The Mountaineers
One year ago today, January 4, 2025, the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act was signed into law, culminating a decade-long advocacy campaign and securing a landmark victory for the outdoor recreation community. This package of recreation bills was passed in a collaborative, bipartisan manner with the goal of improving outdoor access on federal public lands.
A landmark Recreation Victory
Along with partners like Outdoor Alliance, The Mountaineers was deeply involved in drafting sections of the EXPLORE Act and advocating for its passage. Mountaineers members wrote over 4,000 messages to Congress in support of the recreation package. Our Conservation and Advocacy team sent and signed 16 support letters, and conducted more than 50 meetings with lawmakers and their staff. Our Conservation and Advocacy Director even testified in favor of one of the bills in front of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
This groundbreaking legislation provides land managers new tools to sustainably manage growing recreation and help more people access the natural world. The EXPLORE Act includes several different bills that work to improve outdoor recreation access from multiple angles. The Simplifying Outdoor Access to Recreation (SOAR) Act lowers barriers in the recreation permitting process, making it easier for groups like The Mountaineers to secure permits to run trips and courses. The Protecting America’s Rock Climbing (PARC) Act protects sustainable climbing in Wilderness Areas by clarifying that fixed climbing anchors are allowed within Wilderness boundaries. Finally, the Biking on Long-Distance Trails (BOLT) Act supports the development of long distance mountain biking trails.
The Next Step: Implementation
Becoming law doesn’t automatically enact the provisions of EXPLORE. Implementation of the Act is a phased process where agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, National Parks Service, and Bureau of Land Management instruct their staff on how to interpret and carry out the law on the ground.
Take for example the SOAR Act, one of The Mountaineers main EXPLORE Act priorities. The bill includes several key measures designed to streamline the permitting process: a new multijurisdictional permit for trips that cross land manager boundaries, the ability to add a similar activity to one already included in a permit without additional review, and a pathway for converting a temporary permit into a longer-term five or ten-year permit. While exciting, these new provisions aren’t official rules yet. Before The Mountaineers can take advantage of them, we must wait for the relevant land management agencies to write regulations and incorporate the measures into their directives system - the complicated internal system of rules and directions that instructs agency employees (like permit administrators) how to operate.
Navigating Delays Amid a Staffing Crisis
Unfortunately, the implementation process has been slower than The Mountaineers and our partners had hoped. A year after being signed into law, few components of the EXPLORE Act have been translated into on-the-ground change. This lack of momentum boils down to a fundamental lack of capacity amongst land management agencies which have faced severe staffing cuts over the past year.
The Forest Service has been hit especially hard by these reductions, with an overall decline of 25% of non-fire staff and some ranger districts losing up to 70% of recreational staff. On top of these losses, the United States Department of Agriculture is proposing to reorganize the agency, consolidating its regional offices, eliminating its Washington, D.C. office, and cutting another thousand-plus positions. The resulting turmoil of these changes has left Forest Service staff struggling to find the time and resources to manage basic functions, let alone implement new policy.
Despite this challenging federal landscape, The Mountaineers continues to advocate for the EXPLORE Act’s full implementation. Through our partnerships with Outdoor Alliance and the Coalition for Outdoor Access, we are working hard to advocate for robust agency funding and staffing, support federal staff in implementation efforts, and shape technical amendments that will improve the law. Mountaineers members can help move EXPLORE Act implementation forward by urging Congress to invest in public lands through the next federal budget. Strong appropriations for land management agencies are critical to rebuilding staff capacity and turning new recreation policies into on-the-ground change.
SOAR Act Implementation
The Mountaineers has been particularly involved in implementation efforts around permitting reform through the SOAR Act. Recreation permits are foundational to our Youth Programs and adult courses - growing our permit capacity furthers our ability to provide sustainable, equitable access to the outdoors. We’re excited about the changes promised by the SOAR Act and strategizing how we can use the new policy to increase our access to outdoor teaching spaces.
PARC Act Implementation
We’re also watching closely for the Forest Service to release guidance on the PARC Act - a priority for our community as many of our members climb in Washington state Wilderness Areas like the Alpine Lakes and Glacier Peak, and rely on clear policy around safe use of fixed anchors.
While there’s still a long road ahead for the EXPLORE Act, its passage represents a major milestone for the recreation community’s advocacy to improve sustainable outdoor access. We’re optimistic that 2026 will bring more visible progress towards full implementation, and we will keep our community updated as land managers roll out policy changes. The EXPLORE Act exists because of years of sustained, collective advocacy. It stands as a powerful reminder of what our community can achieve when we show up, speak out, and work together for the future of outdoor access.
