The Mountaineers
To continue growing a community of Mountaineers who adventure with purpose as outdoor advocates, our conservation team connected with Advocacy 101 course graduates and other conservation-minded Mountaineers virtually on Nov 20. As more Mountaineers seek new opportunities to flex their advocacy muscle, events like these prepare us for greater collective impact.
What the Elections Results Mean for Our Advocacy Priorities
Following the November election, we knew our community would wonder what the results mean for our shared advocacy priorities and seek opportunities to get involved. We plan to share a more detailed analysis of the road ahead with a new Congress and administration early in the new year. To get you up to speed on the current and evolving political landscape, here’s a snapshot we shared that night:
- In 2025, there will be single party control of Congress, with tight margins in both the House and Senate. It’s not going to be easy for either party to pass legislation.
- We expect cuts to funding for federal land management agencies. Protecting land manager funding will be a top advocacy priority for The Mountaineers in 2025.
- We expect opportunities to advance bipartisan recreation priorities - like the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) - which funds deferred maintenance projects on public lands. GAOA passed under the previous administration, and the Act’s Legacy Restoration Fund is up for renewal next year. We feel optimistic that it can be reauthorized at some point.
- Similar to the previous Trump administration, we anticipate the need to defend landscape protections.
- There will likely be a greater focus on extractive industries (like oil and gas drilling, and increased logging on public lands) and familiar attempts to shrink national monuments like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.
- We also expect the administration and Congress to attempt to redirect or withdraw funding for climate investments like the Inflation Reduction Act.
Advocating For the Lands You Love is Easy
Over the next several years, strong support for our public lands and the outdoor experiences they provide will be crucial. We need more outdoor enthusiasts advocating on behalf of our lands and waters. You don’t have to have tons of free time on your hands or be a policy expert to make a difference. With a little time and training, you’ll be well-positioned to make an impact thanks to your knowledge and first-hand experiences of the challenges facing our natural landscapes.
Longtime Mountaineers leader and advocate Danielle Graham joined our event to share about her experience - and what she’s learned - in Outdoor Alliance’s new Grasstops Collective training program. Danielle drew comparisons between her advocacy efforts and experiences as a Mountaineers trip leader, and shared how she’s encouraged other Mountaineers to join her in the advocacy game. She reflected that lawmakers are just people - many of whom are passionate about the outdoors - and that storytelling plays an important role in localizing the impact of policy and building champions for public lands and recreation.
Read more of Danielle’s take on outdoor advocacy in this blog. We look forward to supporting more Mountaineers on their advocacy journey.
Take Action
With so much going on in the world of conservation, we’ve curated the most important actions you can take to advance The Mountaineers federal advocacy priorities. Here are the top policy updates and timely action opportunities we shared during the event:
Sustainable Outdoor Access - Final Push for the the EXPLORE Act
The Mountaineers and our partners at Outdoor Alliance have been advocating for federal legislation that improves sustainable and equitable access to outdoor recreation. The EXPLORE Act has passed the House and a key Senate committee, and now just needs to pass the Senate to get signed into law. It’s go time for EXPLORE and we need you to take action once more to help get this federal recreation package over the finish line.
The EXPLORE Act includes two of our top policy priorities: the SOAR Act (legislation to improve the unpredictable federal recreational permitting system and remove barriers for people who want to experience the outdoors through groups like The Mountaineers) and the PARC Act (legislation to protect access to wilderness climbing and canyoning).
Both chambers of Congress have agreed on a final version of the bill and it’s ready to pass along with other legislation or potentially on its own. We need your voice as a part of our final push. Take a few moments to write and send a personalized letter to your Representative and Senators to pass the EXPLORE Act this year. Learn more about EXPLORE in our previous action alert blog.
Forest Service Budget Crisis
One of the big things that Congress needs to do before the end of the year is pass government funding bills - called appropriations. Unfortunately, Congress will most likely pass a stop-gap funding bill to punt the next full slate of appropriations to early 2025 or later.
We’re especially concerned about the Forest Service’s budget crisis, which has caused them to pause hiring for seasonal positions like trail crews, wilderness rangers, and staff who clean bathrooms, open campgrounds, and more.
The Forest Service recently announced that they will not hire seasonal or temporary workers next fiscal year due to a sweeping budget crisis. Much of the important, on-the-ground management work - maintaining trails, cleaning bathrooms, and fighting wildfires - falls on the shoulders of seasonal or temporary employees. We expect this hiring decision will have an impact on recreation in Washington.
Your members of Congress need to hear how the Forest Service budget crisis will affect your outdoor experiences. Use our action tool to send a personalized letter to your lawmakers, asking them to prioritize essential funding for the Forest Service in the next federal spending bill.
Protecting the Wild Olympics
For more than a decade, The Mountaineers has worked with a diverse group of partners, including coalition partners, to support Congress in creating more protections for wildlands and scenic rivers surrounding Olympic National Park. The Wild Olympics Bill would protect more than 126,000 acres of federal land managed by the Olympic National Forest. The bill would also designate 19 new Wild and Scenic Rivers on the forest and in Olympic National Park - the first for the Peninsula.
The Wild Olympics bill has passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and we’re hearing that the legislation could move as part of a potential year-end public lands package. The chances of this coming together are slim, but we’re still advocating for it. Help keep up the momentum for Wild Olympics using the coalition’s action form to send thank you letters to Senators Murray and Cantwell for their strong support of the bill.
Join Our Advocacy 101 Community
We appreciate the strong interest in our conservation and advocacy efforts from our members and look forward to future conservation events and engagement opportunities. We plan to hold our next virtual update and advocacy workshop event in spring 2025. In the meantime, completing our Advocacy 101 eLearning course is a great way to build your advocacy skills and prepare for deeper engagement with lawmakers. For a more detailed policy and advocacy update, view the event recording of our fall event.
