The EXPLORE Act Passed in Congress! Here’s What You Need to Know.

On December 19, 2024, the U.S. Senate delivered a big win for outdoor recreation, unanimously passing the EXPLORE Act – a bipartisan legislative package aimed at improving and expanding access to the outdoors across the nation. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in April, and now will move to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. 

Nicole Zussman, President and CEO of AMC, celebrated the passage of both the EXPLORE and the Outdoors for All Acts: “We are thrilled to see the outdoors bring people together and showcase the broad, bipartisan support for more recreation access. Passage of the EXPLORE Act through Congress, including the Outdoors for All Act, is a major victory for our collective work to foster equity in the outdoors and facilitate joyous, meaningful outdoor experiences.” 

So what, exactly, does the EXPLORE Act mean for outdoor access? Highlights include: 

• The Outdoors for All Act will create more equitable access to the outdoors by reducing barriers for Native American tribes and historically disadvantaged communities to directly access Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars 
• Codifying the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program, which provides grant funding for parks and trails in underserved communities 
• Improving outdoor recreation access for children, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and military service members 
• Streamlining permitting processes and reducing financial barriers for guides, outfitters, and nonprofits who help facilitate access to nature 
• Supporting agencies that manage outdoor recreation through restoring, improving, and modernizing infrastructure  
• Expanding long-distance biking trails and standardizing rules for rock climbing in wilderness areas 
• Overall, making great strides in protecting the outdoors and ensuring that recreation remains sustainable in the long term 

Together, We Made It Happen. 

Through the Conservation Action Network, AMC sent 2,719 letters to representatives advocating for the passage of the EXPLORE Act. Representing our community of 400,000 voices, AMC let legislators know how much the outdoors matter and took action alongside outdoor organizations and enthusiasts across the nation. The size of the AMC community creates the groundswell to catalyze change for people and the outdoors.  

AMC staff played a leading role in organizing the nationwide advocacy of hundreds of partners in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Coalition, collaborating with other national coalitions to ensure that the Outdoors for All Act was included in the EXPLORE Act. AMC directly encouraged Members of Congress from Maine to Virginia to help ensure the act was passed in the House and Senate, participated in multiple meetings with Congressional offices in Washington DC advocating for the EXPLORE Act, and served as a lead strategy partner with organizations meeting regularly with Congressional party and Committee leadership to advance the legislation. AMC co-authored an op-ed with Mill River Park Collaborative in Connecticut and coordinated messages across the country with LWCF Coalition partners that celebrated ORLP projects in underserved communities, urging passage of the Outdoors for All Act to empower more such projects.  

AMC’s volunteers also played a crucial role in advocating for the EXPLORE Act. Through eleven chapters engaging with different regional communities, chapter volunteers blazed a trail to the same summit: a vision of a world where nature is healthy, loved, and protected. By leveraging personal relationships and engaging fellow recreationists, AMC Chapters and their conservation committees transformed their personal passion for the outdoors into collective action. By remaining steadfast and resolute in AMC’s people-centric conservation philosophy, AMC’s chapters bring people from Maine to Virginia together to ensure the future of the outdoors. 

We witnessed unified bipartisan action from our senators, whose unanimous approval proved that they recognize the value of our nation’s $1 trillion outdoor recreation economy. AMC especially appreciates the leadership of Sen. Susan Collins, who was a lead co-sponsor of the bipartisan Outdoors for All Act in the Senate, and key partners like the Outdoor Alliance for Kids, Trust for Public Land and Outdoor Recreation Roundtable. Together, we spoke with many distinct but unified voices for equity in the outdoors.  

“The Senate’s passage of the EXPLORE Act marks an inspiring bipartisan victory for our efforts to connect people everywhere to the outdoors,” says Heather Clish, AMC’s Vice President of Conservation and Recreation Advocacy. “This bill includes long-overdue steps to improve physical access to public lands and create more natural surface all-persons trails, work that AMC can undertake to advance its commitment to foster equity in the outdoors. This moment is a powerful reminder that conservation and recreation are unifying forces. In a time when we need connection and collaboration more than ever, the pursuit of meaningful outdoor experiences brings people together.”  

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