5 Issues for Outdoor Advocates to Know About This Summer

Mountain bikers on Utah BLM land. Photo credit: Leslie Kehmeier.

Summer is kicking off, people will be getting outside in droves this year, and Congress could be keen to invest in outdoor recreation and public lands protections. With midterms coming in the fall, there is a narrow political window to pass policy before the end of the year, and there are quite a few good ideas for outdoor recreation gaining momentum. 

If you love getting outside on our public lands and waters, here are five key issues you should be following right now in the outdoor advocacy world:

1.     Climate investments through reconciliation: for months, Senate leadership has been negotiating investments in climate resilience and public lands. While lawmakers have not introduced bill text, the package could include investments in renewable energy; investments in the Forest Service that would enable better fire mitigation, forest restoration, and conservation; a Civilian Climate Corps; and a recalibration of the role of development on public lands and waters. This is a rare opportunity to invest in protecting the climate, and the outdoor community is a key voice to make it happen.

2.     A landmark public lands and recreation package: both the Senate and House are working to improve and invest in outdoor recreation. On the Senate side, a key committee recently passed the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act, a package of policy bills that would improve access and recreation management. Both chambers have worked to advance or pass new landscape protections for important places. Together, these bills could become an end-of-year package to protect outdoor recreation and public lands.

3.     Mining reform. The law that governs most mining across the country is more than 150 years old, and it gives mining unmatched access to public lands, often at the expense of outdoor recreation, public health, and community safety. Mining is notorious for polluting, and mining currently threatens marquee outdoor recreation resources, including the Boundary Waters and Idaho’s South Fork Salmon. This summer, there are two big opportunities to update mining, including supporting mining reform legislation and a federal comment period.

4.     Oil and gas development on public lands. Oil and gas development has a significant effect on public lands and waters, conservation, climate, and local communities. Given current gas prices and Russia’s war on Ukraine, there has been tremendous pressure for the U.S. to ramp up oil and gas development. Yet oil and gas companies are sitting on thousands of unused leases, and we urgently need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and shift toward renewable energy. In response, land management agencies like the BLM are rethinking how they offer public lands up for leasing to oil and gas companies. All of these changes have a sizeable impact on public lands and outdoor recreation. Recently, the BLM announced a new “Recreation Resources Preservation Alternative,” which recognizes that land managers must balance the need for oil and gas development with conservation of resources like outdoor recreation. 

5.     Wildfire. Wildfire continues to be a big issue for the outdoors, especially in the west, and experts have predicted that 2022 will be an above-average wildfire season (source). Fires have enormous impact on outdoor recreation and local communities, from destroying homes and communities to clogging the air with smoke to causing forest closures. There are many factors that contribute to wildfires, including climate change, drought, poor management and overzealous fire suppression, and loss of Indigenous fire practices. The outdoor community can be a part of addressing the increased risk of fire, through advocating for investments in climate mitigation, including programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, funding for agencies to better manage public lands, and by supporting land managers in using prescribed burns to lower wildfire risks.

There is a narrow window for Congress to advance some of these priorities and a huge role for the outdoor community to play. It can be hard, especially with so much going on in Congress, to keep up with the issues you care about and to know what you can do as an individual to make a difference.

At Outdoor Alliance, we work closely with lawmakers’ offices and hear on a regular basis how important letters from constituents are to determining their priorities. We aspire to make it easy to send meaningful messages on the issues you care about, and we know first-hand that these letters make a real difference in whether a lawmaker champions, supports, or even stays quiet on an issue he or she might otherwise oppose.