The Great American Outdoors Act has two key pieces. This act will provide $9.5 billion over five years to pay for the maintenance backlog in our National Parks System. It will also fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to $900 million a year.

This fund uses fees and royalties from offshore oil and gas extraction to provide funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments to acquire or place easements on land for the benefit of all Americans.

In the past, Congress has been able to divert most of these funds for other purposes. So far, the LWCF has helped states and communities conserve over 7 million acres for public uses.

The Bi-partisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act will allocate $1.2 trillion dollars over the next five years for a variety of infrastructure projects.

Although the bulk of this will go to much needed traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges, and airports, over $5.6 billion dollars will be going to green infrastructure. Specifically, there will be $3.4 billion for wildlife risk reduction and $2.1 billion for ecosystem restoration.

The bill will provide $500 million each to a variety of fire management activities including thinning projects, prescribed fires, fuel breaks, and mapping and defending at-risk communities. There are also funds for Community Wildfire Defense Grants and for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration for wildfire prediction, modeling, and forecasting.

Within the Infrastructure bill is the REPLANT Act (Repair Existing Public Lands by Adding Necessary Trees). Currently the National Forest System has a $30 million per year cap to plant trees, which has been in place since 1980.

With climate change and increased catastrophic wildfires, the Forest Service projects that they would need $183 million per year for 10 years to cover the back log of reforestation needs. The REPLANT Act calls for the planting of 1.2 billion trees over the next 20 years and will provide over 49,000 jobs.

The Forest Service hopes to increase their workforce by 20% through this funding, but they and other lands mangers, including Idaho Department of Lands, are concerned that they just can’t find the people to fill all these positions. Where once these agencies didn’t have enough money to be fully staffed, now they are worried that they don’t find enough people, so it’s a great time to look at careers in natural resources.

Funding green: The new Infrastructure and Jobs Act will help the U.S. Forest Service, like reducing wildfire risks. // Photos courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service.

Find more stories about environmental topics, including public lands, wildlife, green energy, and conservation, in the Nature column archives.

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Recreation visits spike

The data is in, and confirms recreational visits to United States Forest Service lands saw a huge jump in 2020. Dispersed recreation sites and Wilderness Areas saw the largest spike in visitors, with an increase of 25% over the previous year. The information comes from National Visitor Use Monitoring data. Hiking/walking is the top recreational activity, with 48.8% of visitors participating. “Viewing Natural Features” comes in as a close second with 44.4%.

Great American Outdoors Act proposed projects for 2022 announced

In our region, highlights include bridge replacements within the Colville National Forest and funds for addressing deferred maintenance needs on the Elkhorn Crest National Scenic Trail and within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

Spokane County’s Conservation Futures Program accepting property nominations

The most recent round of nominations to Spokane County Park’s Conservation Futures funding program is open through July 31. Properties are currently being nominated for consideration for inclusion in the program. Once the nominations close, a public meeting will be held in early September to gather input on the nominations, which will be ranked by Spokane County Parks’ Land Evaluation Committee later this fall.

Free public hikes in the Scotchman Peaks

Check out the website for Friends of Scotchman Peak Wilderness for their free summer hiking series on “Family Fun in the Forest.” There are several family-friendly hikes in the series in July and August, along with strenuous hike offerings for those looking for a more challenging hike. These hikes are sure to fill up, so register soon!

How to score free access to Washington State Parks

August 25 is a free entry day at all Washington State Parks.

If you or someone you know is on a tight budget, remember that many public libraries also have Discover Passes available for check-out with a library card. Spokane County Library District has 22 “Check out Washington” backpacks available by reservation too. The backpacks include a Discover Pass, binoculars, and several field guides. Patrons may use the pass for seven days of exploration at any Washington State Park.

You can also earn a free one-year Discover Pass through state parks volunteerism: Washington Trails Association, Spokane Nordic Ski Association, and Evergreen East will all be hosting volunteer trailwork events at Mount Spokane State Park this summer.

Find the schedule for upcoming volunteer days at each nonprofit’s website.

Free days at Glacier National Park

Two fee-free days are planned in August at Glacier National Park. The first is August 4, the one year anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act, and the second is August 25, the National Park Service birthday.

Holly Weiler writes The Trailhead column in each issue of Out There. During July and August she will be splitting her time between the garden and wilderness as she leads trail work crews into the Salmo Priest for Washington Trails Association.

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Welcome to The Trailhead, where the first stop should be the kiosk with important information that affects recreationists in our area! This new column, replacing the long-running “Hike of the Month” column, will serve as a round-up of interesting projects and plans for trails in the Inland Northwest.

Here’s what trail and recreation related news we have for his spring and early summer, along with a recommended hike!

Steptoe Butte State Park Closure

Park will be closed for road and parking lot repairs for up to 16 weeks this spring. The exact closure window is dependent upon weather conditions, so be sure to check the state parks website before a spring visit.

Great American Outdoors Act Funds Local Projects

Funding for the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law August 2020 and will begin to address deferred maintenance needs on United States Forest Service (USFS) lands beginning this summer. Search the US Department of Agriculture website for a deeper dive into how this legislation will be enabling projects across the country. Some of the local projects slated to begin in 2021 include:

• Funding for 1,500 miles of deferred maintenance on backcountry trails across both Washington and Oregon through “shared stewardship” partnerships with USFS partner organizations.
• Trail maintenance on 110 miles of recreational trails within Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and the Eagle Cap Wilderness, along with the replacement of two 60′ bridges on the Snake River National Recreation Trail.
• A combination project on South Fork Boulder Creek Road north of Highway 20 on the Colville National Forest, including relocation of the current road and conversion of the former roadbed to a year-round multi-use trail (snowmobile in winter; non-motorized access to Taylor Ridge Trail in summer).
• Trail maintenance on 50 miles of trails near Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
• A trail resurfacing project and tunnel improvements on the Route of the Hiawatha Trail near Lookout Pass.
• Trail maintenance in the Mallard-Larkins and Upper St. Joe River areas.
• Improvements to both vehicle access and trails within the Ross Creek Ancient Cedar Grove, including a boardwalk to help protect tree roots from soil compaction while granting better accessibility for all visitors.

New Trailhead for Antoine Peak Conservation Area

Spokane County Parks will be building a new trailhead for Antoine Peak Conservation Area’s Etter Ranch addition over the course of the summer. The new access point will be located less than 1/4-mile from Trent Ave. in the Spokane Valley. Until the new trailhead is complete, access to this portion of Antoine Peak is only available under special permit for the trail construction crews who are busy building the new connecting trail to the existing trail system. Check the Washington Trails Association and Evergreen East Mountain Bike Alliance websites for volunteer opportunities that will grant a sneak peek!

Northeast Washington Trails Website

Northeast Washington Trails has a new page devoted to ways non-motorized trail users can get involved with trail maintenance projects stretching from the Okanogan Highlands to the Idaho Panhandle. Lend a hand to one of several nonprofits offering volunteer opportunities across northeast Washington, or share a conditions report about a trail issue you discovered while exploring an area. Learn more at Newashingtontrails.com/volunteer.

Hike of the Month for the May-June 2021 issue:

Holly Weiler is a long-time contributor to Out There Venture. If you know where to look, you’ll find her deep in a morel patch this spring.

[Feature photo: Mountain wildflowers in northeast Washington overlooking the Pend Oreille River valley. // Courtesy of Kalispell Tribe.]

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As we drove east over multiple mountain ranges and the danger of running out of gas became real, we also traversed several important wildlife corridors, including the Cabinet-Purcell Mountain Corridor that delineates a zone of largely connected wildlife habitat between southeastern British Columbia and North Idaho and northwestern Montana. It’s one of the few places in the U.S. where a wide range of species from grizzly bears to elk can move across the international border through relatively intact habitat.  

Even though many of the wildlands we drove through have limited protection, the recent passage of the Great American Outdoors Act is proof that a majority of Americans care deeply about our public lands. While building on conservation successes of that scale are more important than ever, how we talk about the history of public lands and engage the indigenous people who called those lands home in future conservation initiatives is also crucial. 

Long before there were national forests or state parks, much of these lands were the traditional homelands of Native Americans, many of whom were violently removed. It’s an essential reality that needs to be acknowledged and addressed in public lands conservation efforts. Fittingly, many conservation successes in recent years have been initiated by tribes, restoring first nations people as critical stakeholders and public lands caretakers. Across the Northwest, tribes are designing, funding, and implementing programs that bring back wildlife and conserve their traditional lands and cultural heritage. 

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are working to bring lynx back to their land and are leading efforts to reintroduce salmon into the Columbia River above Grand Coulee Dam. As discussed in this issue’s Nature column, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians are experimenting with innovative approaches to keeping cougars from harming pets and livestock. And many species of wildlife in eastern Oregon have more room to roam thanks to the Nez Perce Tribe’s purchase of thousands of acres of prime habitat.  

Other tribes are taking innovative legal approaches to protecting land and wildlife. One example that has gathered international attention is the Yurok Tribe’s declaration of the rights of personhood for the Klamath River. By assigning rights to a natural feature, the tribe hopes to create more opportunities for environmental protections and legal advocacy.  

By conserving habitat, tribes are ensuring their own cultural survival and the future of our public lands and the human communities that depend on them.

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One of the hopes of conservation and recreation advocates and public land managers who fight for and manage our public lands and trails daily is that the COVID-spurred increase in public lands visitations will translate into more support for those lands. Lasting public support for future land, water, and wildlife conservation efforts as well as funding for the maintenance of our existing parks, trails, trailheads, and other recreation facilities and their management could be at least one positive outcome of the pandemic.   

A sign that we may be headed in that direction is the recent passage of the Great American Outdoors Act by a bi-partisan majority of the U.S. Senate. The legislation, which still needs the support of the U.S. House of Representatives before being signed by the president, which he has indicated he will do, could provide billions in needed deferred maintenance funds for our National Parks. Those funds would pay for things like trail and facility maintenance that have been neglected for years, and the bill would also provide permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

The LWCF is one of America’s most important conservation programs that’s been responsible for protecting parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands and trails across federal, state, and local levels for 50 years. The fund provides crucial funding for conservation and recreation projects as well as the historic preservation of iconic national landmarks, all without tapping into taxpayer coffers; the LWCF is instead exclusively funded from a small portion of revenues from offshore oil and gas royalty payments, which for years have not been making it to the LWCF as intended. The Great American Outdoors Act would put an end to Congressional poaching of these dollars meant for our public lands. 

This isn’t a time to be cynical and hold off on calling your representative because you think they hate nature. (Click here for a directory of U.S. Representatives.) This legislation has broad, bipartisan support from a wide range of outdoors lovers, from hunters, anglers, and ATV riders to bird watchers, mountain bikers, and backpackers, along with many other diverse user groups with varied political convictions. Call or email them regularly until this thing passes so those of us who love the outdoors can all have something big and positive to celebrate together. Learn more about our public lands and the LWCF here to help inform your comments to Congress: Lwcfcoalition.com.

Also, stay tuned for the next issue of Out There, our September/October issue, which will be our first annual Public Lands issue. Email me for public lands related story pitches, advertising inquiries, or to financially support our effort to make our first and hopefully annual Public Lands issue a reality.

Derrick Knowles is editor-in-chief and co-publisher. He has spent more than 30 years exploring the Inland Northwest’s trails, mountains, lakes, and rivers. He lives in Spokane with his wife, Shallan, co-publisher and visual editor of OTO, and their young son.

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