Biden Signs EXPLORE Act Including Cantwell Provisions to Boost WA’s $22.5B Outdoor Recreation Economy

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced important wins for outdoor recreation in the State of Washington. The outdoor recreation economycontributes$22.5 billion in value added annually to our state and supports over 121,000 direct jobs.
EXPLORE ACT
On January 4, President Biden signed the EXPLORE Act. The law contains the following provisions secured by Sen. Cantwell:
•            Require the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a national strategy to increase youth recreation visits to federal lands, with a focus on underserved youth.
•            Require relevant land management agencies to pilot the use of new technologies to collect comprehensive visitor data.
•            Require the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to issue an annual report on the total amount of federal funding spent on outdoor recreation to avoid duplicating funds and help Congress allocate funds appropriately.
“Everyone benefits when we make outdoor recreation easier to take part in,”said Sen. Cantwell when the provisions were introduced.“One of the goals of this bill is to get more kids hiking on our trails and discovering the joys of outdoor recreation, which will help ensure that our public lands are cared for and flourish into the future.”
FIXED ANCHOR ISSUE
On September 5, Sen. Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) led a dozen of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary Haaland and Secretary Vilsack to express their shared concerns over an Administration proposal that would severely limit the use of climbing fixed anchors in National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service wilderness areas, which have long helped climbers scale routes safely.
“While intended to provide over eight million American climbers with clear guidance on the use of fixed anchors to maintain wilderness area protections, we are concerned the policy change would unnecessarily burden our National Parks’ and Forests’ already strained budgets, limit access to these special places, and endanger climbers,”the Senators wrote.
LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND GRANTS
Also, five parks in the state are getting upgrades thanks to LWCF grants. The LWCF is funded by offshore oil and gas royalties, so it does not burden taxpayers or add to the national deficit. When LWCF's authorization expired in 2015 for the first time in its 50-year history, Cantwell successfully led the fight to reauthorize the fund for three years and ultimately
make LWCF funding permanent.
Since permanent LWCF funding was established in 2020, a total of $37 million has been awarded to 37 different park projects across the state.
•            The City of Kent is getting $3,150,000 to improve Uplands Park.
•            Snohomish County is getting $2,000,000 to improve Kayak Point Regional Park.
•            Pierce County is getting $1,000,000 to improve Orangegate Park.
•            The City of Spokane Valley is getting $1,000,000 to improve Greenacres Park.
•            The City of Othello is getting $600,000 to improve Kiwanis Park.
TheCity of Kent's Uplands Park projectwill completely transform this existing park space in downtown Kent into a year-round destination for Kent residents and the south Puget Sound region.  The project will construct Kent’s first purpose-built spray park, giving residents of all ages a new way to cool down and have fun during warm summer months while also providing a vibrant downtown park space for community gathering throughout all seasons. In addition to the spray park, the project will construct a new restroom to support the spray park use and serve as an Interurban Trailhead. Further improvements at the park will include a children’s play area, shade structures, loop trails, plaza space, landscaping improvements and trailside amenities.
The grant comes from LWCF's Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program (ORLP) for the redevelopment or creation of new local parks. This program provides a 50% match grant and the grant will fund half of the improvements listed above. The city will pay for the other half. Earlier this year the Department of the Interiorannounced$254.68 million in funding from the program, the largest investment in ORLP history.
Snohomish County'sKayak Point Park Day-Use Improvement Projectwill develop a plaza with amphitheater options, two viewpoints as boardwalk overlooks, three new picnic shelters, and general site improvement including utility updates, pedestrian pathways, beach access, fencing, enclosed dumpsters, benches, fire pits, signs, and an informational kiosk. The project will also relocate and reconstruct ten picnic shelters, a playground, parking, informal play lawns, and fourteen firepits. The project will renovate two restrooms. Finally, the project will provide sitewide habitat enhancement including a vegetated soft-shore berm to reduce erosive wave energy, native riparian planting to provide ecological enhancement for fish and wildlife habitat, and a new stormwater collection and treatment system.
Pierce County'sOrangegate Park projectwill develop a nature play area, off-leash dog park, restrooms, and other amenities at the suburban park. The project also includes a connection to Pierce County's growingPipeline Trail, which will eventually run from the Tacoma Dome Transit Center to South Hill in Puyallup, where it will connect with the Nathan Chapman Memorial Trail and eventually the Foothills Trail.
Spokane Valley'sGreenacres Park projectwill develop new shade structures and trees, a community garden, six pickleball courts, a tennis court, a backstop, two “Hoopfest-style” basketball courts, and renovate a playground, splashpad, disc golf court, pathways, utilities, and parking.
Othello'sKiwanis Park project will develop a spray park, install lighting, and renovate existing walking trails.
These four grants come from the LWCF State & Local Assistance Program, which provides matching grants for local and state park projects. These grants help build and protect a “seamless system of parks” from back-yard to back-country.
Cantwell has long fought to protect and strengthen the LWCF. Cantwell successfully led the fight to reauthorize the fund despite strong opposition from leaders in the House of Representatives. In 2019, Cantwell’s legislation topermanently reauthorizethe fund was signed into law as part of her bipartisan public lands package. She has alsointroduced legislationandled the fightto ensure the LWCF gets the full funding authorized to it. In 2020, the bipartisan legislation waspassedand signed into law.