White House Conference on the Great Outdoors – The Joy Trip Project

White House Conference on the Great Outdoors – The Joy Trip Project

Creating a 21st Century Strategy for America’s Outdoors
Posted by Jesse Lee on April 16, 2010 at 12:50 PM EDT From the White House Blog
President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum launching the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative today, which focuses on promoting community-level efforts to conserve outdoor spaces. As part of the initiative, members of the administration will host regional sessions with groups and individuals across the country to discuss ideas on how to protect America’s natural landscape and form a 21st century strategy conservation agenda.
The President said that the initiative is not a “big federal agenda being driven out of Washington,” but an effort to collect the best ideas on conservation that local communities support and reconnect Americans to the outdoors. He explained that the initiative will build on successful conservation efforts being lead by local and state governments, tribes, and private groups, while helping farmers, ranchers, and property owners to protect their lands. The outdoors initiative will also help families spend more time outdoors by building on the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative.
America’s Great Outdoors Initiative will be lead by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Chair of the Council of Environmental Quality. They will work in coordination with the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, Transportation, Education, and the Office of Management and Budget.