A Public Lands Update + Ways to TAKE ACTION, with Adam Cramer

**Adam Cramer** (0:01)
Politics are always going to be part of it, my goodness, right?
That's how the system works, but I see it as a means to an end, right? And thinking about what we're really trying to do here. Mindful of the fact that its public lands are a kind of foundational part of American identity. It's unusual, relative to other countries, to have this much public lands, this wealth of resources, that everybody's got access to. It's strange. And it's glorious.

**Ed Roberson** (0:38)
This is the Mountain and Prairie Podcast. I'm Ed Roberson.
My guest today is Adam Cramer. This is my second episode with Adam, who's the CEO of The Outdoor Alliance, a coalition of national organizations representing the human-powered outdoor community, mountain biking, backcountry skiing, kayaking, climbing, trail running and more. The Outdoor Alliance works to protect public lands and the places these communities love, getting deeply involved in conservation policy and empowering people to take action on behalf of the landscapes that matter to them. The last year has been a relentless one for public lands, with threats coming from every direction, and Adam and his team have been in the thick of it. Normally my episodes are evergreen, but given everything happening right now, I wanted to bring Adam back to give us an update on the current threats, as well as some genuine bright spots. This is such a moving target with so many moving pieces that it can be really hard to keep up with everything, and most importantly, to know how to stop talking and take action. So I brought Adam in to help us make sense of it all, and to give us some instruction on how we can go on the offense to help keep public lands public. We cover a lot of ground. The public land sell-off that arose out of last summer's reconciliation bill, and the massive, cross-partisan public blowback that killed it. The fight over the roadless rule, the rescinding of the BLM's public lands rule, proposed changes to the travel management and motorized vehicle rules, and the reorganization happening inside land management agencies. But it's not all bad news. Adam walks us through the real reasons for hope, including bipartisan efforts like the Public Lands and Public Hands Act, the EXPLORE Act, and the Legacy Restoration Fund, which is moving through Congress right now and is one of the most important places listeners can weigh in today. We also talk about Adam's pragmatic, calm approach to all of this, why he refuses to be hysterical even when the stakes are high, and what he's learned about strategy and compassion across the table, and how everyday people with jobs and families can stay informed and actually take action without drowning in all the noise. He closes out with some great book recommendations and a reminder to embrace and bask in the joy of place.
Just for some context, we recorded this episode on June 22nd, 2026
I hope you enjoy it and learn as much as I did. Most importantly, I hope you'll take action. But before we start, I want to thank the people and organizations that make Mountain and Prairie possible. The podcast is listener-supported via Patreon, which allows listeners like you to support the show on a monthly or annual basis for as little as $2 a month. To learn more, go to mountainandprairie.com/patreon.
It's also supported by a number of values-aligned organizations on either a quarterly or annual basis. So a huge thanks to the Freeflow Institute, The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, and The Well Done Foundation for their support. I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you more about The Well Done Foundation because they're doing some of the most innovative and impactful work you'll find anywhere. There's a certain kind of work that doesn't get much attention, but it probably should. Across the American West and really all over the country, there are hundreds of thousands of old oil and gas wells. Some were drilled decades ago, even back in the early 1900s. Different time, different standards, and in many cases they were never fully cleaned up. So today they just sit there, out in fields and forests, sometimes on ranch land and even in wildlife refuges. Some leak methane and some pose a risk to water or soil. But mostly, they're just unfinished business. And that's where the Well Done Foundation comes in. They're a small team, a nonprofit and non-government organization, doing very hands-on, practical work, going out and permanently plugging these wells. Not talking about it, not studying it from a distance, but actually fixing the problem. I've been learning more about their work recently, and what struck me is just how grounded it is. This isn't political. It's not about pointing fingers. It's about taking responsibility for the land as it is today and making it better. One example of their work is in Oklahoma's Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge. It's a beautiful, complex landscape of wetlands and river systems, but it also has a long history of oil development. So their crews are out there plugging wells in really challenging environments, sometimes even in the river itself, working alongside the US. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore the habitat. But that's just one place. They've done this work across multiple states, wherever these legacy wells exist. And what I appreciate is the mindset. Just steady, meaningful progress, one well at a time. If this kind of work resonates with you, if you care about the land, restoration and practical solutions, you can learn more at welldonefoundation.org.