Conor Marshall
When I look back on my first three years working to grow a culture of conservation throughout The Mountaineers, one phrase remains top of mind: “conservation powered by outdoor recreation.” I can’t take credit for this catchy moniker; it’s a mantra of our partners at Outdoor Alliance (OA) – a national coalition of human-powered outdoor recreation organizations working to conserve America’s public lands and waters. As a member of OA, The Mountaineers harnesses our shared passion for the outdoors to help conserve the places we love, leading to a compelling and impactful flavor of advocacy.
The Mountaineers advocacy to protect public lands and the outdoor experience transcends the places where we recreate and the courses and activities we lead in the Pacific Northwest. This important work doesn’t happen alone; partnerships lie at the heart of our story. By uniting the voices of mountaineers, climbers, paddlers, mountain bikers, and backcountry skiers, OA has been able to organize and strengthen collective efforts to protect special places and promote conservation policies.
Conservation powered by outdoor recreation
Ten years ago, Outdoor Alliance began as an informal convening of recreation groups who realized that shared policy goals can lead to fruitful collaboration. Through the years, the coalition has witnessed how impact is amplified when lawmakers and land managers hear from a dynamic and diverse group of human-powered outdoor recreation voices.
Today, OA’s national coalition includes the Access Fund, the American Canoe Association, American Whitewater, the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), Winter Wildlands Alliance, The Mountaineers, the American Alpine Club, the Mazamas, the Colorado Mountain Club, and the Surfrider Foundation.
Did you visit Mount Rainier National Park this summer and enjoy the reopened and improved Stevens Canyon Road? These pivotal enhancements to the user experience at Washington’s most popular national park were made possible by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), one of Outdoor Alliance’s major policy wins. The GAOA is a five-year infusion of resources for land managers to tackle critical deferred maintenance projects on federal public lands. The Act exemplifies what's possible when the recreation community advocates together with compelling narratives about the critical need for greater investment in our public lands.
Why The Mountaineers is a member of OA
About eight years ago, The Mountaineers joined Outdoor Alliance. In the last several years, we have deepened our involvement because our community can be a unique catalyst for conservation and advocacy work in the Pacific Northwest and on a national scale. According to Outdoor Alliance CEO Adam Cramer, “The Mountaineers has an outsized ability to effect change to protect public lands compared to similar organizations in other areas of the country.”
As you might suspect, the Evergreen State is one of the most important states in the country for outdoor advocacy first and foremost because of Washington’s amazing public lands and waters. I’m a little biased, but I’d put Washington’s national forests, state parks, and county-managed natural areas up there with any across the country. These places foster a strong connection to nature for the more than 90% of Washingtonians who recreate and create a culture of speaking up to protect our lands and waters.
In addition, our state’s congressional delegation is a powerful force for conservation and recreation in part because of the recreationists who take action for the lands and waters we love. Some of the congressional districts with the highest number of outdoor advocates are located here in Washington. The state’s 7th congressional district - which includes most of Seattle and several nearby municipalities - has more than 8,000 Outdoor Alliance advocates, the largest OA constituency nationally.
Within Washington’s robust outdoor community, The Mountaineers brings recreationists together across a diverse array of activities to teach, learn, and adventure with purpose. Our shared connection to the Northwest’s public lands, our diversity of perspective, and the stories we can tell about the importance of investing in conservation and recreation is a true asset to outdoor advocacy.
Outdoor Alliance Washington three years strong
In 2021, we announced that The Mountaineers will lead Outdoor Alliance Washington – a state-based coalition of groups representing more than 75,000 members of Washington’s human-powered outdoor recreation community – to dig deeper on shared advocacy for recreation and conservation priorities. OA Washington includes regional chapters of national OA member organizations, as well as Washington Trails Association and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance.
Over the last three years, we’ve engaged lawmakers and land managers on three OA Washington policy priorities: investing in the outdoors through increased land manager funding, protecting our special outdoor places through landscape protection campaigns, and ensuring a sustainable future for outdoor recreation by shaping recreation planning and management in Washington.
Advancing The Mountaineers advocacy agenda
The Mountaineers involvement in Outdoor Alliance doesn’t just strengthen national advocacy work. The partnership provides a national platform for our priorities and increases our ability to advance our advocacy agenda of landscape conservation, public lands funding, outdoor access, and climate action – a set of priorities that is exquisitely aligned with Outdoor Alliance.
Our collective advocacy with OA has been especially successful in our strengthened ability to lobby for increased funding for federal land managers like the Forest Service. With half the staff and twice the responsibility since the 1990s, national forests have suffered maintenance issues, increased litter, illegal parking, and more. These issues largely result from chronic underinvestment in the Forest Service by Congress.
In 2021, we co-published a report with OA illustrating the need for deeper investment in the Forest Service. We are continuing to build relationships with Forest Service staff across Washington and Oregon to better understand their management challenges, needs, and opportunities. We also team up with OA partners in our nation’s capital to effectively advocate for increased agency appropriations. As we inspire more champions for Forest Service funding, we’re more likely to secure increased resources for Washington’s eight national forests.
In the advocacy arena, there’s no replacement for lawmakers hearing from their constituents. Outdoor Alliance recently launched the Grasstops Collective, a new leadership and advocacy development program that trains grasstops advocates – community leaders well-positioned for deeper advocacy impact – to build relationships with policymakers and advocate for conservation priorities. We’re excited that longtime Mountaineer Danielle Graham was selected as part of the Collective’s first cohort. Danielle’s passion for deepening her engagement in policy and advocacy work is just another way The Mountaineers is helping write OA’s next chapter and creating win-wins for our organizational advocacy agenda. We look forward to continued partnership through OA Washington, future cohorts of the Grasstops Collective, and discrete campaigns to fund the Forest Service and reauthorize GAOA.
Join Our Outdoor Advocacy
What makes “conservation powered by outdoor recreation” so effective is the people and stories behind our advocacy. One of my favorite aspects of my role is empowering more Mountaineers to become advocates. As we continue to advance The Mountaineers conservation priorities and build a deep bench of Washington outdoor advocates, we need more members to leverage their connection to our region’s landscapes to help achieve policy wins for the outdoors. You can start your advocacy journey by:
- Taking our Advocacy 101 eLearning course
- Signing up for Washington-focused updates from Outdoor Alliance
- Considering deeper involvement through training opportunities like OA’s new Grasstops Collective
This article originally appeared in our fall 2024 issue of Mountaineer magazine. To view the original article in magazine form and read more stories from our publication, visit our magazine archive.
