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Monday August 24, 2026 10:30am - 12:00pm CDT
America’s public lands are at an inflection point. Record-breaking visitation, intensifying wildfires and biodiversity loss, along with mounting development pressure, are conflicting with management systems and funding models built for another era. How we proceed is an open question – and a story that couldn’t be more urgent.

This panel brings together leading voices to explore emerging models for public lands management, from cross-agency coordination to governance approaches that reflect today’s realities. It also examines a critical piece of the puzzle: how we pay for it. As the traditional user-pay model tied to hunting and fishing changes, we’ll consider new strategies – and who should help bear the cost.

Together, this conversation considers under-reported angles and growing tensions at the intersection of policy and conservation. Panelists will share insights and ideas that will define the future of our national legacy of public lands and waters.
Speakers
avatar for Neil Kornze

Neil Kornze

Senior Vice President, Cassidy & Associates
Neil Kornze is a Senior Vice President at Cassidy & Associates. For the past two decades, Neil has worked on the nation’s most vital conservation, land, wildlife, and energy issues from Capitol Hill, the Department of the Interior, and the philanthropic world. Most recently, he... Read More →
avatar for Adam Cramer

Adam Cramer

CEO, Outdoor Alliance
Adam Cramer is the founding Executive Director and present CEO of Outdoor Alliance, a national coalition of outdoor recreation advocacy groups that has breathed new life into the conservation movement by harnessing the outdoor community’s passion for place and combining it with... Read More →
avatar for Tracy Stone-Manning

Tracy Stone-Manning

President, The Wilderness Society
Tracy Stone-Manning is a longtime conservationist and public lands advocate who has played a significant role in shaping U.S. land management policies. As President of The Wilderness Society, she leads efforts to unite people to protect America’s wild places. She also serves as... Read More →
avatar for Christopher Wood

Christopher Wood

President & CEO, Trout Unlimited
Before coming to Trout Unlimited in September 2001, Chris Wood served as the senior policy and communications advisor to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service where he helped protect 58 million acres of publicly owned land. Chris began his career as a temporary employee with the Forest... Read More →
Monday August 24, 2026 10:30am - 12:00pm CDT
Hall of Ideas E&H

Attendees (8)


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