Washington Sends Mixed Signals on the Outdoors — Why Confluence Matters More Than Ever

At Confluence, there's less lectures and more collaboration. You'll help nominate and select priority topics and working group that solve issues and chart new directions.

The past few months have brought a whirlwind of contradictory signals from Washington about the future of our public lands and waters. On the one hand, we’ve seen historic progress:

• A new Secretarial Order signed last month implements the EXPLORE Act, unlocking recreation access and economic opportunity. The EXPLORE Act streamlines permitting, promotes volunteerism, and invests in gateway communities.

• The America the Beautiful Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Murkowski, reaffirming her steadfast leadership in conserving Alaska’s outdoors. This bill would build on the historic investment in public lands made in the Great American Outdoors Act by extending the Legacy Restoration Fund for an additional eight years and increasing authorization to $2 billion per year. It would also invest an additional $16 billion towards deferred maintenance on our public lands.

Yet at the same time, devastating staff and budget cuts, hiring freezes, and grant delays are hobbling the very agencies — BLM, USFS, NPS, USFWS, NOAA — charged with science-informed management of lands and waters, public access and nation-to-nation consultation on lands management.

Yet at the same time, devastating staff and budget cuts, hiring freezes, and grant delays made earlier this year are hobbling the very agencies — BLM, USFS, NPS, USFWS, NOAA — charged with science-informed management of lands and waters, nation-to-nation consultation, and public recreation access. The seemingly innocuous Make America Beautiful Again Commission, created by executive order last week, and the rising influence of the conservative conservation agenda both signal a push toward policy changes that could threaten the livelihoods, access, and sustainability of Alaska’s $3.2 billion outdoor economy depends on.

These conflicting and somewhat confusing actions leave communities, tribes, and outdoor businesses unsure how to plan for the future. And that’s why this year’s Confluence Summit in Kodiak, Sept. 23–25, is more important than ever.

By bringing together outdoor leaders from across Alaska, we’ll craft a vision that defines and respects shared values and priorities, while providing opportunity for all to thrive. Self-defined working groups will tackle tough questions: What do we want? Who will lead? Who are our partners? How will we make it happen?

Your voice and vision are critical to this conversation. Join us in Kodiak and help shape the future of Alaska’s outdoors — for our livelihoods, cultures, and generations to come.

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