Following the roundtable, ORR welcomed HHS and DOI marking Great Outdoors Month®, connecting outdoor recreation and public lands with better physical and mental health
WASHINGTON – The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) participated in a roundtable this week in Grand Junction, Colorado, with Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce. The discussion was focused on outdoor recreation, public lands and waters, and the important connections between outdoor activities and health and wellness. ORR along with local and national leaders from the health and outdoor recreation sectors elevated the vital role outdoor recreation plays in supporting both physical fitness and mental well-being. ORR welcomed the Secretaries’ commitment to advance these shared goals, including the Administration launching GetActive.gov during Great Outdoors Month®, a new website designed to encourage Americans to be physically active and spend more time outdoors for better health.
“Protecting America’s public lands and waters and increasing access to outdoor recreation is consistent, high-return investment in the nation’s health and economic growth,” said Whitney Potter Schwartz, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable Senior Vice President who participated in the roundtable. “ORR is grateful to Secretaries Burgum and Kennedy for convening this roundtable, which represents a historic opportunity to align access to the outdoors and public lands stewardship and national health policy. Our kids are counting on us to get this right.”
ORR, the nation’s leading coalition of outdoor recreation associations, convened Secretary Burgum, state recreation leaders, innovative researchers and doctors, and top outdoor industry and health CEOs for the inaugural National Executive Forum on Health and Outdoor Recreation in Washington, D.C. last month. The Forum spotlighted the $1.3 trillion outdoor economy and its 5.2 million jobs as a ready-made solution to America’s growing chronic disease, healthcare costs, and mental health crisis. The Forum put America’s Outdoor Era front and center, ORR’s bold national vision to reposition outdoor recreation as a cornerstone of U.S. health infrastructure.