Nonpartisan Environmental Conference Equips GCA Members to Advocate

Clean Air, Clean Water, and Healthy Lands

March 18, 2026

By: Lydia Chambers

For over four decades, GCA club members have gathered in Washington, D.C. for the National Affairs and Legislation Conference. Nearly 300 delegates from 199 clubs in 40 states come together to learn, collaborate, and advocate for the GCA’s legislative priorities that are grounded in nine position papers. After two days of briefings from scientists, policy experts, nonprofit leaders, and government officials, delegates are well prepared to fan out across Capitol Hill on the final day.

This year, GCA priorities center on defending America’s flagship system of natural resource management—its national parks, public lands, and first‑in‑kind environmental laws. Delegates will ask their senators and representatives to protect the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act from regulatory rollbacks. They also will urge reauthorization of the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, which has helped address the National Park Service maintenance backlog and permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Keynote speaker Dr. Jon Foley of Project Drawdown highlighted the importance of science‑based climate solutions and local action, while Hon. Shannon Estenoz of the Everglades Foundation emphasized that durable environmental progress is always bipartisan. Briefings on saving the Okefenokee Swamp and restoring the Ohio River Basin reinforced the power of broad coalitions at every level of government.

Today, the GCA’s 300 NAL delegates are fanning out across Capitol Hill to ask lawmakers to stand up for clean water, clean air, and healthy lands—and will return home ready to apply what they learned in their own states and communities.