13 important wins for the outdoors this year
Photo credit: Ben Kitching
No matter what the political landscape, Outdoor Alliance has been successful at finding the line to build bipartisan consensus that has resulted in millions of acres of public land protections, billions in funding for the outdoors, better policy to address wildfire, and protections for important places.
2022 was no exception. With your support, especially through your direct advocacy to lawmakers, Outdoor Alliance helped secure some enormous successes this year, including new land protections, funding for the outdoors, and historic climate investments.
Learn more about some of the biggest wins for the outdoors in 2022 and how Outdoor Alliance gets it done:
Historic climate investments included major funding to protect public lands and waters and address the climate crisis. Outdoor Alliance advocated for climate action for years, and the Inflation Reduction Act addressed many key climate solutions that will benefit public lands and waters, and expand access to nature. They include $2 billion for wildfire resilience on National Forests, $700 million for USFS Forest Legacy Program, $500 million for conservation and restoration at Interior, $500 million for staffing at the National Park Service, $20 million for priority deferred maintenance projects on National Parks, and $1.5 billion for urban green space through the Urban and Community Forestry program, a huge increase over its average $32 million budget. You can read more about these investments and our work on the IRA here.
This year, Outdoor Alliance released our fourth economic report in an effort to protect the 15 million acres of National Forest land that are currently undergoing Forest Planning.
Outdoor Alliance was a key partner in conceiving and advocating for protections for Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge, with the Mt. Hood REC Act.
After years of advocating for the landscape around Camp Hale and the Continental Divide to be protected, the administration designated the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, protecting more than 278,00 acres and honoring the history of human-powered outdoor recreation culture.
Outdoor Alliance works to protect and promote sustainable, equitable access for outdoor recreation through advocating for new legislation, collaboration with land managers, and protections for public lands and waters. Along with promoting improved legislation, we defend critical conservation policy and the public process to ensure all Americans have a say over their public lands and waters.
This year, we defended rushed permitting reform that would have had serious consequences for the public process.
We also advocated to protect the Boundary Waters from a proposed mine, resulting in the administration canceling two mining leases for the next twenty years.
Finally, America’s Outdoor Recreation Act, a historic piece of legislation to improve and enhance how outdoor recreation is managed on public lands, made rapid progress through the Senate and is among a few bills being considered for passage at the end of this year.
How does the outdoor community get it done? Our data partnerships, including with onX and with American Whitewater, are part of our data-driven approach to protecting public lands and waters. We use meticulously-sourced data and people’s on-the-ground experiences to cut through complex issues and chart the best course of action forward.
We regularly meet and foster working relationships with our member groups, legislators, the current administration, land-management agencies, policy and decision makers, local stakeholders and other advocacy groups that have an interest in conservation (along with many that don’t). Week in and week out, we are facilitating conversations between key stakeholders to advance conservation. In 2022, we’ve had 224 meetings so far—nearly every working day of the year.
We also deliver formal policy letters on dozens of key issues every year (30 this year so far) and we make it easy for you to make a diference. Outdoor Alliance’s Advocacy 101 and Take Action programs make it simple to understand complicated issues, and even simpler to make your voice heard with just a few clicks.
None of this work is possible without many partners, including our coalition members, partners, and people like you who love the outdoors and know the power of civic engagement to shape a better world.