The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), a leading coalition of outdoor recreation associations representing more than 110,000 businesses, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressing strong concern over provisions in the Senate’s budget reconciliation text that mandate the sale of millions of acres of public lands.
In the letter, ORR warns that “this sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands could have a significant impact on the Americans who visit their lands and waters for recreational purposes and the broader $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation industry that sustains 5 million American jobs, 2.2% of the nation’s economy and 3.2% of all employees in the country.”
ORR’s letter emphasizes that “at a time when the outdoor recreation industry is facing significant headwinds, keeping public lands public is a bipartisan, pro-business solution that ensures economic growth, job creation, continued recreational opportunities and safeguards for outdoor businesses.”
While ORR said it acknowledges there may be circumstances where targeted land transactions are appropriate, it cautions that reconciliation legislation “does not allow for appropriate mechanisms to protect recreation access, funding or public input and instead sets a dangerous precedent that lands can be sold anytime the U.S. Treasury needs a budget ‘pay-for,’ depriving the American people of the ongoing return on investment public lands provide.”
The letter urges Congress to “remove these harmful provisions before final passage, just as they were removed in the House version.”
The letter was signed by ORR and nineteen national member organizations from across the outdoor recreation industry, all of whom remain committed to working with leaders in both parties to support rural communities’ needs and ensure that outdoor recreation continues to thrive as a vital contributor to America’s economy and way of life.
