Huffman: ‘Madman in the White House’ threatens outdoor law

A hearing Wednesday took up implementation of the EXPLORE Act, a sweeping public lands package enacted last year.

January 22, 2026

A House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing intended to showcase the first-year of a bipartisan public lands law instead became a forum for Democrats to hammer their conservative colleagues over the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the federal workforce.

The Subcommittee on Federal Lands met Wednesday to celebrate one year of the EXPLORE Act — the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act — which boosted internet connectivity on public lands and streamlined permitting across federal agencies.

The law also mandated the creation of 10 new long-distance bike trails and recognized rock climbing as an appropriate use of natural resources in wilderness areas, allowing the use of fixed anchors.

Committee Chair Westerman (R-Ark.) called the law “a reminder of why our public lands policy should always be rooted in the following principles I've promoted throughout my chairmanship of the Natural Resources Committee: Access, conservation, innovation and transparency.”

But ranking Democrat Jared Huffman of California seized on the impacts of the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to staff levels at the agencies that manage those lands.

“The past year of the Trump wrecking ball has taken a terrible toll in the public agencies who are responsible for managing our public lands, upending and undermining the accomplishment of what we did with the Explore Act a year ago,” Huffman said.

He added: “The Republican majority just seems incapable of ever criticizing or reining in or even asking serious questions about the madman in the White House.”

Those concerns were echoed by other Democrats on the subcommittee, who repeatedly pulled focus back to the impacts of fewer federal workers at the Interior and Agriculture departments and their agencies, including rolling out provisions of the EXPLORE law.

“We cannot get the regulations in place. We cannot get the trails built, if you don't have boots on the ground or people at the desk,” said New Mexico Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández.

Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, echoed Huffman’s concerns that Republicans weren’t fighting the White House’s decisions to reduce staffing at agencies. Colorado’s Forest Service workforce has fallen by 32 percent in the past year alone, Neguse said.

“I wish my Republican colleagues, who were very eager to work with us to get the Explore Act across the finish line, would show the same commitment to pushing back against this administration's gutting of our public land management agencies,” he said.

Louis Geltman, vice president of policy and government relations at the Outdoor Alliance, said job cuts are "severely" impacting recreation.

“We're losing staff who are among the most qualified to lead on implementing major initiatives like the EXPLORE act,” he said.

Implementation details

Westerman asked agency officials for updates on how they were complying with the law, such as a mandate to restore overnight camping in the Ouachita National Forest in his home state of Arkansas.

Gordon Blum, associate deputy chief of the Forest Service, told lawmakers his agency has identified a location for camping and it would proceed with a design.

Thomas Heinlein, the Bureau of Land Management’s assistant director for national conservation lands and community partnerships, said the bureau was actively working on guidance regarding fixed anchors for rock climbers. He said BLM was weighing issues like using power drills to place anchors.

Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) said bureaucratic hurdles remain. Lee's constituents have reported at least one instance of being denied permission to replace existing fixed anchors in wilderness areas.

Matt Wade, executive director of the American Mountain Guides Association, said new guidance for fixed anchors needs to be "a straightforward process that can be completed in a timely manner."

Heinlein testified that BLM is working to streamline its permitting for outfitters and other recreational users, noting the National Park Service is launching this year an all-digital pass for annual access to parks and public lands as evidence of Interior complying with the law.

Jessica Turner, president of the advocacy group Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, said agencies need to work together at the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation that was created by the EXPLORE Act to coordinate a common framework for implementation.

She encouraged lawmakers to push agencies toward action and warned that delays in carrying out the law will have tangible costs to the outdoor recreation industry.

Turner also advocated reauthorization of the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. The fund was created by the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020 and opened up $1.9 billion annually for five years to help tackle an enormous deferred maintenance backlog on public lands. The "America the Beautiful Act," S.1547, introduced by Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Angus King (I-Maine), would extend the fund to 2033.


By:  Heather Richards
Source: E&E Daily