RV Industry Association Joins Outdoor Recreation Roundtable In Call For Passage Of Great American Outdoors Act

The RV Industry Association has joined 28 fellow national outdoor recreation trade associations, supporting over 100,000 businesses, in urging Congress to pass the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). The Act would fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and address the nation’s public lands maintenance backlog, to support rural communities and save the outdoor recreation industry during this unprecedented downturn.

As Americans across the country socially distance themselves due to COVID-19, many are looking to the open air and public spaces for their mental and physical wellness. At the same time, investment in our public lands is critical for the outdoor recreation industry - made up of 90 percent small businesses. Traditionally representing 2.2 percent of the GDP, 5.2 million jobs, and growing faster than the economy as a whole in every sector, the industry is rallying together to urge Congress to pass GAOA and make smart fixes to the CARES Act to support this vital sector of the economy.

GAOA will fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to provide $900 million per year in investment in the public lands, parks, and trails that are the backbone of the outdoor recreation economy. It would also address the growing maintenance backlog on our public lands and waters. The bill will help to bolster recreation dependent communities as Americans seek to get outside away from crowds and practice safe social distancing in the coming months and support business certainty today and a thriving outdoor recreation economy for years to come.

“The Great American Outdoors Act offers innovative solutions and sustainable funding that will address the deferred-maintenance backlog on federal lands, which is critical to improving and expanding national campgrounds,” said RV Industry Association President Craig Kirby. “Campgrounds on federal lands are currently showing distressing signs of wear: crumbling roads and bridges; deferred maintenance needs; and limited camping availability, jeopardizing not only the RV industry but the entire outdoor recreation industry.”

Click here to read the press release and click here to read the letter.