Unpacking the New Administration: Four Predictions for the Outdoors

Photo credit: Tommy Lisbin, California’s Payahuunadü, the native land of the Paiute people, also called the Buttermilk Boulders

With a historic election behind us, what’s on the horizon for the outdoors?

Over the past ten years, Outdoor Alliance has worked with both Republican and Democratic administrations to protect key landscapes, fund public lands and waters, and improve outdoor experiences. We value the outdoor community's ability to work with both parties, as well as with a divided Congress, and we are thinking carefully about the work we can get done over the next four years to protect and improve the places we get outside.  

Here are four predictions for what a new administration means for public lands and waters, and where the outdoor community can make a difference.

We can make real progress addressing climate change.

Climate change is an urgent threat, and President-elect Biden is planning immediate, significant administrative actions.

Outdoor Alliance has been working to build bipartisan support for three important climate solutions, and the outdoor community will be a key player in rallying to build support for climate action. We expect to see new measures to protect land and water, reduce carbon emissions on public lands and waters, and work toward clean energy. Biden is also expected to sign an executive order committing the U.S. to protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030. Outdoor Alliance has built support for 30x30 as a way to address climate change and protect important landscapes for the outdoor community.

We can improve equitable access to the outdoors.

The pandemic has brought into relief that low-income communities and communities of color lack good access to the outdoors, and are often suffering the consequences of climate change and pollution (source). The Biden administration is committed to addressing racial inequality, and we will work with the administration to advance legislation that ensures equitable access to the outdoors.

Senator Harris, Representative Huffman, and Senator Booker have introduced bills to improve equitable access to the outdoors, fund public transit to outdoor spaces, and connect underserved communities to green spaces. Outdoor Alliance has voiced support for legislation that will improve access to the outdoors.

The outdoors will be a part of economic recovery.

Economic recovery is one of president-elect Biden’s four stated priorities. Outdoor recreation is 2.1% of our country’s GDP, more than mining and employing more Americans than the construction industry (source, source). Keeping the outdoor recreation economy strong and investing in outdoor infrastructure will put Americans back to work and build a growing sector. Outdoor Alliance has shared a number of proposals with Congress about how to invest in the outdoors to put Americans back to work, including building a modern version of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

We can restore protections for public lands.

Outdoor Alliance will be working to restore protections for public lands and waters, including protections for Bears Ears and other national monuments, protections for clean water, opportunities for Americans to participate in decisions on public lands, and restoring protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which have both recently been opened to development.

We expect to put a lot of work into repairing core conservation laws, including the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Antiquities Act; rules like the Roadless Rule; and land planning efforts.

What Can You Do?

With your advocacy and financial support, we have protected millions of acres of public lands and waters, secured billions of dollars in funding for public lands and waters and defended the places we play from efforts to sell them or lease them off to developers. A change in administration is a huge opportunity to recalibrate how we care for public lands and to generate energy for big ideas.  

This is also a moment when advocacy organizations need to invest a tremendous amount of time and resources in building relationships with new leadership, bringing maps, data, and stories to help them understand how to build a better future for the outdoors. We have a lot of momentum from the last two years but a short window to get climate, equity, and outdoor recreation issues at the top of the priority list.

Your support – through advocacy to your elected officials, spreading the word, and financial gifts – make an enormous difference for protecting the places you play.