The National Park Service is moving closer to welcoming a new Director. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing today to consider the nomination of David Vela to be the Director of the National Park Service (NPS). During the hearing, Mr. Vela discussed a wide range of topics, including: the growing maintenance…
As the 115th Congress prepares to return for a short “lame duck session,” members of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable’s (ORR) government relations committee are hard at work urging passage of key legislation reflecting ORR’s policy agenda. ORR members are seeking funding for continuing and expanding the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, which measures the economic impact of outdoor…
Washington, D.C. (November 1, 2018) – The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) has aided trail construction and maintenance projects and programs nationwide since 1991. Created through landmark surface transportation legislation, RTP reflected Congressional belief that federal gas taxes paid on motorfuel used in motorized nonhighway recreational activities should be used to benefit those paying the tax…
The outdoor recreation industry is big, growing bigger, and attracting new attention from the Congress and the Administration! Last month, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appeared on Capitol Hill and described the outdoor recreation industry as one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing. At 2.2% of the nation’s GDP, $734 billion in gross annual output,…
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Everyone knows how important the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are to outdoor recreation, right? After all, they manage hundreds of millions of acres of our nation’s public lands and waters and welcome hundreds of millions of recreation visits each year. But did you…
It’s official! Vicki Christiansen was sworn in as U.S. Forest Service Chief by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday, October 11. Ms. Christiansen served as Interim Chief from March 8 – October 10, 2018. Prior to then, she served as Deputy Chief for State and Private Forestry where she was responsible for oversight of Fire…
The outdoor recreation industry is good for the economy. On September 20, it was made official with the release of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) first-ever final Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) report. The release of the data is a significant milestone, and the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable has been busy advancing the organization’s…
The U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee September 27 unanimously approved H.R.5158 – which directs the Secretary of Transportation to reopen the nomination process for National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads. The bill – introduced by U.S. Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ted Poe (R-TX) – was revised through an amendment offered by…