The Industry Is Changing. America Outdoors Is Built for This Moment.
If you run an outfit, the last twelve months have put a lot on your plate: EXPLORE Act implementation rolling out unevenly across agencies, a Forest Service simultaneously restructuring and losing staffing at a scale not seen in decades, fee elections that will shape your operating economics for years, and whatever is happening to your insurance premiums. America Outdoors is the national organization working on these issues every day—and this year, we have a direct answer to that last one. This isn’t a pitch. It’s context on what AO actually does and why it matters to your operation.
AO is the only national trade association dedicated exclusively to professional outfitters and guides operating on public lands. Since 1982, the work has been the same: stay ahead of the regulatory, legislative, and agency-level decisions that determine whether your operation can grow, survive a hard year, or get a fair shake when something goes wrong. Most of that work is unglamorous—monitoring rulemaking, building relationships with agency leadership, submitting comments, and showing up in congressional offices before a problem becomes a crisis. The wins are what make it worth tracking.
Forty Years of Wins: The Foundation This Work Stands On
The recent wins didn’t happen in a vacuum. AO has been at this since 1982, and a lot of what outfitters take for granted today was hard-fought.
In the late 1990s, AO secured the preferential right of renewal and 10-year contract terms for NPS operators, replacing a system where an agency could renegotiate or reassign a permit without real accountability to the operator’s track record.
In the early 2000s, AO worked for the passage of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which established the core permitting authority framework still in place at the USFS, BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish & Wildlife; and blocked a proposal that would have required permits to be awarded by random draw rather than to experienced, qualified operators. AO expanded NEPA categorical exclusions for permit renewals over more than a decade, keeping cost-recovery burdens from compounding every time a land management plan was updated.
In 2010, AO defeated a push to require CDLs for all 9–15 passenger van drivers; the same fight that produced the 150-air-mile short-haul FMCSA exemption secured in 2021. When the pandemic hit, AO drove changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that let seasonal operations recalculate loans using peak payroll periods, producing larger and forgivable relief for outfitters who would otherwise have fallen through the standard formula.
That’s the track record the recent wins are built on.
What AO Has Delivered for the Industry Recently
The past two years produced the most significant policy wins for outfitters in a generation.
- The EXPLORE Act Is Law
- Liability Waivers in National Parks: A 40-Year Ban Reversed
- Federal Wage Mandates: Blocked on Public Lands
- CDL Requirements: Blocked for Outfitter Vans
- New for 2026-2027: AO’s Endorsed Insurance Program
What We Are Working On Now
- Guide Labor Classification
- EXPLORE Act Implementation
- Public Lands Access and the Long Game
- Permit Casework, Access Crises, and State Issues
What Membership Includes
Beyond advocacy, membership gives you access to resources designed for the real work of running an outfitting business:
- Risk Management Resources
- Insurance Advocacy and Underwriting Access
- Payroll and HR Support
- Conference and Events
- Industry Intelligence and Data
- Community
Join Today
The new outfitter membership cycle begins July 1. Joining now gives you access to all member resources immediately, including the endorsed insurance program, full participation in the advocacy work above, and a seat at the table as AO enters its most active advocacy period of the year.
If you have questions about what membership includes, about the CBIZ Adventure Sports insurance program, or want to talk through whether AO is the right fit for your operation, I’m available. Reply to this email, or call 865-558-3595 directly.
With appreciation,
Aaron Lieberman | Executive Director
