The Mountaineers
We’re excited to share that in the final days of the 118th Congress, lawmakers came together in bipartisan fashion to pass the EXPLORE Act and send it to the President’s desk to become law. The legislation is a first-of-its-kind package of bills to improve recreation and increase and enhance outdoor access on federal public lands.
This is a huge victory for the outdoor recreation community. Over the last several years, The Mountaineers and our partners at Outdoor Alliance have advocated together and activated outdoor advocates from the human-powered recreation community in support of the EXPLORE Act. These actions helped build momentum and lead to final passage of the EXPLORE Act, which will give land managers new tools and resources to sustainably manage growing recreation, improve access, and connect more people to the natural world.
Securing a victory like this for the outdoors doesn’t happen often - especially at the federal level. These critical policy improvements wouldn’t have been possible without grassroots advocacy by recreationists like you. We’re stoked to close out the year with our biggest advocacy win for recreation policy in several years. Will you celebrate with us by thanking your lawmakers for championing recreation and passing the EXPLORE Act?
Congress Passes the EXPLORE Act
On The Mountaineers conservation team, we continuously see how outdoor recreation is a bipartisan policy issue. Special natural places and the transformative outdoor experiences they provide aren’t found in just red states or blue states - outdoor enthusiasts and lawmakers that support conservation and recreation initiatives are found across the political spectrum.
The EXPLORE Act passed the full House of Representatives by a voice vote in April. There was strong support for a similar version of a recreation package in the Senate, so we continued to meet with Members of Congress and their staff - both virtually and in our nation's capital - and encouraged our community to write to their representatives, highlighting the importance of building support for the legislation.
With less than two days left before the end of the 118th Congress, the Senate passed the EXPLORE Act with unanimous support, sending the bill to the President to be signed into law. Advocacy by Mountaineers and other outdoor enthusiasts helped encourage key lawmakers to get the EXPLORE Act over the finish line.
“We’re thrilled to see final passage of the EXPLORE Act and are grateful to Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso and Representatives Bruce Westerman and Raul Grijalva for their leadership to help connect more people to their public lands and waters,” shared Mountaineers CEO, Tom Vogl. There was also support for the recreation package across Washington’s congressional delegation; Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray were instrumental in cultivating broader support for EXPLORE with their colleagues on Capitol Hill. We deeply appreciate their efforts to ensure that this important collection of recreation policies became a reality.
Unpacking the EXPLORE Act
The EXPLORE Act includes many key Mountaineers recreation policy priorities that Outdoor Alliance and our partners helped develop. You can dive into the details of the EXPLORE Act in Outdoor Alliance’s letter to House lawmakers on the bill. Here are the pieces we’re most excited about.
Improvements to the Federal Recreational Permitting Process
The Simplifying Outdoor Access to Recreation (SOAR) Act would improve the unpredictable recreational permitting system that creates barriers for people who want to experience the outdoors through Mountaineers courses and youth programs. Not only is the permit process complex and labor-intensive to navigate, but it actively limits our ability to expand our programs and introduce more people to the wonders of the outdoors. This is fundamentally an issue of equity, as many people feel more comfortable experiencing the outdoors with a group like The Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers was instrumental in helping to develop and advocate for the SOAR Act over the last ten years, including through testimony provided by Conservation & Advocacy Director Betsy Robblee before the House Natural Resources Committee. Of all the great elements of the EXPLORE Act, the SOAR Act represents a special win for Mountaineers advocacy.
Protections for Wilderness Climbing and Canyoning
The ability to safely climb peaks and descend canyons in Wilderness Areas is increasingly under threat. Last November, the National Park Service (NPS) and the Forest Service (USFS) released draft policies that will classify fixed anchors - critical tools for navigating technical terrain in wilderness - as “installations” under the Wilderness Act of 1964. That means that both new and existing bolts, slings, and pitons in Wilderness areas would be prohibited until each anchor can be individually reviewed by land managers.
The National Parks Service has discontinued their process to reclassify fixed anchors, but we’re still waiting to learn how the Forest Service will proceed with this draft policy in the new administration. Read more about this issue in our latest blog about the NPS and USFS climbing guidance.
Through the Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act (PARC Act), EXPLORE will clarify that climbing and the use, placement, and replacement of climbing anchors are an “allowable activity” within Wilderness areas, subject to reasonable rules and regulations to protect wilderness character. The bill protects the status quo: it would not expand bolted climbing in Wilderness areas, since these areas deserve special levels of protection. The language protects climbers’ ability to sparingly place and replace bolts with a hand drill only, and does not limit land managers’ current ability to restrict climbing when necessary to protect natural or cultural resources. We’ll keep our community informed as we learn more about how the PARC Act will be implemented and its impacts on the Forest Service climbing guidance.
Improvements to Sustainable and Equitable Recreation Management
The EXPLORE Act includes several provisions to give land managers new tools to sustainably manage recreation on federal public lands and waters, including:
- The Biking on Long-Distance Trails Act (BOLT Act), which would help identify and designate long-distance mountain biking trails on public lands.
- Making the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR) permanent. FICOR is a council that helps land managers coordinate and focus on improving access to nature and expanding outdoor recreation opportunities.
- Codifying the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program, which provides grant funding for urban areas to develop green spaces and outdoor access, with priority given to economically disadvantaged areas and neighborhoods without existing outdoor recreation opportunities.
Thank Your Lawmakers
Final passage of the EXPLORE Act is the perfect example of what’s possible when the wider outdoor community comes together to adventure with purpose and leverage their connection to public lands for advocacy. Whether you’re a Mountaineers leader, avid wilderness climber, or an outdoor enthusiast who wants to improve recreation management, there’s something in EXPLORE that will positively impact your experience on federal lands.
Before your next outdoor adventure on Northwest public lands, take action on the EXPLORE Act once more to thank your lawmakers for improving recreation and increasing outdoor access. Thanking your representatives and sharing how the legislation will make a difference for the places and experiences you cherish will continue to build support for additional recreation policies in Congress. Use our action tool to personalize a thank you note to your Senators and Representative.
In the new year, we plan to share more on our blog and in our magazine about how various pieces of the EXPLORE will positively impact Mountaineers programs and our community at large. We appreciate working with our Outdoor Alliance partners on this important advocacy.
