The Outdoor Industry Association has launched its first-ever congressional scorecard to rate federal lawmakers on their support for outdoor recreation industry policy positions.

The new scorecard is part of OIA's larger "Vote the Outdoors" campaign, which is aimed at educating elected officials, candidates and voters about the benefits of the outdoor recreation economy, according to the association. Members of Congress are assigned a grade based on criteria such as:

Votes for protecting national parks, public lands and outdoor resources such as waterways
Support and sponsorship of legislation that advances the interests of the outdoor recreation industry
Membership in the House Outdoor Recreation Caucus or the Senate Outdoor Recreation Caucus

Since the election of President Donald Trump, OIA and its members have loudly criticized administration efforts to open more public lands to natural resource extraction. One flashpoint has been Trump's decision to roll back protections for Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, both in Utah.

"Americans have witnessed a rollback of protections for public lands, where the vast majority of outdoor recreation takes place," OIA Executive Director Amy Roberts said. "This has resulted in a jump in the number of Americans identifying themselves as conservationists and expressing a desire to become better educated on the positive role recreation plays in their local economies and the well-being of families and communities."

The scorecard can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2uYmK9f

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