The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) announced its support for President Joe Biden’s executive order announcing a goal to fight climate change and create jobs. However, the organization declared its desire to work with the administration on preserving public access to outdoor recreation along the way.
ORR’s Transition Policy Paper announced its support for the administration’s 30 by 30 initiative, which aims to conserve 30 percent of earth’s lands and waters by 2030. The paper also noted ORR’s desire to work with the Biden administration on details and implementation.
“ORR is encouraged by the Biden administration’s goal to combat climate change through the 30 by 30 initiative,” ORR acting Executive Director Lindsey Davis said, “but recreational fishing and outdoor activity interests need to be represented.”
Annually, outdoor recreation contributes more than $788 billion to the U.S. economy and provides more than 5.2 million jobs.
“We are going to work with the administration to make sure that, through this initiative, Americans continue to have access to the public lands and waters that make outdoor recreation possible,” Davis said, “and that help to fuel so much of the nation’s economy.”
ORR’s Transition Policy Paper stated the organization wanted to ensure that any “30 by 30” policies properly accounted for these principles:
- Explicitly recognize the imperative role that outdoor recreation plays in conservation and as economic engines in communities throughout the country.
- Include protected area definitions that allow for well-managed and sustainable outdoor activities.
- Consider existing protected areas in measuring progress toward stated goals.
- Seek to achieve targeted, science-based conservation measures developed through a stakeholder-driven process, that includes the recreation industry voice, to address biodiversity threats.
- Clearly define roles and authorities for the entities charged with carrying out the 30 by 30 initiative proposal.
- Through an objective, science-driven, stakeholder-engaged process determine the appropriate level of management necessary to meet biodiversity and conservation goals while supporting sustainable recreation.
