
At The Mountaineers, we believe the outdoors can be a source of healing and unity - a place where we can all come together to find joy and connection in the natural world. Despite big changes with the makeup of Congress and the administration that will have big policy implications, we believe the outdoors is a bipartisan issue. Time and time again, we’ve been able to secure wins for the outdoors no matter who is in power in the other Washington, and we’ll continue to elevate our community’s voices and values to lawmakers in 2025 and beyond.
Single party control of government in D.C. doesn’t mean that our ability to secure wins for the outdoors through policy will grind to a halt. Margins of power on Capitol HIll will be extremely tight, so raising our collective force through advocacy will be especially important over the next few years.
Even with a divided Congress over the last four years, we achieved significant conservation wins with the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act and the EXPLORE Act. These bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, showing that protecting public lands and waters has strong support across the political spectrum.
Similarly to the Trump Administration's first term, we anticipate the need to defend landscape protections. We expect cuts to funding for federal land management agencies, and protecting public lands funding will be a top advocacy priority for The Mountaineers in 2025. We also expect the administration and Congress to attempt to redirect or withdraw funding for climate investments like the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Mountaineers will continue showing up as a measured, pragmatic voice for the outdoors over the next four years. This means that we’ll look for opportunities to defend our lands and waters against likely attacks from Congress and the administration and seek proactive opportunities to elevate recreation issues and secure wins for the outdoors. We expect opportunities to advance bipartisan recreation priorities, like the reauthorization of the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund.
2025 Federal Advocacy Priorities
Over the next several years, strong support for our public lands and the outdoor experiences they provide will be crucial. While we anticipate the need to defend public lands, we also expect opportunities to secure proactive investments in public lands and outdoor recreation. You can dig into all our advocacy priorities in our Mountaineers advocacy agenda, but here’s what we’ll be particularly focused on as the new Congress and Administration begin to set their priorities and advance policy.
Standing up for Public Lands and Waters
Over the next four years, there will be a greater focus in Congress and in the administration on extractive industries, like oil and gas drilling, and increased logging on public lands. The Trump Administration will likely return to some of their previous efforts to undermine protections for our public lands and waters. The administration previously removed protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. As we have before, The Mountaineers will continue coordinated advocacy with our partners and triage and elevate the best opportunities for the voices of our community to make a difference for the outdoors.
Forest Service funding
Forest Service funding remains one of our top advocacy priorities despite a challenging budget environment and likely attempts to shrink government spending for most federal agencies. While the decision to freeze hiring of temporary and seasonal workers last fall will bring on-the-ground impacts this summer, we’re confident that we can weather the storm together and build toward an adequately funded Forest Service. Addressing the seasonal hiring freeze is just the first step toward a brighter future for the agency. Our Forest Service funding advocacy continues as we share compelling stories that highlight the agency’s critical need for additional resources with Congress and engage with land managers to inform our advocacy.
EXPLORE Act implementation
In the final days of the 118th Congress, the recreation community helped secure a historic victory for the outdoors with the passage of the EXPLORE Act through Congress. The EXPLORE Act – a first-of-its-kind, bipartisan package of bills to improve recreation and increase and enhance outdoor access on federal public lands – was signed into law earlier this year. We’ll continue to influence implementation of the EXPLORE Act, especially the SOAR Act to streamline recreational permitting and expand, improve, and enhance recreation here in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. In the meantime, use our action tool to thank your lawmakers for passing the EXPLORE Act.
Great American Outdoors Act reauthorization
One of the landmark wins that highlights public lands as a bipartisan issue was the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) in 2020. Funding for GAOA’s Legacy Restoration Fund is set to expire at the end of September 2025. In order to continue to restore and maintain public lands in Washington and fully address the many maintenance challenges impacting our public lands, we need additional GAOA funding. This Congress, we’ll continue to share Great American Outdoors Act impact stories with lawmakers and build bipartisan support for an Legacy Restoration Fund reauthorization.
Standing Up for Our Public Lands
The challenges and opportunities facing our public lands over the next several years underscore the need for more outdoor enthusiasts advocating on behalf of the places we cherish. It can be hard to fight the urge to sit on the sidelines, and easy to wonder whether you can make a difference. Your voice does matter. It has made a difference and will continue to do so regardless of who is setting the agenda in D.C.
Get ready to advocate with our Advocacy 101 eLearning course. In the coming months, we’ll keep you updated on advocacy opportunities via our Conservation Currents newsletter. With the 119th Congress underway, here’s your next opportunity to show your support for our federal public lands:
On its first legislative day this year, the new Congress doubled down on a familiar attack on our public lands via the new House rules package. Lawmakers have tried to sell off public lands before, and they are trying again. The House-passed rules package contains a provision intended to pave the way for transferring or selling off our public lands by categorizing public lands as budget neutral.
Use our action tool below to share why public lands are valuable to you and why you’re against measures that threaten the landscapes we love.