The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has been one of the most important tools for protecting public lands for more than half a century. It ensures that federal agencies consider the environmental impacts of their decisions and gives the public — including outdoor enthusiasts like us — a meaningful voice in shaping those decisions.

Outdoor Alliance recently submitted comments to both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior on their interim final rules for implementing NEPA — and we’re deeply concerned about what these changes mean for outdoor recreation and public lands. We are especially concerned that these new rules from USDA and Interior risk undermining how the outdoor community is able to participate in public land management decisions.

You can read our letters to the USDA here and to Interior here. Among our biggest concerns:

Limited opportunities for public input. NEPA allows the outdoor community the chance to comment on changes to public land management. Both rules limit public comment at key stages of the NEPA process, meaning fewer chances for the outdoor community to weigh in on projects that affect recreation access and conservation. Our experience has been that unless agency staff has deep experience or interest in outdoor recreation, they may not even be aware of the full range of recreation available in a particular place. Public comment periods ensure that the outdoor community can identify potential impacts to recreation, and protect those experiences.
Expanded use of “categorical exclusions.” Categorical exclusions allow agencies to bypass deeper environmental review, increasing the risk of projects moving forward that could affect outdoor recreation and public lands without adequate analysis.
Not considering climate change. The new rules remove requirements to consider cumulative impacts and climate change, both of which are critical to understanding how projects affect public lands over time.
A rushed, confusing process. These sweeping changes to a core environmental law were pushed through with little notice or time for public engagement. The final rules should have a normal notice and comment period that allow for adequate public participation.

The USDA and Department of Interior oversee public lands with an astonishing variety of recreation opportunities that attract visitors from across the country and globe and support a $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy. It is vital that the Forest Service and Department of Interior’s land management decisions reflect the values of the outdoor community, and NEPA is a core way that land managers hear and respond to our voices.

While the outdoor community supports making NEPA more efficient and responsive to stakeholder input, these reforms will work best when agencies, Tribes, and the public collaborate to find solutions that protect landscapes and improve recreation. These rules, rushed through during a time of staff shortages and agency upheaval, undermine that collaboration.

“NEPA is a key piece of how our community engages with land managers and federal decisions affecting public lands and waters,” said Louis Geltman, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at Outdoor Alliance. “These changes might make initial decisions happen faster, but that haste is going to come at a cost for conservation and recreation values, often needlessly. If agencies are striving for efficiency, these interim rules do not provide it. Instead, they increase avoidable conflict and cause unnecessary environmental and social harm.”

We’ve urged USDA and DOI to slow down, engage with stakeholders, and develop final rules that keep NEPA strong — ensuring public lands remain open and thriving for everyone who loves to explore them.

Why Changes to NEPA Could Hurt Access to Public Lands