The work of ORRG will be funded by three foundations long associated with conservation and recreation issues, according to Henry Diamond: foundations linked to the Mellon, Packard and Rockefeller families. Staff work for the group will be led by Resources for the Future Senior Fellow Margaret Walls. The group plans three to four additional meetings in 2008 and early 2009.

Washington, D.C. (July 10, 2008) The White House Office of USA Freedom Corps, Department of Homeland Security’s Task Force on New Americans, National Park Service and American Recreation Coalition announced the creation of a public-private partnership to connect new citizens to America’s public lands. The initiative – named This Land Is Your Land – will coordinate public and private efforts to engage new Americans in volunteerism on public lands. The initiative also created the New Americans Outreach Task Force, which aims to draw newly naturalized citizens to National Parks and other public lands.

This Land Is Your Land was unveiled on July 7, 2008 at a special naturalization ceremony in Ellis Island’s Great Hall where 20 new citizens from 15 countries took the Oath of Allegiance within sight of the Statue of Liberty. Cokie Roberts, broadcast journalist and member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, led the event and encouraged the new Americans to vote and to volunteer on public lands. She specifically challenged them to volunteer 100 hours to earn the President’s Volunteer Service Award during their first year of citizenship. Alison Young, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of USA Freedom Corps (USAFC), asked the new citizens to answer the President’s 2002 national Call to Service that created USAFC. “It is our hope that through this new partnership, USA Freedom Corps can create an eagerness among new Americans to engage in volunteer opportunities in the great outdoors and to enjoy the grandeur of our National Parks,” said Young.

June 14, 2008 marked the inaugural National Get Outdoors Day. Over 50 official National Get Outdoors Day sites across the nation from Anacostia Park in Washington, D.C. to the Big Bear Discovery Center in the San Bernardino National Forest welcomed thousands of new faces to the joy and benefits of the great outdoors. Participating partners offer opportunities for American families to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities.

Each National Get Outdoors Day event offered a mix of information centers and “active fun” areas – places where guests, and especially kids, could use a fishing pole, go geocaching, help pitch a tent and more. The sites offered photo opportunities with characters like Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl and other interesting creatures. In addition, National Get Outdoors Day events encouraged partners like the Boy Scouts of America, the Boys and Girls Clubs and the National Park Service WebRangers to recruit youth to become part of programs and organizations designed to strengthen their connection to the outdoors.

National Get Outdoors Day had tremendous support from partners across the country. They were grateful for the opportunity to combat the sedentary lifestyles that are affecting the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of today’s youth.

The inaugural National Get Outdoors Day (NGOD) accomplishments are impressive:

President Bush’s proclamation, issued for the fifth year in succession, was released “to honor those who work to keep our natural places beautiful and to celebrate some of our country’s favorite outdoor pastimes.” The President goes on to “call on all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to take time to visit and enjoy the great outdoors.”

Recipients of the 2008 Legends Awards are Mark Lowans, Bureau of Land Management; Pedro “Pete” Lucero, Bureau of Reclamation; Pete Gonzalez, Federal Highway Administration; Garry Traynham, National Park Service; Brad Keshlear, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Bennie Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Dennis Krusac, U.S. Forest Service. ARC is honored to present a posthumus Lifetime Achievement Legends Award to John Keys, former Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, in recognition of his outstanding achievements to support outdoor recreation experiences for families and especially children.

Secretary Kempthorne was a recreation champion during his service in the U.S. Senate where he led successful efforts to create a sustainable funding source for building and maintaining trails and promoted balance between resource protection and outdoor fun. The award also recognizes the Secretary’s championship of recreation programs during his two terms as Governor of Idaho and his remarkable leadership as the nation’s Secretary of the Interior. In addition to tangible successes in park funding and his national leadership of efforts to increase outdoor activities by American youth, Secretary Kempthorne has brought about fundamental changes in the relationships among national interests in the environmental, conservation and recreation arenas. The new cooperation and conversation will have a lasting benefit for the shared legacy of parks, forests, refuges and other public lands and waters. The recreation community also applauds the Secretary’s support for the Take Pride in America program and its messages of volunteerism and responsible use of the outdoors.

Mr. Ensch addressed the intense competition for recreation resource funding. “With the President’s agenda to balance the budget by 2012, support the War on Terror and now provide economic stimulus, where will the funding for our recreation operations and infrastructure come from?” he asked. Mr. Ensch predicted that the recent increase in gas prices will create an “interesting difficulty for us,” as families put off cross-country trips and stay closer to home, increasing the visitation to the Corps’ near-urban projects.