America’s most important funding source for parks and public lands is about to expire! The Legacy Restoration Fund has helped land management agencies restore trails, campsites, restrooms, ranger stations, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure that supports visitor experiences.

September is Public Lands Month, and this year it arrives at a pivotal moment. From defending the Roadless Rule to securing funding for our land management agencies, Outdoor Alliance is standing up for the places we love during Public Lands Month.

LAST DAY TO COMMENT! The USDA wants to rescind the Roadless Rule for 45 million acres of our National Forests. If these protections are lost, some of your favorite places to get outside could be opened up to logging and development. Use the form below to send a message to the USDA, and lawmakers:

Outdoor Alliance talked to @forbes.com this week to discuss the importance of the Roadless Rule, and how it protects public lands: "These places aren’t just abandoned forests. They are really spectacular and valuable landscapes." - Tania Lown-Hecht, VP Communications & Strategy at Outdoor Alliance.

Last week, our VP of Policy and Government Relations sat down with the Blister Podcast to talk about the importance of the Roadless Rule. The Roadless Rule has had a major impact on the preservation of our public lands and wildlife, but it is currently at risk of being rescinded.

Help protect the Roadless Rule, and 45 million acres of backcountry recreation. We have just ONE WEEK left to let the USDA know, “where we’re going… we don’t need roads.” Now is the time to speak up! Outdoor Alliance makes it easy to send a message here: bit.ly/3Vn8Yt8

Help defend 45 million acres of your National Forests! If you like clean air and water, and access to outdoor recreation, the USDA needs to hear from you. The planned rescission of the Roadless Rule would roll back protections for 25,121 miles of trails, 8,659 climbing routes, and 768 river miles.

Outdoor recreation and funding America’s public lands took center stage today at Grand Teton National Park. Several members of the House Natural Resources committee traveled to the park to show their support for the Great American Outdoors Act and the reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund.

Passed by Congress in 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) dedicated billions in funding for the maintenance backlog on public lands through the Legacy Restoration Fund. This was a huge victory for trails, parks, and public lands and across the country.

The Roadless Rule is under threat! Today, the USDA opened a 21-day comment period on its plan to rollback protections for nearly one third of America’s National Forest land, including 8,700 climbing routes, 768 miles of whitewater paddling runs, and 25,000 miles of trail.

The towering evergreens and trails of the Olympic Peninsula play an important role in connecting outdoor enthusiasts to the natural world. But public lands and trails like these aren’t just critical for outdoor programs, they’re an ideal setting for relationship building efforts with lawmakers.

IMPORTANT DEADLINE! Today is the last day to submit comment on a reorganization plan at the USDA that would significantly impact our country’s National Forests. Everyone who cares about trails, water, wildlife, and outdoor recreation should speak up now about the future of forests and public lands:

BREAKING NEWS! The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted an emergency motion for an injunction to block the transfer of Oak Flat, a unique climbing landscape just fifty miles outside of Phoenix that is also sacred to several tribal nations in Arizona.

Outdoor Alliance recently submitted feedback to the administration about interim rules for implementing NEPA—one of the most important tools we have for protecting America’s public lands and waters.

The USDA has released a reorganization plan that would affect our country's National Forests. Since February, The USDA has lost critical staff at the Forest Service which have put our public lands and outdoor recreation opportunities at risk.

Since February, the Forest Service has lost nearly 15,000 employees. Now it's planning on a reorganization, and the public has a chance to comment before the end of the month:

The Roadless Rule was established to “provide lasting protection in the context of multiple-use management” for 58 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands. Roadless areas protect our nation's public lands from large-scale mining, oil and gas drilling, logging, and development.

Today is the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act! The Great American Outdoors Act was passed in 2020 to provide billions in funding for public lands. It has provided funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and funding for the maintenance backlog at parks and public lands.

Last year, Outdoor Alliance helped pass the EXPLORE Act which includes the Biking on Long‑Distance Trails (BOLT) Act. This legislation directs land management to work with stakeholders to create a catalog of ten existing and ten potential long-distance trails that are at least 80 miles in length.

The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) has dedicated billions in funding for the maintenance backlog at parks and public lands through the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF). The Fund has restored assets for visitors like trails, campsites, restrooms, ranger stations, and other critical infrastructure.

A new executive order "Make America Beautiful Again" promises to continue the country’s long history of land conservation. The stated goals of the EO are commendable, and if followed by policy and administrative action, would benefit our country's public lands and the outdoor recreation community.

Earlier this month, Congress passed a massive budget reconciliation package, aka the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Thanks to advocacy from the outdoor recreation community, public sell-offs were removed. But there’s still plenty in the final package that puts our public lands and waters in jeopardy.

We are thrilled to share that Outdoor Alliance is one of several awardees being honored at this year's American Alpine Club Gala. We will be receiving the David R. Brower Conservation Award, which celebrates our commitment to conservation and the preservation of mountain regions worldwide.

The Roadless Rule protects public lands from large-scale mining, drilling, logging, and it protects access to outdoor recreation. Roadless areas also fight climate change. For example, old-growth in the Tongass National Forest store about 12% of all the carbon captured in forests across the U.S.

Last month, the Trump administration announced its intent to rescind the Roadless Rule. The rule protects 58 million acres of National Forests that span 42 states, including some of the most iconic places in the country for climbing, hiking, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, and paddling.

Outdoor Alliance and Runners for Public Lands have been working in together to mobilize the trail running community to advocate for legislation that ensures our public lands are protected, and accessible. Last month, we gathered at TrailCon, an event where we able to share our collective efforts.

Over the weekend, Senator Mike Lee withdrew his proposal to sell off public lands from the "Big Beautiful Bill." This is a huge win, but the bill still includes a number of provisions that would be devastating for public lands, local and Tribal communities, and Americans across the country.

BIG NEWS! Outdoor Alliance is pleased to see Senator Lee remove his provision to sell off public lands from the Senate budget reconciliation bill. We are also grateful to the millions of outdoor enthusiasts who spoke up about keeping public lands public—this victory is because of your voices!

We have BIG NEWS! Five House Republicans have gone on record saying they will vote down the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ if it contains the sale of public lands. The opposition is in response to Senator Mike Lee’s new proposal to sell up to 1.2 million acres of BLM land across the West.

Senator Mike Lee just introduced a new proposal to sell off public lands—this time targeting BLM lands near communities across the West.   Outdoor Alliance's GIS Lab is analyzing the bill, and our preliminary review shows significant overlap between recreation areas and lands that could be sold.

The proposal to sell off more than 3 million acres of public lands has been removed from the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill—for now. Senator Mike Lee has promised to rewrite his proposal to get public land selloffs back in the final bill.

In the last few days, the outdoor recreation community—skiers, hunters, hikers, paddlers, climbers, everyone who loves the outdoors—have come together to send nearly 400,000 letters to lawmakers with a clear message: Our public lands are not for sale!

Throughout history, water has been both a pathway to freedom and a space of healing for Black communities. This Juneteenth, Outdoor Afro is highlighting water conservationists whose work continues to inspire and strengthen Black connections to water, wildlife, and the healing power of nature.

It's a great day to write your lawmakers about public land selloffs in the Senate's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Let them know that your favorite trail leads to a big beautiful view, and that you don't want to see it go up for sale!

Last week, the Senate released text of a spending bill that includes a proposal to sell off 3.3 million acres of public land. Outdoor Alliance now has maps showing that nearly 300 million acres of public lands could be open for these proposed sales:

Since yesterday, the outdoor recreation community has responded fiercely to the proposal of 3.3 million acres of public land sales that are in the Senate’s budget reconciliation. We’ve sent 16,000 letters to lawmakers, and we believe we can get the worst things out of this bill for public lands.

BREAKING NEWS! The Senate has just proposed the selloff of more than 3 MILLION ACRES of America's public lands. This is roughly 4x the size of Rhode Island. It’s time for the outdoor community to speak up! Take action now:

Outdoor Alliance would like to thank Senators Wyden and Budd, and Representatives Schrier and Valadao for their work on The National Prescribed Fire Act of 2025, bipartisan legislation that would reduce the impacts of wildfire across the U.S. nbc16.com/news/local/b...

The President's budget was recently released and includes massive cuts to America's public lands and waters. Typically this budget is more of a political statement than actual policy, however, it’s an important marker of the administration’s priorities, and it could have influence over Congress.

Tomorrow is National Trails Day, a nationwide celebration of America’s trails. Right now, our trails and outdoor spaces are facing challenges, including a significant loss of staff. Trail crews, and park rangers do the essential work of keeping the places we like to hike accessible and safe.

Byron Harvison is a rock climber, veteran, lawyer, and is the director of advocacy at the American Alpine Club. Learn more about how his passion for rock climbing has helped other veterans overcome hardship through recreation and outdoor advocacy.

This week, Outdoor Alliance kicked off its 2nd cohort of the Grasstops Collective, a program that trains leaders from the outdoor community to build relationships with policymakers and advocate for conservation priorities. Learn more about the Grasstops Collective, and what we accomplished in 2024.

LWCF has been called “America’s best conservation program,” providing funding for counties, states, and our federal public lands and waters. Now, President Trump intends to cut its funding, which would be devastating for the 175 million Americans who get outside to recreate each year.

Last week, the outdoor recreation community came together to defeat 500,000 acres of public land sales that were part of a massive spending bill in Congress. Those public land sales included a number of places frequented by the outdoor recreation community, including mountain biking trails in Utah.

U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep Joe Neguse held a press conference this week calling on Congress and the administration to reverse staff cuts at our parks and public lands. These staffing cuts will lead to fewer maintained trails, closures, and a diminished experience for visitors.

From forest closures, to trash overflowing, to canceled trail work, the ripple effects of cuts to staff at land management agencies are showing, and they’re likely to worsen. Thank you Senator Patty Murray for sharing first hand accounts with the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum.

Voluntary buyouts, early retirements, and hiring freezes are hollowing out the agencies that keep public lands safe and accessible. At the Forest Service, more than 5,000 people have left the agency. And 2,500 National Park employees are taking deferred resignation offers or retiring early.

WE'RE NOT DONE YET! Thanks to outreach from the outdoor community, public land sell offs were removed from the House budget last night! This is a huge victory, but now the bill heads to the Senate, and it still includes a number of bad things for parks, public lands, and conservation.

VICTORY! Public land sell offs in NV and UT have been removed from budget reconciliation! Thanks to you, we sent over 80,000 letters to lawmakers and were able to get those land sales out! This is a huge win and a sign that our outreach is making a difference.

Outdoor Alliance was up late last night watching lawmakers in the House Rules Committee debate the budget reconciliation bill. A huge thank you to @rephuffman.bsky.social on his remarks about the value that our public lands provide. Urge your lawmaker to vote NO on the sale of public lands!