Contact:
Adam Cramer
Leiter & Cramer PLLC
abc@leitercramer.com
202.386.7671
User Groups Join Forces to Safeguard Human-Powered Recreation
Washington DC – Human-powered outdoor recreation user groups including Access Fund (AF), American Whitewater (AW), American Canoe Association (ACA), American Hiking Society (AHS), International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), and Winter Wildlands Alliance (WWA) have joined forces to establish the Outdoor Alliance. Designed to be a coalition of national, local and regional human-powered recreation groups, the Outdoor Alliance seeks to protect and secure quality outdoor recreation opportunities on the nation’s public lands and waters through the collective voice and influence of human-powered outdoor recreation participants.
While almost 150 million Americans annually participate in recreation activities such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing, canoeing, kayaking and backcountry skiing, the political voice of this large constituency is not at all reflective of its size, and is often overshadowed by broader groups with different recreational agendas. Supported in part by a generous grant from the Turner Foundation, the Outdoor Alliance will address the need for an increased human-powered outdoor recreation voice by helping its member user groups improve their grassroots organization and outreach capabilities, by educating decision makers about the size, characteristics, and needs of the human-powered outdoor recreation constituency, by coordinating and mobilizing the alliance’s collective grassroots on key issues, and by developing unified public messages.
Outdoor Alliance is designed as a true coalition—that is, it is not an independent umbrella organization, but rather a group of organizations working towards the same goal. The steering committee, comprised of AF, AW, ACA, AHS, IMBA, and WWA (representing water, land, and snow activities), has primary responsibility for developing the information and communication resources needed to coordinate and support future member initiatives.
The Outdoor Alliance has retained Adam Cramer and his Washington, D.C. firm, Leiter & Cramer PLLC to serve as its policy architect and counsel and to provide unified guidance to the member groups in stewardship and public policy initiatives. Membership in the Outdoor Alliance will eventually be open to any national or regional human-powered user group that agrees with the Alliance’s mission, values and vision.
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