Each elected official is given a letter grade based on their voting record, which is visualized on a map in red (F grade), green (A grade) or somewhere in between<\/span> (Photo: More Than Just Parks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHow Did Your Representative Vote?<\/h2>\n
Nine senators, all of whom are Democrats, currently hold an A+ rating for voting in support of public lands 100 percent of the time. In contrast, 54 senators have earned an F rating for voting against public lands most of the time. Every F-rated senator is a Republican.<\/p>\n
The brothers say their tool is nonpartisan and reflects trends in how each party votes on policies that impact public lands protections.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it\u2019s largely Democrats on the one side and largely Republicans on the other, but that\u2019s just the way it is,\u201d Jim Pattiz said. \u201cIt might look like this is a partisan thing, but the facts are facts, and they\u2019re there, and they\u2019re well supported.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tool has also revealed surprising trends across the U.S. The Mountain West, for example, is largely conservative, but it is also a region with extensive public lands, and conservative voters there tend to support their protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Mountain West voters, public lands are one of the top issues, unlike most of the rest of the country,\u201d Will Pattiz said. \u201cThat is one region where this tool is going to be extremely useful. It lets voters see, \u2018Hey, wait a minute, I voted for you because you were carrying a gun and you were walking in the woods, but what the hell is this vote?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Tracking Public Lands Issues<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s hardly the first map or interactive tool designed to document changes in the public lands arena. In March, Outside<\/em> reported on an interactive map tracking all the national park signs slated for removal. The More Than Just Parks website hosts another interactive map of threatened public lands, and other groups, like the League of Conservation Voters, offer broader environmental voting scorecards, but this new tool is the first to specifically look at voting records on public lands.<\/p>\nThe Pattiz brothers told Outside<\/em> they hope that the tool will empower outdoor recreationists to hold politicians accountable at the ballot box.<\/p>\n\u201cI encourage folks to go look in there and see for themselves and see if they find anything that surprises them,\u201d Will Pattiz said. If the tool works as intended, the brothers hope those surprises won\u2019t just spark frustration, but a voting bloc dedicated to keeping the nation\u2019s wild spaces intact for the next generation.<\/p>\n
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