This past week I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying Outdoor Alliance (OA) team members during a series of meetings on Capitol Hill. A broad coalition of top industry advocacy groups, including the American Canoe Assoc, the ACCESS Fund, American Whitewater, the American Hiking Society, IMBA and Winter Wildlands Alliance, OA’s mission is to promote conservation and stewardship of our public lands and waters through sustainable human powered recreation.

I’ll admit, that’s a mouthful so I’ll frame it a different way. OA is a dedicated group of climbers, skiers, paddlers, cyclists and hikers fighting for the places that sustain them – not to mention you, me and our industry as a whole. In this instance our fearless friends stepped out of more familiar climes – on belay, in the backcountry, on the trail and/or river – to roll up their collective sleeves and take the outdoor community’s message to Washington.

The goal in D.C. was a simple, but important one. To meet face-to-face with key decision makers, policy chiefs and Senate staffers to add the human powered recreation community’s voice to the myriad of discussions happening on the Hill. Not just because OA feels that protecting our public lands is the right thing to do – of course it is – but to illustrate that there is a real economic benefit to land and water conservation thanks to the over $700 billion and 6.5 million jobs that outdoor recreation contributes to the national economy.

In two days of meetings with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Dept. of Interior, Center for Environmental Quality and numerous Senate offices topics ranged from Climate legislation and Forest Service Planning to federal and state Roadless Rulings and Land and Water Conservation funding. Throughout it all, it was clear that Outdoor Alliance is a welcome partner in crafting a 21st century vision for our public lands. In fact, the beltway was noticeably abuzz over the recently signed Presidential Memorandum launching the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative and frequent conversations across the agencies turned toward Outdoor Alliance playing an important role in moving the initiative forward.

All in all, it was an incredible glimpse behind the curtain in our nation’s capital and an astonishing opportunity for Outdoor Alliance to make sure our voice is represented for generations to come.