Resources For Your Outreach Efforts

Share Your Story!

NWSA is collecting your stories about how recent actions related to federal funding and the federal workforce affect your work, your communities, and your impact on public lands. We will share this information with lawmakers and agency leadership in Washington, D.C. as part of our ongoing effort to ensure America's public lands are well cared for and stewarded today and for future generations. 

Download the current report

Access the Survey

 

Find / Contact Elected Officials

U.S. Senators

U.S. Representatives

 

Federal Land Management Agency Leaders

Department of the Interior

Secretary of the Interior: Doug Burgum

Bureau of Land Management Leadership

National Park Service Director: Jessica Bowron (acting)

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director: Brian Nesvik

 

Department of Agriculture

Secretary of Agriculture: Brooke Rollins

Chief of the U.S. Forest Service: Tom Schultz

Deputy Chief of the U.S. Forest Service: Chris French 

 

Federal Actions Affecting Our Community

Track Presidential Actions

Executive Orders Affecting Charitable Nonprofits

The Impacts of the Recent Executive Orders on Nonprofits

Forest Service Reorganization: In July, USDA Secretary Brook Rollins released SM 1078-015 announcing the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Plan. The plan seeks to significantly reduce USDA staffing in Washington, D.C. by relocating agency staff to hub locations in:

  • Raleigh, North Carolina
  • Kansas City, Missouri
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Fort Collins, Colorado
  • Salt Lake City, Utah

The memorandum also phases out the Forest Service's nine regional offices over the next year, consolidates grants and financial assistance administration away from some USDA offices, and moves legislative affairs functions to the Office of Congressional Relations. Watch the video announcement.

A comment period on the reorganization is open until August 26, 2025. You can send comments to [email protected].

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking: This Executive Order, issued on August 7, 2025, requires all agencies to designate a senior political appointee to be responsible for reviewing grants, at both the announcement and award stages, to ensure they are “consistent with agency priorities and the national interest” and adds more layers to already complex grants and agreements processes. This could make it more difficult for partner organizations to secure funding agreements with federal agencies. 

Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Proposal: The President's budget proposal for FY26 seeks significant cuts to public land conservation and management funding at both the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service including a $1.2 billion cut to the National Park Service and a diversion of $387 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Congress will be making final decisions on the FY 2026 budget appropriations over the next month. 

Recission of the Roadless Rule: In June, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the department's intention to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. This could impact nearly 59 million acres of inventoried roadless areas on National Forests that are currently protected from road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvesting. Recission will require a full rulemaking process and this is an important time to weigh in. 

EO 14313 - Establishing the President's Make American Beautiful Again Commission: This Executive Order establishes a commission, chaired by the Secretary of the Interior, to prioritize responsible conservation, restore U.S. lands and waters, and protect the Nation’s outdoor heritage for the enjoyment of the American people. Read the full text for a more comprehensive description of the order.

SO 3434 - Strengthening Coordination with Gateway Communities: This Secretarial Order seeks to enhance coordination and strengthen partnerships with public land gateway communities that play a vital role in visitor management, conservation outcomes, and economic vitality.

SO 3435 - Implementation of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act: This Secretarial Order establishes the Department of the Interior’s framework for fully implementing and maximizing the impact of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act (EXPLORE Act). 

Supreme Court allows federal reductions in force (RIFs) order to proceed: On July 8th, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed RIFs to proceed after lifting a lower court injunction that had halted an executive order for agencies to develop and implement RIF plans. This decision will further mass firings across land management agencies. Some agencies had already lost up to 25% of their workforce before this decision.   

 

April 2025 Webinar: Stewardship & Advocacy

 

Useful Reports

 

Webmap: Forest Service "emergency areas" overlain with protected areas

The Secretary of Agriculture released Memo 1078-006 on April 3, 2025 outlining the USDA's directive to comply with Executive Order (EO) 14225, Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, that highlights the importance of timber production, forest management, and wildfire risk reduction projects. The Forest Service has designated 112,646,000 acres, or 59% of NFS lands, as an "emergency area" under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, prioritizing them for harvest, treatment, and restoration. The "emergency area" overlaps with 11.4 million acres of designated wilderness, 27 million acres of inventoried roadless areas, 529,000 acres of wilderness study areas, and many more thousands of acres of research natural areas, wild and scenic rivers, and critical habitat. This map, created by Curt Bradley of the Center for Biological Diversity, shows the "emergency area" overlain with USFS protected lands to provide insight into where activities, some which may degrade wilderness character, could be occurring.
 

 

  

 

State of the Rockies: 2025 Conservation in the West Poll Results

Colorado College’s 15th annual State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West Poll shows Western voters continue to support strong conservation and protection policies as a new presidential administration takes power, promising rollbacks, budget cuts, and expanded energy development. The poll surveyed the views of voters in eight Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming).
 

 

  

 

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Outdoor Recreation

The value added of the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.3 percent ($639.5 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) for the nation in 2023. You can view the full suite of economic data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) at the link above.
 

 

 

 

Outdoor Recreation Roundtable 2023 State Recreation Economy Rankings

The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable is the leading business coalition advancing a sustainable and growing outdoor recreation economy for the benefit of all Americans.
 

 

 

 

Winning the West: Election 2024

This new report from the Center for Western Priorities shows that public lands and natural resources proved to be issues that gave candidates an edge in 2024.
 

 

 

 

Mobilizing Support for Nonprofit Federal Funding

This report by The Nonprofit Alliance outlines the state of public support for federal funding of nonprofit organizations and could be another resource in your advocacy efforts.