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.

Washington, D.C. - Tyler Duvall, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at the Department of Transportation, told recreation community leaders at the October Recreation Exchange that recreation is a vital aspect of federal transportation policy and applauded key policy advances made through SAFETEA-LU, the omnibus transportation bill signed by President Bush in August 2005. Mr. Duvall told the group that although most public attention had focused on the near $300-billion funding aspects of the legislation, the new law contains policy advances in safety and innovative financing and creates two commissions to address the future role of the federal government in transportation and how this role will be funded: the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission (12 members), and the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission (15 members).

Paul Hoffman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior, told a group of recreation community leaders that the uproar over a first draft of revisions to National Park Service Management Policies was misguided and unfortunate. Mr. Hoffman authored a draft document revising the National Park Service’s Management Policies 2001, the policy guidance for park managers nationally, but emphasized that the draft was an internal document which was in the process of review and revision by senior agency personnel when it was leaked to media and environmental organizations. Subsequently, the draft has been the topic of stories and editorials in the New York Times , the Los Angeles Times and other publications. His comments came at the American Recreation Coalition’s September Recreation Exchange.

GREAT OUTDOORS WEEK RECREATION EXCHANGE

Special Guest:

The Honorable Mike Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture

DATE/TIME: Wednesday, June 8, 2005; 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m.

NOTE LOCATION!! PLACE: Patio, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Jamie L. Whitten Building, please enter at 12th Ave. and Jefferson Drive, SW

COST: $50 per person for non-Recreation Exchange subscribers

RSVP: By noon on Friday, June 3 (202-682-9530 or rsvp@funoutdoors.com)

MAY 2005 RECREATION EXCHANGE

Special Guest:

The Honorable Kathleen Clarke

Director, Bureau of Land Management

DATE/TIME: Thursday, May 19th, 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

PLACE: Old Ebbitt Grill (Cabinet Room)
675 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

COST: $50 per person for non-Recreation Exchange subscribers

RSVP: By noon on Tuesday, May 17th (202)-682-9530 or rsvp@funoutdoors.com