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K2 1938: The First American Karakoram Expedition

SOAR Act

Advocacy in Action

Guided climbing experiences and instruction, like this at the International Climbers Gathering in Yosemite National Park, could become much more accessible with the passage of the SOAR Act. Lands of the Central Sierra Miwok peoples. AAC member Andrew Burr

5 minute read

Ask Your Lawmakers to Prioritize Equitable Access

Amelia Howe, AAC Advocacy Manager

For the past six months, the news cycle and many of your favorite advocacy organizations have been focused on the Infrastructure package and the Build Back Better Act. While those major packages have been taking up a lot of air time and advocacy efforts, other legislation has taken a backseat. With the Infrastructure bill officially signed into law, and the Build Back Better act awaiting a vote in the Senate, it is important to point our advocacy efforts to other priorities that directly impact the climbing community.

Kathy Karlo throwing a mega heel hook while climbing in the Gunks. Land of the Lenape peoples. AAC member Chris Vultaggio

The Biden-Harris administration, alongside agency leaders like Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, have made it clear that they are prioritizing increased access to public lands for all people in the United States. With data affirming that a diversity gap exists on public land , many agencies are reckoning with the role they play in explicitly or implicitly excluding groups from participating in outdoor activities. This fall, the Department of Interior (DOI) solicited feedback from the public and outdoor recreation organizations to uncover how to better facilitate access to recreation on public lands.

The DOI placed additional emphasis on creating new and streamlined opportunities for underserved communities to recreate on public lands. One contributing problem is that our existing permitting system of red-tape and bureaucracy is negatively impacting people’s ability to get outdoors. Our community can participate in advocating on this priority by activating around the SOAR Act.

SOAR Act

The Simplifying Outdoor Access to Recreation, or the SOAR Act, is having another moment on the Hill. You may remember hearing about this bill over the past several years, as the AAC along with our partners at the Outdoor Alliance and the Coalition for Outdoor Access have been advocating for the passage of the SOAR act for the past six years. At this point in the process, it is critical that your Senators hear from you! Let them know that this bill is a priority for climbers, and they need to get the bill across the finish line once and for all.

There are a lot of ways the SOAR act positively impacts the climbing community and will make it easier for more individuals to access recreation. Many people first become introduced to the outdoors through a facilitated experience. Whether that experience is through an outfitter or guide service, an outdoor education organization, a volunteer-based club or an affinity group, each of these organizations are required to have a permit to take groups of people out onto public lands. There is potential for a system that allocates permits in a timely and efficient manner, but the current system is time-intensive, outdated, and overly complex. Due to the complexity of the permitting process, groups who have a robust understanding of the system or who have held past permits are able to retain their access.

Meanwhile, the complexity of the permitting process has been known to discourage smaller volunteer-led organizations that are creating opportunities to connect members of underserved communities to public lands. The impact of this dated process is significant, and it means that fewer people are able to access outdoor spaces, experience climbing for the first time, or gain the mental and physical health benefits that these places offer. In order to ensure truly equitable opportunities for folks to experience public lands, it is critical that we remove barriers to entry created by bureaucracy and administrative requirements. It is past time for this change, and agency leaders are pushing for it. Now we need to motivate Congress to pass this bill.

SOAR Act will:

  • Increase recreation access by improving the process of issuing permits to guides and outfitters

  • Make more recreation opportunities available by extending the term of temporary permits and creating a program for sharing unused guide days between permit holders

  • Reduce barriers to accessing public lands for school districts, city recreation departments, and university groups

  • Increase permit system transparency by directing the land management agencies to notify the public when new recreation permits are available and ensuring that agencies respond to permit requests in a timely manner

  • Reduce permit fees and costs for small businesses and organizations

  • Help control liability insurance costs for permit holders by allowing them to use liability release forms with clients

  • And more!

Act This bipartisan bill would be a major win for climbers and recreationists. Write your Senators today asking them to co-sponsor this legislation, and to encourage them to bring this bill to the floor for a vote!

Facilitating Outdoor Access: The SOAR Act

During Climb the Hill this year Matt Wade, AMGA’s Advocacy and Policy Director, testified in support of the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation, commonly known as the SOAR Act (S. 1665, HR 3879). Outside Magazine has a great piece that goes into the specifics of this bill. In short, the SOAR Act will benefit the outdoor recreation community by improving and expediting the permitting process for guides and outfitters who utilize public lands for programming. This will ultimately aid in enhancing and diversifying access in the outdoors. We chatted with Matt after his testimony and he shared some beta on what it is like to speak up for outdoor recreation in front of the House Natural Resources subcommittee, and how constituents can help the fight at home.

Interview with matt wade

Q: Why did you want to testify on behalf of the SOAR Act? What drives you to advocate for this bill? 
A: Many people learn to climb with an instructor or guide and problems in the outfitter-guide permitting system are preventing people from having that opportunity. Youth camps are waiting years for a permit request to be approved, guides have to travel abroad to climb with their clients because they can’t get permits at home, and organizations that do have permits have to deal with an enormous amount of unnecessary red tape. There is very real, urgent need for change.

Q: What will the passing of this legislation mean for the climbing/greater outdoor recreation community?
A: If the SOAR Act is passed into law it will significantly improve opportunities for people from all walks of life to take a climbing class, attend a mountaineering camp, or hire a guide to improve their skills. It will also reduce overhead and administration for the agencies, which is much needed as more and more agency staff time is getting diverted to fire suppression. Passage of the bill will be a win-win across the outdoor recreation space. 

Q: How did it feel testifying to the committee?
A: It was great. I really enjoyed talking with the other witnesses and it was an honor to be of service to the Committee staff and members of Congress as they are contemplating this important legislation. I also felt a tangible sense of community support and encouragement from the many Climb the Hill attendees in the audience! Thank you to all of you who came to the hearing to show your support!

Q: Where are we in the process of passing this legislation?
A: With this hearing we achieved a milestone in the legislative process and we can be proud of that, but there is still more work to do. Next, we need to advocate for a similar hearing in the Senate. Then the bill will go through “markup” which is the process of making amendments or changes. Finally, the bill will need to be voted on in both chambers. The process is more a marathon than a sprint but we have left the starting line at a good pace. Let’s keep the momentum going.  

Photo: AAC Member Ron Funderburke

Helping from home

When asked how folks back home can help push the SOAR Act forward, Matt shared some insights that can be used not only for the SOAR Act in isolation, but all legislation that will continue to protect climbing areas and access in perpetuity:

A: Contact your members of Congress and let them know these issues are important to you. If you have a personal story about a difficulty accessing public lands, share it with them. Personal stories from constituents are the single most compelling piece of evidence for legislation. After telling your story, ask them to cosponsor the SOAR Act.

The SOAR Act is widely supported across the aisle and is currently co-sponsored by fourteen members of the House and thirteen members of the Senate. Be sure to write your representatives to make sure they are supporting the SOAR Act.

Will Congress Act to Help People Access the Outdoors?

Washington, DC: Congress is busy with a number of important issues, but our awe-inspiring public lands are still on their minds. Like us, many lawmakers and their staff love to get outside. Throughout the halls of Congress, you’ll find people who climb, ski, fish, kayak and backpack during their time off.

For plenty of climbers, guided trips and facilitated experiences provide important exposure to rugged terrain, vast wilderness areas and even easy-access crags for the first time. No doubt many of you have benefited from these kinds of opportunities through groups like NOLS, Outward Bound and private guides.

However, it’s not easy for these outdoor experience providers to make trips happen on our collectively-owned public lands. They are required to navigate an antiquated and complex federal system to get recreational permits from the Forest Service and Park Service in particular. Although agencies and Congress have made steps to remedy these problems, we’re still dealing with unnecessary red tape.

There’s good news, however: today, Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation Act (SOAR Act) to increase recreational access to America's public lands. This legislation would improve the outfitter and guide permitting systems and positively impact small businesses, non-profit outdoor leadership organizations, university recreation programs, and volunteer-based clubs, including the AAC.

The SOAR Act still has a ways to go to become law, but we’re hopeful that Congress will pass this no-brainer, bipartisan legislation; a win for all of us! When the opportunity strikes, we’ll send out an action alert so that you can easily write your member of Congress and tell them to get on board. Until then, reach out to your policy team for more ways to get involved. #SOARfortheOutdoors


Maria Millard Povec: [email protected]

Taylor Luneau: [email protected]