The Obama Administration is counting on the outdoor industry, including retailers, to help organize and host listening sessions this summer as part of Americas Great Outdoors Initiative.  REI said it will work with the administration to plan events at stores where it has appropriate amenities, said CEO Sally Jewell.

 

The purpose of the listening sessions is to learn which conservation and youth outreach programs and community partnerships are yielding the best results. Input gathered from the listening sessions will be collated into a report and given to President Obama, likely in November. The President will use the report to craft a conservation strategy for the 21st Century.

 

Americas Great Outdoors Initiative is primarily the brainchild of Secretary of the Interior Ray Salazar, but Obama kicked off the initiative at an April 16 summit at the Department of Interior. The event drew 600 participants representing farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen, cyclists, non-profits, businesses and other constituencies.

 

Jewell was among a delegation of four outdoor executives that also included Dan Templin, Chairman of Outdoor Industry Association and CFO for The North Face; Will Manzer, CEO and President of Eastern Mountain Sports and Sam Solomon, president and CEO of The Coleman Company.  OIA President Frank Hugelmeyer also attended with four of his staff.

 

In dozens of meetings on Capitol Hill last week, Administration officials emphasized how they are relying on the industry to help identify and recruit representatives from successful conservation and youth outreach programs to speak at the listening sessions. They are particularly eager to hear from those who have succeeded in reconnecting urban youth to the outdoors.

 

The administration has tentatively selected Florida, Los Angeles and Montana for listening sessions and is open to sending staff and possibly Cabinet members to at least a dozen such events in coming months. If you build it, I guarantee we will come, said one official at the Department of Interior. This is the Secretarys primary agenda item.

 

The official said the size of the group does not matter as much as its composition.