The Obama Administration has announced a second round of Listening Sessions for the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative.  These listening sessions will be crucial opportunities for the trail users to bring the Trail issues and the nation’s trail systems into the spotlight as a priority for the Obama Administration.

CORBA volunteers will be in attendance, and we hope that a large mountain biking contingent will attend the Los Angeles meeting on Thursday, July 8, 2010, 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

In the event you are unable to participate in person, please submit your comments and stories via the America’s Great Outdoors website at http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/.

Below is the official announcement

NOTICE OF A PUBLIC LISTENING SESSION ON

THE PRESIDENT’S AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS INITIATIVE

Please join senior representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Defense for a public listening session and discussion in Southern California on conservation, recreation, and reconnecting people to the outdoors. The session will be held July 8 from 3:00 pm to 7:00 p.m. at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

This past April, at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors,President Obama launched the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to developa 21st century conservation agenda and to reconnect Americans with ourgreat outdoors.  The President asked his leadership team to engage the fullrange of interested groups, including State and local governments,community-based organizations, recreation and conservation groups, sportingorganizations, youth groups, and others.

This Los Angeles-based listening session, one of several being held around the country, offers an opportunity to hear and describe the challenges and opportunities we face in land and water conservation, in improving recreational opportunities for a large urban population, and in restoring and conserving our vital natural and cultural resources to enable access to a broad array of outdoor recreation.  The July 8th public listening session and discussion is an opportunity for the leaders of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to hear from you and other voices in the region about solutions for building a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and for reconnecting people with the outdoors.

Here are the details:
Listening Session and Discussion Information:

• When:  Thursday – July 8, 2010, 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm
• Where:  Thorne Hall, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA  90041  (See map at http://www.oxy.edu/x6307.xml)
• Who:  Senior national and local leaders from US EPA, CEQ, USDA, DOI and DOD will be present to hear your recommendations and to participate in a conversation with you about America’s Great Outdoors.
• Register: This event is free and open to the public.  For planning purposes, please register by Thursday, July 1st by sending an email to sun.nelly@epa.gov with your name, the name of the organization with which you are affiliated, if any, your telephone number and email address.  We will endeavor to accommodate everyone.

In the event you are unable to participate in person, please submit your comments and stories via the America’s Great Outdoors website at http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/.

If you have questions, please call Nelly Sun at (415) 947-4237.  We look forward to your participation – please join us!