RVBusiness, September/October 2017

BY RICK KESSLER PHOTOS BY CABLE RISDON Were not going to sell public land Were not going to transfer public land But we are going to use public land in the benefit of all Americans said U S Interior Sec Ryan Zinke Im an advocate of making sure public land is protected and used and thats a lot of infrastructure S E P T E M B E R O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 RVBusiness 85 F orging public private partnerships is the key to accelerating the modernization of Americas outdated Eisenhower era national parks with the end result being a better parks experience all Americans could enjoy for the next 100 years U S Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said repeatedly during a day long event July 18 in Washington D C as part of the Trump Administrations Made in America week The day began with Zinke meeting with members of the newly forged Outdoor Recreation Industry Roundtable ORIR Following that he toured U S made RVs boats ATVs snowmobiles and off road vehicles staged outside the Department of Interior headquarters The day culminated with an hour long excursion with Zinke hosting RVBusiness and a handful of other media in a 2018 Newmar Canyon Star 3923 motorhome that traveled from the U S Department of Interior headquarters to nearby Theodore Roosevelt Island a memorial park in the Potomac River A former U S Navy Seal and freshmen congressman from Montana Zinke touched on a variety of subjects during the excursion including his belief that bureaucratic positions will be shifted from Washington to out into the field But his primary message throughout the day was focused on leveraging public private partnerships in order to improve visitor experiences on public lands and waters while also helping to reduce the departments maintenance backlog Toward that end Zinke announced his intention to create a new advisory committee that will focus on expanding public private partnerships on Americas public lands In this room in your experience from the industry side you may know that the government sometimes isnt the cutting edge of innovation But you are On the government side what we have to do is public private partnerships to leverage that innovation Zinke told the dozen or so ORIR members including Recreation Vehicle Industry Association RVIA President Frank Hugelmeyer and Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association RVDA President Phil Ingrassia Also in attendance were several members of Congress Sen Todd Young Rep Jackie Walorski and Rep Jim Banks all Republicans from Indiana as well as members of Zinkes senior staff including Mike Reynolds acting director of the National Park Service NPS Greg Sheehan acting director of the U S Fish Wildlife Service and John Ruhs acting deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management BLM This was one of the best meetings that Ive attended with government agencies in 20 years that Ive been with RVDA and in the industry Ingrassia told RVBusiness afterward They government officials just had a great attitude in listening to what industry has to say about some of the barriers that we face not only with access but with getting infrastructure to support RV travelers where it needs to be Were going to be hearing a lot more about this Ingrassia continued And were going to need the industry to help the associations to put the shoulder to the wheel to advance these programs because public lands campgrounds are a key part of the overall RV environment so theyve got to be brought up as the secretary said to a five star level A record number of Americans are buying RVs nearly all of whom plan to use the RVs to go camping added Hugelmeyer What outdoor recreation leaders presented to Secretary Zinke today are specific ways the National Park Service can take a commonsense multi agency approach to modernize our recreation infrastructure and better serve the diverse and rapidly growing pool of visitors Barely a week later Zinke announced more than 50 million for maintenance and infrastructure work for 42 national parks in 29 states The Interior Department said in a release that Congress has provided 20 million and 33 million will come from outside organizations The funding will help improve trails restore buildings and increase visitor access to the parks It should be noted that Zinke is no stranger to the RV lifestyle During his 2014 congressional campaign he crisscrossed Montana while putting 18000 miles on a 2004 Newmar Kountry Star He told RVBusiness the campaign meant 18 hour days but he would also try to park U S Interior Sec Ryan Zinke hosted federal legislators members of his senior staff and representatives from the Outdoor Recreation Industries Roundtable for a Recreation Leadership Meeting RVDA President Phil Ingrassia with Edward Kim of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association left and Julie Broadway representing the American Horse Council at the Recreation Leadership Meeting