A Long and Winding Road: An Update on the EXPLORE Recreation Package
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By: Byron Harvison, AAC General Counsel and Advocacy Director
First ascents are usually full of surprises. That’s why we love doing them. It takes every bit of your skill and experience to navigate all the known and unknown challenges the route throws at you. Like a FA, the first-of-its-kind EXPLORE Act Recreation Package is presenting challenges and proving there is more work to put in.
You may recall that the EXPLORE Act (Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences) was unanimously passed in the House last April after being introduced by Representative Westerman (R-AR) and Representative Grijalva (D-AZ). It contains several pieces of legislation deeply impacting recreation. The Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation Act (SOAR) has been a priority for the AAC and partner organizations such as the AMGA, Outdoor Alliance, and The Mountaineers for 10 years. It updates and streamlines recreational permitting for guides, making the outdoors more accessible.
EXPLORE also includes the Protecting America’s Rock Climbing Act (PARC), which the AAC and Access Fund have collaborated on extensively, that will help safeguard the historic use and maintenance of fixed anchors in Wilderness, and reaffirms the appropriateness of climbing on public lands.
Other elements in the package include the BOLT Act, making FICOR (the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation) permanent as well as the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership, Recreation Not Red Tape, and several pieces of legislation impacting outdoor infrastructure.
During our most recent visit to DC in September, in conjunction with the celebration of Outdoor Alliance’s 10th Anniversary, we teamed up to urge Senators to find floor time to pass EXPLORE as a stand alone bill or to attach it to must-pass legislation such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Unfortunately, EXPLORE did not make it into the NDAA’s Manager’s Amendment, which exhausts that route for passage.
Congress has been preoccupied with funding the federal government, resulting in a (now typical) Continuing Resolution to fund the government at the current levels until December 20th. Given the dynamics of it being an election year and certain change of leadership, and the impacts of a lame duck session, it is quite difficult to predict exactly how EXPLORE may be able to pass this Congress.
One potential scenario is that it may be grouped in with a larger year-end lands package, which can be a good thing, but could be complicated given the varied political motivations of legislators post-election. With the strong bipartisan and bicameral support of EXPLORE we are hopeful that we can find a path to secure the passage of the recreation package this Congress regardless of the outcome of the election.
One thing is for sure, there are no guarantees. Just as the summit is never guaranteed in climbing, no piece of legislation is a sure thing. We will continue to push forward and put the work in, one foot after another, and see it through.
