Recreation Exchange
 A panel of seasoned natural resource and conservation leaders with experience in and out of top government posts told recreation community leaders during a special November Recreation Exchange what they expect to see as the new Obama Administration takes shape. The session was held in the venerable Occidental Restaurant, just a block from the White House as President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama met in the Oval Office to discuss Transition efforts. The panel addressed both opportunities and challenges but reached a consensus that recreation and conservation issues could do well if the recreation community organizes promptly and relates recreation to Obama Administration priorities, including economic recovery and healthcare improvements.
 ARC Chairman Thom Dammrich moderates the Q&A session of the November 2008 Recreation Exchange
L to R: Jim Lyons, Tom Fry, Doug Wheeler
 Lyle Laverty, Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, addressed the September Recreation Exchange with a call for more innovative partnerships. His remarks included an emphasis on the importance of children-and-nature initiatives and the observation that goals here and for other priorities will be best achieved by replacing talk of partnerships with “the real thing.”
Mr. Laverty championed interagency connectivity and synergy to best serve the interests of the American people. He stressed the importance of bringing the “federal family” together on recreation efforts, and cited a new “Pledge of Cooperation” on outreach to youth as demonstrating both the commitment to interagency partnerships and the ability to leverage agency strength through cooperation. Mr. Laverty also commented that the current atmosphere of financial uncertainty allows for greater incentives for federal agencies to partner with the private and nonprofit sectors and to engage volunteers in their efforts.
Delivering an energetic and visionary message during a return appearance before the Recreation Exchange, James Connaughton, Chairman of the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), said that the administration is enthusiastic about opportunities still ahead and moving forward vigorously to implement its “transformative cooperative conservation strategy.” To read the full report, click here.
(Washington) – Gaining the power to retain recreation fees and applying the new America the Beautiful Pass to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) sites were among the topics addressed by Lawrence Lang, Deputy Director of Operations and Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at the April Recreation Exchange. To read a report of April's Recreation Exchange, click here.
(Washington, D.C.) - The March 2006 Recreation Exchange featured Mark Rey, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment, who oversees the Forest Service and a variety of other key programs. Mr. Rey addressed the Administration’s proposal to re-authorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000 for an additional five years.
To read this report, click here.
The Bush Administration has proposed a five-year extension of the "Secure Rural School and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000,” or SRS, which aids rural communities adversely impacted by a decline in USDA Forest Service timber receipts which are, in part, shared with the counties on which the timber originates. The Act was initially funded with general revenues; the Administration proposes to extend the law using proceeds from the sale of surplus national forest lands. The Forest Service has now posted a list of tracts totaling 309,000 acres in more than 40 states that it wants to make available for sale to fund the extension. The funds – $800 million over the five years – would be divided among 735 eligible counties in 41 states.
(Washington, D.C.) - The February 2006 Recreation Exchange featured three key Office of Management and Budget (OMB) staff involved in outdoor recreation. Craig Crutchfield, who oversees National Park Service (NPS) issues, Ben Burnett, Budget Examiner for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Jim Mietus, who works on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) matters, shared insights on OMB’s budget and oversight responsibilities and suggested strategies for recreation program successes in the appropriations process.
To read the full report, Click Here.
(Washington, D.C.) - Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, USDA Forest Service, addressed recreation community leaders at the January 2006 Recreation Exchange. Since March 2005, he has overseen the management of 192 million acres of National Forest System land and all the programs and policies for the National Forests and Grasslands throughout the United States. Mr. Holtrop noted that Forest Service’s 100-year anniversary in 2005 was both an opportunity to remember past successes and a time to devise strategies for keeping the Forest Service relevant over the next 100 years. Central to this goal is an understanding that the Americans the Forest Service serves today are very different from national forest visitors of the past whom, he said, were largely white, middle class and lived in rural areas close to the forest.
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