Bill Neguse to Streamline Outdoor Recreation Pass Committee – Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Congressman Joe Neguse’s bill, the Recreational Outdoor Access Simplification Act (SOAR), was passed by the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, October 13. time consuming, expensive and overly complicated.

“The authorization process for federal lands was intended to help preserve the invaluable natural resources of our nations, but it has become too much of a bottleneck, preventing Guides from obtaining enough permits despite an acceptable volume.” said Congressman Joe Neguse. “With this bill, our goal is to remove the barriers that currently prevent outdoor guide services from obtaining permits and, in turn, supporting rural local businesses, expanding career opportunities. in outdoor recreation and to provide more people with access to the great outdoors. ”

The SOAR Act would reform the internal processes of several federal land management agencies, update pricing structures to make the authorization process both simpler and faster, allow more flexible authorization across agency borders, and with reasonably similar activities, and would allow exemptions to better provide licenses to the public. establishments.

“Authorization used to be a very intimidating, large and expensive process that we as a small business really struggle to manage and pursue mainly due to unclear expectations and information, complex application processes. and a very outdated system that makes it difficult. for those who are either new to guiding or new to an area to apply for and acquire permits, ”said Jordan Larson, trail owner / guide for Cairn Outdoor Guides based in Boulder, Colorado. “It would be incredibly beneficial to our business, the environment and our customers to be able to more easily apply for and acquire commercial use permits for surrounding areas, as it makes it easier for us to meet the unique needs of our customers and customers. offer more flexibility in what we can offer customers and organize every outdoor experience just for them. We are working to provide a unique service that offers nature both as a service for outdoor recreation and health care and being able to provide access to all walks of life would be huge. “

“Access to US public lands will be much easier when this bill is passed,” said Jamie Williams, president of the Wilderness Society. “Representative Neguse deserves a lot of credit for crafting a bill that removes bureaucratic red tape, making it easier to obtain recreation permits for public lands for youth programs, college recreation programs, organizations at non-profit and outfitters and guides. The Wilderness Society is committed to connecting more Americans to the outdoors and this bill will help do just that. “

“Outdated regulations in the permit system have made it long, unpredictable and in many cases impossible for outdoor organizations and businesses to deliver outdoor experiences on public lands,” said Alex Kosseff , executive director of the American Mountain Guides Association. “The Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation Act removes old roadblocks to facilitate outdoor recreation and allows more Americans to get out and enjoy public lands. “

“Colorado Mountain School applauds the introduction of the simplified access to the outdoors for recreation act,” said Russell Hunter, CEO of Colorado Mountain School. “It will bring long-awaited improvements to the guide outfitter permit system to make the process more efficient and less cumbersome.” We look forward to swift passage of this bill so that we can focus on helping people take advantage of our country’s precious climbing and skiing opportunities.

“As a small outfitting business, my infrastructure is public land,” says David Leinweber, owner of Angler’s Covey in Colorado Springs. “I see this bill as a positive development for my business. Every business needs predictability and the ability to grow and this bill will help my business predict the future by providing facilitated recreation services in demand on public lands.