America’s Great Outdoors MT Reaction? They Really Listened
Friday, February 18, 2011
HELENA, Mont. - The America's Great Outdoors initiative, unveiled after months of public listening sessions around the country, is getting good reviews from at least one Montanan who says it's obvious that officials really did listen to what locals had to say.
The sessions were held to learn what the public wants to see for recreation and conservation in their communities.
Denny Iverson, a rancher and chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge's forestry committee, testified when the tour came to Montana. This week, Iverson was on hand in Washington for the unveiling of the initiative by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in Washington, and says he found the things he and others said at the Montana session are right there in the plan: letting locals design and lead, flexibility in programs, and encouraging agencies to work together for the benefit of communities.
"I gotta tell ya, I was pretty skeptical about this America's Great Outdoors - all the hoopla with the listening sessions and everything - but I think they got it."
Full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund is also proposed. It's a pot of money used for local parks and preservation of landscape views and water quality. Small-business owner Bill Berg in Gardiner says the economic connections to those issues were recognized.
"I think that investments in these places through programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund is a win-win-win-win. It inspires new small businesses, creates jobs and shores up our economy."
The initiative contains several action items, such as establishing a Conservation Service Corps so youth can get hands-on experience working outdoors, and setting up a national recreational "blueways" trail system to protect public recreation access to rivers.
Details of the initiative are online at americasgreatoutdoors.gov.
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