Overview

As part of the AGO Initiative, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) andthe Department of Interior (DOI) will be joined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in soliciting public input on how the federal government can better serve the conservation interests of communities across the country. President Obama has requested that these groups write a report summarizing their findings to send to the White House by mid-November.

Public Listening Sessions: Administration-hosted and Homegrown

To collect input from the public, USDA, DOI, EPA and CEQ has hosted a series of public “listening sessions” across the country during which their staff engaged in dialogue with local conservation leaders and industry stakeholders. Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) has worked with the administration to turn out leaders from the active outdoor recreation community to these public meetings.

Additionally, OIA has worked with a coalition of outdoor recreation clubs and user groups to organize 8 “homegrown” listening sessions across the country. These events focused on engaging the outdoor recreation communities in areas that the administration sessions did not cover. OIA worked with Outdoor Alliance (OA) to compile the input from these meetings into the 9-page report, “America’s Great Outdoors Homegrown Listening Sessions.” The report encourages the CEQ to include specific recreation-oriented recommendations in its November report to the President.

Stay connected with AGO news and updates online

Become a fan of the America's Great Outdoors Facebook page to stay in touch with the latest news and events surrounding the Initiative, connect with other outdoor recreation enthusiasts and to share your thoughts and pictures.

Be sure to visit the America's Great Outdoors Campaign website for featured stories and news coverage.