Priscilla Macy is a whitewater paddler, photographer, and professional lobbyist and consultant focused on protecting public lands and natural resources. She recently traveled to Washington, DC with American Whitewater, the Outdoor Alliance, and the Conservation Alliance to push forward a package of crucial wilderness bills before Congress adjourns at the end of the year. We asked her to school us on a few of these bills and their potential impacts, including the Oregon Wildlands Act, the Recreation not Red Tape Act, the Reauthorization of the Land Water Conservation Fund, and the Restore our Parks and Public Lands Act.

Oregon Wildlands Act, S. 1548 – This bill was introduced by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkely in October 2017 to designate more than 200,000 acres as wilderness recreation areas, as well as add more than 250 miles of Wild and Scenic river protection. Some of the areas that would fall under protection and federal management include the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area, between the Smith and Umpqua Rivers, and the Rogue and Molalla Rivers. It would also withdraw the Chetco river from mining eligibility. In October 2018 (the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act), the bill passed out of a key Senate committee, and now needs to be confirmed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

Priscilla: There is a good chance that there will be a bi-partisan package of public land bills that may pass congress by the end of the year and there is a strong desire among conservation, recreation and local outfitters and river recreation dependent businesses that the Oregon Wildlands act is included in that package. There is talk that components of the bill that includes the protections for the Rogue River in Southern Oregon are in negotiation and may be removed in the process of members making “deals” to get multiple bills passed.

River-based recreation on and near the Wild & Scenic Rogue River, which includes rafting, fishing, hiking, and other activities, accounts for not less than $30 million in total economic output, including $15.4 million in personal income, and 445 full and part-time jobs.

Growing up on the Rogue river, and having worked in the river related outdoor industry in  Southern Oregon for over a decade, I can personally attest to the importance of the Rogue River as a resource to the local economy and community.  If it is not protected – and instead opened up to development and resource extraction, those jobs and economy would be threatened. Local outfitters, river recreation dependent businesses and local residents have been working for over 20 years to get the area better protected, and the Oregon Wildlands Act is a powerful way to accomplish this goal.

Recreation Not Red Tape Act, H.R. 3400 – This bipartisan bill was introduced by Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Senator Dan Wyden (D-Oregon) in July 2017. The main outcome of the bill would be to create a system of National Recreation Areas (NRAs), which would bypass the more rigorous process of designating areas as national monuments and enable Congress to protect areas specifically for recreation and its health and economic benefits. It would also improve the special-use recreation permitting process throughout both state and federal lands, facilitate and prioritize outdoor programs for veterans, active duty military members, and kids, enhance volunteer programs for maintenance and stewardship, allow the Forest Service to retain fees paid by ski areas operating on public lands (instead of those fees going to the general treasury of the United States), and prioritize recreation in general by establishing new metrics for land-manager performance evaluations. The bill was passed by the House in April 2017 and is also awaiting confirmation by Congress.

Priscilla: RNR is powerful bill with many important components that, if passed, will be a driving force in removing barriers to outdoor recreation and making it easier for more people to get outdoors – enabling them to enjoy the many benefits associated with being outside and contributing to economic development in communities.

Here are some key points, as outlined by Senator Ron Wyden in a press release:

The bill simplifies the permitting process for accessing public lands in several ways:

• Requires the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to adopt a uniform and consistent permitting process for outfitters and guides, including standard forms, deadlines, and informational materials.
• Encourages all federal land management agencies to work with states to allow visitors to buy a state and federal pass at one location in one transaction.
• Directs land management agencies to make all visitor passes and permits for outfitters and guides available online.

Gets more veterans, seniors, and kids outdoors:

• The bill encourages all military branches to provide service members and veterans with information about outdoor recreation opportunities as part of the basic services provided to service members and veterans and through the current Transition Assistance Program.
• It encourages all military branches to allow active-duty service members to engage in outdoor recreation activities without taking away their hard-earned leave.
• The bill requires agencies to provide free America the Beautiful passes, which grant access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites, to schools that serve low-income students and their families.
• It encourages increased participation in outdoor recreation and volunteer opportunities on public lands for Americans age 55 and older.

Holds agencies accountable to make recreation a priority for the first time:

• Directs the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (which controls water flows at hydropower dams) to promote new recreation opportunities and recreation-based jobs in land and water management decisions.
• Requires all land management agencies to report on the number of jobs and the types of jobs that are recreation-based.

Directs agencies to develop creative partnerships to extend recreation seasons:

• Directs revenue from ski area permits on federal lands to fund recreation projects on the same lands where the ski area is located, just like revenue from other recreation permits.
• To eliminate confusion for hunters, fishers, bikers and recreation users, the existing Recreation Area program will be simplified and streamlined.

Maintains public lands:

• Encourages volunteer opportunities to help agencies carry out public lands maintenance projects, such as trail maintenance on federal lands.
• Requires the land management agencies to select from 9 to 15 priority landscapes for trail maintenance and improved recreation opportunities.
• Establishes a pilot program for interagency trail management for trails that cross agency jurisdictional boundaries, to ensure trails are maintained according to the same standards.
• Expands the Public Lands Service Corps to include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a participating agency, broadens the types of projects corps members can work on, raises the age of eligibility for military veterans to 35, and establishes an Indian Youth Service Corps to work on Indian lands.

Reauthorization of the Land Water Conservation Fund – The Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was created in 1964 to appropriate funds from energy production on federal lands for the maintenance and protection of parks, trails, wildlife refuges, and recreation areas at the federal, state, and local level. It has proved crucial to protecting waterways, providing access to public lands for hunting and fishing, and establishing historical monuments, without requiring any taxpayer funding. The LWCF Coalition estimates that the outdoor recreation, conservation, and historic preservation activities enabled in part by this funding contribute more than $887 billion annually to the U.S. economy and support 7.6 million jobs. After a three year extension expired in September 2018, the bill had strong support for reauthorization from both parties and quickly passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee. Like the others, it needs to be passed before Congress adjourns on January 3rd. The LWCF coalition estimates that the fund has lost around $195 million (and counting) since authorization expired, affecting the maintenance and preservation of the lands that depend on it.

Priscilla: Lyndon B. Johnson created the LWCF in 1964, and the bill passed in Congress as a bipartisan commitment to safeguard natural areas, water resources, and our cultural heritage; and to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans. It is one of America’s most important conservation and recreation programs, which has protected and saved natural resources in every state and nearly every county in the nation.

The fund uses revenues from the depletion of natural resources (from offshore oil and gas) to support the conservation of land and water. Every year, $900 million in royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) are put into this fund. The money is intended to protect national parks, areas around rivers and lakes, national forests, and national wildlife refuges from development, and to provide matching grants for state and local parks and recreation projects. Over the years, LWCF has grown to include grants to protect working forests, wildlife habitat, and critical drinking water supplies as well as increased use of easements. Because Congress has not renewed the LWCF, it can no longer collect revenue from offshore oil and natural gas drilling. That money goes into the general federal treasury instead.

Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act H.R. 6510 –  This bill was introduced by Rob Bishop (R-Utah/Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz/Committee Ranking Member) in July 2018. It proposes to use half of the federal government’s income from royalties charged for energy production on federal lands and offshore drilling, similar to the LWCF, to establish the National Park Service and Public Lands Restoration Fund. These funds, capped at $1.3 billion per year, would then be used for maintenance by the National Park Service and other agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Education schools. In September, the House Natural Resources Committee passed the bill by voice vote with strong support from both parties. There is currently an estimated $12 billion backlog of NPS maintenance.

Priscilla: The LWCF and The Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act are similar, but differ in a few key ways:

The LWCF has been used for three general purposes. It has been the principal source of monies for land acquisition for outdoor recreation by four federal agencies; including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service. The LWCF also funds a matching grant program to assist states in recreational planning, acquiring recreational lands and waters, and developing outdoor recreational facilities. Since Fiscal Year 1998, LWCF has been used to fund other federal programs with related purposes, such as the Forest Legacy program of the Forest Service and grants under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Restore Our Parks Act would take half of the money the federal government gets from energy production offshore and on federal land and that hasn’t been dedicated to other purposes and put it toward the Park Service’s nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog. This bill is specifically written to address the needs of our National Parks, whereas the LWCF has more broad uses for public lands, and across agencies who manage these public natural resources.

More specifically, The Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act would:

• Establish a federal fund in the U.S. Treasury—the National Park Service and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund—to address the maintenance backlog at national parks, other public lands agencies, and the Bureau of Indian Education.
• Direct revenue from onshore, offshore, and renewable energy operations that are not already allocated by law to other programs, up to $1.3 billion per year for five years, into the fund. Revenue would break down as follows:
  • 80 percent for the national parks maintenance backlog.
  • 10 percent for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge maintenance backlog.
  • 5 percent for the Bureau of Land Management’s public access and recreation maintenance backlog.
  • 5 percent for the Bureau of Indian Education’s school construction and maintenance backlog.
• Allow the treasury secretary to invest the funds in a public debt security. Income from the investment would be returned to the fund.
• Allow monies to remain in the fund until they have been spent.
• Prohibit allocated funds from being used for land acquisition, employee bonuses, or to replace discretionary funding for facility operations and maintenance needs.
• Encourage public-private donations to deferred maintenance projects.

To learn more about these bills and the organizations fighting for them, and for resources to contact your representatives, please visit:

LWCF Coalition – https://www.lwcfcoalition.com/
Outdoor Alliance – https://www.outdooralliance.org/
Conservation Alliance – http://www.conservationalliance.com/
American Whitewater – https://www.americanwhitewater.org/
National Park Service – https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lwcf/index.htm
Congress – https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1548

More about Priscilla:

Though the majority of my family is from California, I grew up and learned to paddle on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, so from an early age had the opportunity to be exposed to and learn to love rivers and the outdoors. In high school I worked at a Jetboat company, then in college (in Corvallis) became a river guide for a local outfitter and wilderness therapy program, and at the same time became a climbing instructor and outdoor educator for Oregon State Universities’ outdoor program. While getting my undergraduate degree (in Recreation Resource Management) and MBA, I learned how important advocacy can be for protecting the natural areas that you love. I became involved with American Whitewater as a volunteer, started showing up to provide testimony for public hearings on natural resource issues, and now, through my own consulting business, work as a project manager and lobbyist with a special focus on the outdoor industry, and on natural resource issues related to access, outdoor recreation and conservation. I now live in Salem, Oregon, which is located in the Willamette Valley.

I would identify myself as more of a weekend warrior paddler and adventurer than as a professional – though if I find a way to make paddling an everyday possibility, or be able to make a living from doing it I would certainly not shy away from it. Paddling and photography are passions of mine and at this time don’t account for any tangible part of my income. Photography, especially in the context of whitewater paddling is something that brings me a lot of reward. Photography has also proven to be an important conservation and recreation access tool as it has provided a powerful way for me to communicate to various land and waterway managers, agencies, and organizations about the incredible values of places that, for the most part, can only be seen by whitewater boat.