Nominations Sought For Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee

The Department of Interior’s “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee is accepting nominations to fill the last two seats on the committee. The committee provides advice to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke on public-private partnerships across all public lands, with the goal of expanding access to and improving infrastructure on public lands and waterways.

The committee was formed late last year by Secretary Zinke following calls from members of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) who were seeking a more formal voice on issues affecting the future of outdoor recreation in the United States. The committee meets approximately two times per year and the Secretary appoints members and their alternates to the committee to serve up to a three-year term. The committee cannot exceed 18 discretionary and 2 ex officio members.

In July, the committee held its first meeting. Discussion at the inaugural meeting focused on specific solutions for expanding outdoor recreation access and included a report from Secretary Zinke on efforts to eliminate the department’s multi-billion-dollar backlog in deferred maintenance and on plans to reorganize the department. The committee established four subcommittees, each with its own focus: technology; partnerships; public access and infrastructure and departmental reorganization.

There are currently three members from the RV industry already serving on the committee: Matt Miller, president of Newmar; Antonio Gonzalez, head of operations, Erwin Hymer Group North America and Jim Rogers, past chairman & CEO of KOA. With the addition of two more seats on the committee, additional voices from the RV industry would be welcome.

Nominations for the additional positions must be postmarked by November 21, 2018. For more information, please see the Federal Register Notice.