflection point,” Cramer wrote in a message to incoming advocates.

“We have seen the outdoor recreation voice become one of the most powerful forces for conservation,” Cramer said.

That’s the result of numerous changes, including unforeseeable events like the pandemic. Prolonged quarantine pushed millions of Americans back into the outdoors at a time when mental and physical health became a national concern.

In 2021 alone, the outdoor industry grew by 22.7%, according to data collected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That moved the industry toward a $1 trillion milestone in economic output last year, driven primarily by tourism.

Now, the Outdoor Alliance hopes to leverage its influence on behalf of initiatives aimed at improving and maintaining access to America’s parks and forests. That’s the point of the EXPLORE Act, a piece of legislation with bipartisan support and lots of projects for expanding outdoor recreation. Among many other projects, the bill would promote:

• Building long-distance bike trails
• Protecting wilderness rock climbing
• Improving recreational permitting for outfitters and guides

“Some very good ideas hang in the balance and you will be a part of getting them across the finish line,” Cramer wrote.

A New Conservation Movement

The Outdoor Alliance isn’t just putting outdoor advocates in front of Congress — it’s also coaching them how to be as convincing as possible.

That’s the purpose of the Grasstops Collective, a leadership program spawned by Outdoor Alliance to train grassroots advocates on how to build relationships with policymakers and get outdoors initiatives across the political finish line.

When 20 participants in the collective arrive in D.C., they’ll undergo an advocacy workshop meant to prepare them for 3 days of meetings with Congressional leaders (Sept. 10-12).

The group includes leaders from a diverse array of outdoor sport organizations, including the Surfrider Foundation, Runners for Public Lands, the Southern Off-road Bicycle Association, and the Arkansas Climbers Coalition, among others.

Together, they represent the face of the new conservation movement, which focuses not only on land preservation, but also on expanding opportunities for people to enjoy nature, Lown-Hecht told GearJunkie this week.

“You had a big powerful environmental movement in the 1970s, and that movement did a lot. For many years, there was a sense that the traditional environmental movement was enough,” she said. “We’ve since grown into a new conservation movement, one that sees people and their individual experiences as important, too.”

Eyes on the Prize: EXPLORE Act Inches Forward

The EXPLORE Act passed the House earlier this year. Outdoor Alliance leaders hope a big lobbying push this week will help usher the bill across the legislative finish line before the end of the year.

Over the last decade, the organization has successfully lobbied for the protection of 40 million acres of public land and secured $5.1 billion in funding for the outdoors. Much of that came about through the passage of the John Dingell Public Lands Package and the Great American Outdoors Act. The Alliance also helped save beloved outdoor areas from development, like Utah’s Slickrock mountain bike trail.

“This is a bipartisan issue, at a time when so few things are,” Lown-Hecht said. “It crosses party lines and political values — something that millions of Americans care about.”

Want to get involved? Visit the Outdoor Alliance website to take action.

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