Idaho Recreation Council

1 week ago

Recreation bill sails through House with broad support
Sponsors are now urging the Senate to follow through with companion legislation.

BY: SCOTT STREATER | 04/10/2024 06:30 AM EDT
E&E DAILY | The House approved a sweeping recreation bill Tuesday that addresses access to public lands and seeks to boost the nation’s outdoors economy.



H.R. 6492, the “Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act,” is a package of more than a dozen outdoors measures.

Introduced last year by Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and co-sponsored by ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), it's the rare piece of broad legislation that’s enjoyed strong bipartisan support throughout the process — with 27 Democrats among its 51 co-sponsors.

Westerman said during floor debate that it marked the “first time in the history of the House that we will be considering a comprehensive outdoors package aimed at getting more Americans outdoors and supporting the $1.1 trillion and growing outdoor recreation economy."

He said, "This bipartisan, bicameral bill is the cumulation of more than a year’s worth of hearings and markups in the House, and it builds off years of work in both the House and the Senate.”

Lawmakers as politically diverse as New Mexico Democratic Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury and Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke lined up to praise the bill, before overwhelmingly approving it by voice vote.

“On this legislation, I’m glad to see it is bipartisan because some things should be bipartisan in our country, and our public lands and our outdoor experience is that,” Zinke said.

Leger Fernández said the bill’s success can be attributed to the work of both Westerman and Grijalva.

“I am thankful for the dedication of this bipartisan duo to this legislation and the years of hard work in getting us to this point: the hearings, the input, the compromises, the openness to the ideas that were coming through this long process,” she said.

'Great ideas'

The dozen or so bills that comprise the "EXPLORE Act," collectively, would boost access to public lands for disabled veterans by providing more accessible trails and lodging, and ensure greater access to parks and playgrounds in urban areas by codifying the Obama-era Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program.

The package would establish a pilot program of public-private partnerships to be run by the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service aimed at modernizing campgrounds on public land.

Westerman said the bill includes “great ideas from my colleagues from around the country" that will help to “ensure that more Americans can enjoy the great outdoors in the present while leaving them in better condition for generations to come.”

Another piece of legislation included in the "EXPLORE Act" would establish a pilot program at the Interior Department to create conservation and resource management jobs for veterans.

“Taken together, these provisions promote accessibility for disabled communities, increase job opportunities for veterans, facilitate a diverse range of recreation opportunities, and close the nature gap for underserved urban communities,” Leger Fernández said.

“Public support for public lands and access to outdoor recreation continues to grow each year, and the EXPLORE Act will help advance the idea that the outdoors really are for everyone.”

'More work to be done'

The Senate version, S. 873, is similar to the House bill. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee last year advanced the ”America’s Outdoor Recreation Act," co-sponsored by committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the committee’s top Republican.

Westerman recognized the work of Manchin and Barrasso, and urged the upper chamber to move swiftly on the bill.

Leger Fernández also noted that the "EXPLORE Act" has a few provisions not in the Senate version. That includes H.R. 6342, sponsored by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), designed to improve access to outdoor recreation and national parks for disabled veterans, as well as improve the accessibility of public trails and lodging for disabled Americans.

“The amended bill before us today adds some meaningful and impactful provisions to the Senate version of this bill,” Leger Fernández said. “There is more work to be done. And we look forward to working with our Senate colleagues as they process the new pieces added by the House, the very good pieces added by the House, which we want the Senate to adopt.” ...