PROTECTING OUTDOOR ADVENTURES IN TENNESSEE, BEYOND

Some of my earliest childhood memories involve being outside, rock climbing, canoeing or hiking with my family. Tied into a rope held by my father, I remember climbing the Chimneys in the wilderness of Linville Gorge, N.C. I remember multi-day canoe trips on Buffalo National River in Arkansas, fishing, swimming and sitting around a campfire. And I remember hiking through Joyce Kilmer Forest with my younger brother, awe-struck and inspired by the towering old-growth trees.

These memories are shaped as much by what was absent in that place as what was there: In the outdoors, man-made noise, bustle, electric light, television and stress melted away.

Since then, I have built a career around protecting and improving access to this sort of outdoor experience. At the Access Fund, a national nonprofit dedicated to conservation of the climbing environment, I work with local climbing organizations, public land managers and private landowners to protect access to climbing areas. Our work is climbing focused, but it’s also bigger than that. It’s also about preserving an outdoor experience — a unique outdoor experience that brings renewal and inspiration to our lives.

That is why the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund is so crucial — so that we all have places we can go to reconnect with what matters. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking. The law that established the fund, which acquires and protects public wilderness land, is set to expire in a few days. It is well past time for Congress to act.

At issue are the thousands of acres of privately owned land within or surrounding national forests, parks and monuments. These holdings remain in private hands, for private use and, potentially, for private development like second homes, vacation condos or even subdivisions. Tennessee has received more than $189 million from conservation fund LWCF over the past five decades, preserving nationally significant places like Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest.

It’s not just federal lands that benefit. In Tennessee, the Land and Water Conservation Fund state assistance program has brought about $73 million to help our local communities. It has directly helped state and local agencies build and protect smaller projects — the baseball diamonds, playgrounds and soccer fields, city, county and state parks that bring our communities and families together. I’m talking about Moccasin Bend, city of Red Bank, city of Jasper, South Cumberland State Park and just about every state park in Tennessee. This kind of close-to-home recreation is as essential to local businesses, public health and to our quality of life as more well-known national parks.

The fund makes good business sense. The program is unique because it is not funded by taxpayer dollars, but rather by a small fee. Oil and gas companies pay for being able to drill in public offshore waters. The 50 percent of Americans who participate in outdoor recreation put $646 billion of their hardearned dollars back into the economy. This spending directly results in highly sought-after jobs for 6.1 million Americans.

We cannot let congressional inaction threaten our parks, trails and access to the outdoors. There is still time for Congress to preserve our shared legacy, support our economy and preserve the opportunity for the next generation to have life-changing experiences in the outdoors.

Zachary Lesch-Huie is the southeast regional director of the Access Fund. He is based in Chattanooga, Tenn.