Outdoor Alliance Welcomes Hannah Wintucky
Outdoor Alliance is excited to welcome Hannah Wintucky as our California Campaign Manager and the newest member of our team. Hannah will be leading our California network building partnerships with the recreation community and legislators to protect the state's public lands.
Tell us a little about how you got to Outdoor Alliance.
I first heard about Outdoor Alliance in 2019, while in grad school doing research on transitional rural economies and the positive impact of recreation infrastructure development. I utilized a lot of Outdoor Alliance data and communications to inform my understanding of outdoor recreation policy at the time. When I was hired by the Outdoor Industry Association in 2022 as a Policy Fellow, I had the opportunity to work with the Outdoor Alliance team through the Protecting America’s Outdoors coalition and got to deeply know Outdoor Alliance’s work and people. After many years of collaboration, it became my career goal to someday work for this organization. And here we are now!
What do you love to do outside?
I am an avid whitewater kayaker, skier, packrafter, mountain biker, and backpacker. Over the past several years, I’ve gotten really into expeditioning. One of my favorite things to do, though, is curl up with a good book and watch the sunset when I’m multiday-ing in the backcountry.
What advocacy issues do you care most about right now?
Right now, I am most concerned about the rescission of the Roadless Rule and the staffing impacts to our federal agencies like the Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. The Roadless Rule protects millions of acres of pristine forested land, many of which hold incredible backcountry experiences, like Castle Peak in Truckee and the North Forks of the Feather and American Rivers. Opening these forests up to road development, logging, and other profit-driven uses undermines the public’s ownership of these lands and threatens their longevity.
The dismantling of our cherished land management institutions also concerns me. The use and enjoyment of our public lands would be impossible without the rangers, hydrologists, ecologists, trail maintenance crews, planners, and everyone else that keeps our federal lands ecosystem healthy and functioning.
What do you see as the role of California in advancing the advocacy issues we are working on?
First, a little love story about California. I moved there in the summer of 2021 to work on a farm with two friends who had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. My move out west—living and working with them, surrounded by endless recreation opportunities in Northern California—changed the trajectory of my life and what I love to do.
California is home to some of the most iconic public lands in the country, many of which were trailblazing in their own time. Yosemite, for example, dates back to 1864, when President Lincoln signed legislation granting Yosemite Valley to California for public preservation; a groundbreaking idea that set the precedent for Yellowstone, established less than a decade later as the country’s first national park. This idea (America’s best, in my opinion) went on to shape the way the rest of the country sees and designates public lands. The vastly diverse climate and geography of the state provide unique, world-class recreation experiences from San Diego to Shasta. Not to mention that it’s the state with the most representatives in Congress, and arguably the most powerful state government in the union. There are real opportunities here; both within the recreation community to make lasting, positive impacts that will benefit generations to come, and with legislators who will actually listen and take action. I’m proud to be a representative and advocate for a place that has already given me so much, and to give back in the best way that I can.
What are you most looking forward to about your new gig at Outdoor Alliance?
I am most looking forward to collaborating and working with all the incredibly talented, thoughtful, and intelligent folks in the Outdoor Alliance family, as well as the greater outdoor recreation community, especially in California. The only way to make progress is together, and I believe the outdoor community is better at coming together to accomplish goals and make change than any other group.
Lightning Round:
Favorite tree: Either a PawPaw or Southern Magnolia. Going back to my Appalachian roots.
Favorite hot sauce: Melinda’s black truffle hot sauce or Lao Gan Ma spicy chili crisp.
Favorite trail snack: Aged hard cheese (preferably) cut with a river knife.
