Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) has teamed with Austin-based, specialty outdoor retailer BACKWOODS, Inc. to host a “homegrown” listening session for America’s Great Outdoors Initiative (AGO). The AGO listening session will be held at Hill Country Galleria near Austin, Texas on Tuesday, Aug. 17 from 6:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Outdoor Industry Association to support the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative,” said BACKWOODS President and CEO Jennifer Mull. “BACKWOODS’ mission to inspire people to seek active, adventurous lives and the AGO’s goal of reconnecting American’s with the outdoors are perfectly aligned. The homegrown listening session will allow the Central Texas community to provide the critical feedback needed to make AGO’s goals a reality.”
Throughout the summer, the Obama administration hosted official listening sessions in order to gain regional knowledge and input for the AGO. AGO is a national program that will create a 21st-century conservation agenda, reconnect Americans with the outdoors, and gain local input about how the federal government can best partner with local communities to manage America’s public lands and waters.
OIA is hosting homegrown listening sessions around the country to support and supplement the official administration sessions and to ensure the outdoor recreation community’s voice is well represented to President Obama.
Jennifer Mull will join representatives from OIA to host the two-hour listening session. The homegrown event seeks a broad spectrum of outdoor recreation, youth, and minority interest groups to attend. The event will give these attendees a chance to express their opinions about the 21st-century challenges to recreation, best-practices and regional conservation techniques, and how the federal government can best support these efforts.
The listening session will be followed by a beer and wine reception.
