At last month’s meeting at the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show in Denver, the OIA Board of Directors approved the 2018 OIA Policy Agenda. Over the past year, outdoor industry enthusiasm and energy on public policy issues rose to an unprecedented level, bringing increased visibility and national attention to important issues of funding and protection of recreation on public lands and waters, to international trade and tax issues debated in Washington, D.C., and close-to-home advocacy on the recreation economy and climate change at statehouses across the country.
In 2017, the outdoor industry hit several major milestones, including April’s OIA Capitol Summit, drawing record attendance from executives across the industry; nearly three million comments delivered to the U.S. Department of the Interior in support of protecting our national monuments; more than 360 industry leaders writing President Trump asking him to honor America’s long history and heritage of protecting public lands and waters and more than 5,000 individuals using the OIA Advocacy Center to write a letter opposing the president’s reduction and fracturing of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments, with 98 percent of Congress receiving at least one contact and many receiving several.
VIEW THE 2018 OIA POLICY AGENDA
Building on the momentum of the past year, OIA’s government affairs team developed the 2018 Policy Agenda to focus on:
- building on the success of the Close To Home program,
- continuing to press federal policymakers to fund, protect and ensure access to America’s public lands and waters through the Federal Recreation and Public Lands program,
- promoting the “balanced trade agenda” in the International Tax and Trade program,
- expanding more than 10 years of climate work through the Climate Change policy program.
They also will continue to promote the OIA Outdoor Recreation Economy statistics. New Congressional District data will be released this April at the 2018 Capitol Summit. Finally, they will support the industry’s friends in Congress with contributions from OIA’s Political Action Committee (OIAPAC).
The coming year promises to be an exciting one, full of opportunities to harness the power of the outdoor industry and capitalize on the increased awareness and visibility of priorities in Washington, D.C. and across the country.
To find out how you can support OIA’s policy work or to get involved yourself, e-mail ga@outdoorindustry.org.
