The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) announced that David Weinstein will lead close-to-home recreation advocacy as the company’s state and local policy director.

Weinstein is currently the Western conservation finance director for The Trust for Public Land, where he advises local and state governments throughout the Western United States on how to design, pass and implement legislative initiatives and electoral measures that create funding for land and water conservation. During his time at The Trust for Public Land, Weinstein worked on or led campaigns that generated more than $550 million in voter-approved funding and more than $4 billion in legislative funding for conservation in the West.

Prior to joining The Trust for Public Land, Weinstein was the outreach and advocacy manager for OIA and the OIAPAC treasurer, where he represented the outdoor industry in President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, engaged Congress and federal agencies to shape recreation policy and enhance funding and worked to elect and re-elect congressional champions for the outdoor industry. He has been involved in conservation politics for more than nine years, including positions with U.S. Senator Mark Udall’s Office and Colorado Governor Hickenlooper’s first gubernatorial campaign. Weinstein is a Wyss Foundation fellow and also serves of the boards of directors for the Montana Conservation Corp and the Alaska Wilderness League.

“David’s deep experience working with state and local governments on conservation funding initiatives will help ignite and grow OIA’s close-to-home efforts,” said Amy Roberts, OIA executive director. “We are excited about the good work that OIA will continue to accomplish in this area on behalf of the outdoor industry with David guiding the close-to-home advocacy work.”

In his role, Weinstein will lead the close-to-home advocacy program for the outdoor industry. The program focuses the following:

  • Educating state and local policymakers about the power of the outdoor recreation economy in their communities and promoting local investment in the outdoor recreation industry.
  • Continuing to drive the creation of state offices of outdoor recreation across the country. Since the inception of the program three years ago, OIA members have led the effort to create offices or commissions in 12 states across the nation.
  • Pursuing funding and access for close-to-home outdoor recreation through ballot measures and state-level legislative advocacy initiatives. In 2017, OIA-supported ballot measures generated more than $1 billion for parks and trails near people’s homes around the country.
  • Building and supporting coalitions of industry professionals, nonprofit leaders, policymakers and other stakeholders to advocate effectively for outdoor recreation at the state and local levels.

“The outdoor industry is uniquely positioned to influence policies and enhance public funding for outdoor recreation and conservation,” said Weinstein. “I’m thrilled to return to an industry that I’m so passionate about and to rejoin the esteemed team at OIA.”

As a Colorado native, Weinstein now lives in Bozeman, Mont. He is an avid backcountry skier, mountain biker, hunter, angler, backpacker and pack rafter. David holds a B.A. from Colorado State University and an M.A. from Georgetown University.