Manchin, Barrasso introduce outdoor recreation act

Legislation co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., seeks to increase and improve access to outdoor recreational opportunities.

Manchin joined U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., in introducing the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act of 2023 (AORA).

Originally introduced in the 117th Congress as the Outdoor Recreation Act, the bipartisan legislation would increase and improve outdoor recreation opportunities across the nation while improving infrastructure and driving economic growth in rural communities.

“Anyone born and raised in West Virginia knows that when it comes to the Mountain State, there is no better place to enjoy the great outdoors,” Manchin said in a prepared statement.

The federal legislation would:

• Direct the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to establish a pilot program for public-private partnership agreements to modernize campgrounds on federal land.
• Ensure that outdoor recreation is considered by land managers alongside other uses of federal land by directing the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to consider ways to improve recreation when developing and revising land management plans.
• Support rural communities adjacent to recreation areas by providing technical and financial assistance to local businesses, including hotels, campgrounds, and restaurants, to support visitation.
• Direct the Forest Service to issue guidance for recreational climbing in designated wilderness areas and require the Forest Service and BLM to designate many new shooting ranges on national forests and BLM land.

Aim to modernize recreation sites by directing agencies to work with the Department of Commerce to construct broadband internet infrastructure at certain recreation sites.

Direct the federal land management agencies to identify opportunities to extend the period of time recreation areas on federal land are open to the public during shoulder seasons.

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