WASHINGTON, D.C. — The annual appropriations process is underway in Congress, and officials with the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) point out that specific language supporting backcountry airstrips was included in the Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee report at the request of Montana’s U.S. Senator Steve Daines.
“Increasing accessibility to public lands and providing another recourse in case of emergencies is great news for Montana pilots and passengers,” Daines said. “Montana ingenuity is providing a roadmap for planes to get to previously inaccessible resources.”
Daines crafted language specific to Montana, but it was broadened to cover federal lands. The official Transportation and Housing and Urban Development budget report was approved by unanimous consent.
On page 30, it reads:
Landing Strips — The committee finds that backcountry landing strips on federal lands are important assets to the national aviation infrastructure. The committee recommends the FAA assist federal land managers, including but not limited to the Bureau of Land Management, United States Forest Service, and National Park Service, in charting airstrips located on federal lands that are and may be useful for administrative, recreational, and emergency purposes.
“This demonstrates that the RAF mission is worthy of federal endorsement,” RAF President John McKenna said. “We understand that committee action can initiate agency action, getting closer to boots on the ground.”
McKenna credits the efforts of the RAF and its aviation partners for emphasizing the importance of recreational access to federal lands to policymakers.
“Thanks to Montana’s Senator Daines for creating a template that we’d like to see carried across the country,” he said.
Now the task is to educate local land managers who, based on past actions in Washington State (anyhow), are not exactly interested in maintaining or improving access via aircraft. This is true regardless of wheeled, floats, or skis. And it appears to be true for all of the major land management agencies (BLM, USFS, NPS, USFWS, NMFS, DOE, DOD). Major recreational user groups like the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, Methow Conservancy, etc. are likely to push back very hard to expanding use as they have a long history of opposing even existing ‘motorized’ uses of all varieties on Federally owned public lands.
So refreshing to find someone who knows their mission, articulates it well and then goes to it.
Kudos RAF