[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20767-20769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9286]



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Part V





The President





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Memorandum of April 16, 2010--A 21st Century Strategy for America's 
Great Outdoors
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 20767]]

                Memorandum of April 16, 2010

                
A 21st Century Strategy for America's Great 
                Outdoors

                Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior[,] the 
                Secretary of Agriculture[,] the Administrator of the 
                Environmental Protection Agency[, and] the Chair of the 
                Council on Environmental Quality

                Americans are blessed with a vast and varied natural 
                heritage. From mountains to deserts and from sea to 
                shining sea, America's great outdoors have shaped the 
                rugged independence and sense of community that define 
                the American spirit. Our working landscapes, cultural 
                sites, parks, coasts, wild lands, rivers, and streams 
                are gifts that we have inherited from previous 
                generations. They are the places that offer us refuge 
                from daily demands, renew our spirits, and enhance our 
                fondest memories, whether they are fishing with a 
                grandchild in a favorite spot, hiking a trail with a 
                friend, or enjoying a family picnic in a neighborhood 
                park. They also are our farms, ranches, and forests--
                the working lands that have fed and sustained us for 
                generations. Americans take pride in these places, and 
                share a responsibility to preserve them for our 
                children and grandchildren.

                Today, however, we are losing touch with too many of 
                the places and proud traditions that have helped to 
                make America special. Farms, ranches, forests, and 
                other valuable natural resources are disappearing at an 
                alarming rate. Families are spending less time together 
                enjoying their natural surroundings. Despite our 
                conservation efforts, too many of our fields are 
                becoming fragmented, too many of our rivers and streams 
                are becoming polluted, and we are losing our connection 
                to the parks, wild places, and open spaces we grew up 
                with and cherish. Children, especially, are spending 
                less time outside running and playing, fishing and 
                hunting, and connecting to the outdoors just down the 
                street or outside of town.

                Across America, communities are uniting to protect the 
                places they love, and developing new approaches to 
                saving and enjoying the outdoors. They are bringing 
                together farmers and ranchers, land trusts, recreation 
                and conservation groups, sportsmen, community park 
                groups, governments and industry, and people from all 
                over the country to develop new partnerships and 
                innovative programs to protect and restore our outdoors 
                legacy. However, these efforts are often scattered and 
                sometimes insufficient. The Federal Government, the 
                Nation's largest land manager, has a responsibility to 
                engage with these partners to help develop a 
                conservation agenda worthy of the 21st Century. We must 
                look to the private sector and nonprofit organizations, 
                as well as towns, cities, and States, and the people 
                who live and work in them, to identify the places that 
                mean the most to Americans, and leverage the support of 
                the Federal Government to help these community-driven 
                efforts to succeed. Through these partnerships, we will 
                work to connect these outdoor spaces to each other, and 
                to reconnect Americans to them.

                For these reasons, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Establishment.

                    (a) There is established the America's Great 
                Outdoors Initiative (Initiative), to be led by the 
                Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, the 
                Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
                and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality 
                (CEQ) and implemented in coordination with the agencies 
                listed in section 2(b) of this memorandum. The 
                Initiative may

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                include the heads of other executive branch 
                departments, agencies, and offices (agencies) as the 
                President may, from time to time, designate.
                    (b) The goals of the Initiative shall be to:

(i) Reconnect Americans, especially children, to America's rivers and 
waterways, landscapes of national significance, ranches, farms and forests, 
great parks, and coasts and beaches by exploring a variety of efforts, 
including:

  (A) promoting community-based recreation and conservation, including 
local parks, greenways, beaches, and waterways;

  (B) advancing job and volunteer opportunities related to conservation and 
outdoor recreation; and

  (C) supporting existing programs and projects that educate and engage 
Americans in our history, culture, and natural bounty.

(ii) Build upon State, local, private, and tribal priorities for the 
conservation of land, water, wildlife, historic, and cultural resources, 
creating corridors and connectivity across these outdoor spaces, and for 
enhancing neighborhood parks; and determine how the Federal Government can 
best advance those priorities through public private partnerships and 
locally supported conservation strategies.

(iii) Use science-based management practices to restore and protect our 
lands and waters for future generations.

                Sec. 2. Functions. The functions of the Initiative 
                shall include:

                    (a) Outreach. The Initiative shall conduct 
                listening and learning sessions around the country 
                where land and waters are being conserved and community 
                parks are being established in innovative ways. These 
                sessions should engage the full range of interested 
                groups, including tribal leaders, farmers and ranchers, 
                sportsmen, community park groups, foresters, youth 
                groups, businesspeople, educators, State and local 
                governments, and recreation and conservation groups. 
                Special attention should be given to bringing young 
                Americans into the conversation. These listening 
                sessions will inform the reports required in subsection 
                (c) of this section.
                    (b) Interagency Coordination. The following 
                agencies shall work with the Initiative to identify 
                existing resources and align policies and programs to 
                achieve its goals:

(i) the Department of Defense;

(ii) the Department of Commerce;

(iii) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(iv) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(v) the Department of Labor;

(vi) the Department of Transportation;

(vii) the Department of Education; and

(viii) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

                    (c) Reports. The Initiative shall submit, through 
                the Chair of the CEQ, the following reports to the 
                President:

(i) Report on America's Great Outdoors. By November 15, 2010, the 
Initiative shall submit a report that includes the following:

  (A) a review of successful and promising nonfederal conservation 
approaches;

  (B) an analysis of existing Federal resources and programs that could be 
used to complement those approaches;

  (C) proposed strategies and activities to achieve the goals of the 
Initiative; and

  (D) an action plan to meet the goals of the Initiative.

The report should reflect the constraints in resources available in, and be 
consistent with, the Federal budget. It should recommend efficient

[[Page 20769]]

and effective use of existing resources, as well as opportunities to 
leverage nonfederal public and private resources and nontraditional 
conservation programs.

(ii) Annual reports. By September 30, 2011, and September 30, 2012, the 
Initiative shall submit reports on its progress in implementing the action 
plan developed pursuant to subsection (c)(i)(D) of this section.

                Sec. 3. General Provisions. 

                    (a) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent 
                with applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                any necessary appropriations.
                    (b) This memorandum does not create any right or 
                benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law 
                or in equity by any party against the United States, 
                its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, 
                employees, or agents, or any other person.
                    (c) The heads of executive departments and agencies 
                shall assist and provide information to the Initiative, 
                consistent with applicable law, as may be necessary to 
                carry out the functions of the Initiative. Each 
                executive department and agency shall bear its own 
                expenses of participating in the Initiative.
                    (d) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed 
                to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the 
                Director of the OMB relating to budgetary, 
                administrative, or legislative proposals.
                    (e) The Chair of the CEQ is authorized and directed 
                to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, April 16, 2010

[FR Doc. 2010-9286
Filed 4-19-10; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3125-W0-P