The Outdoor Resources Review Group, a bipartisan panel made up of elected officials and conservationists, says the federal government should increase its spending directed at outdoor recreation and conservation to $3.2 billion a year—up from $255 million.

 “In the near term, funding at this level is admittedly a difficult request,” the group said in a report released Monday. “Without additional funding, however, there is little chance” for full protection of the nation’s waters.

The panel also requested a national system of “blueways” to be built for increased water activities.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico serve as co-chairs of the group.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the report “deserves the utmost consideration” after he was presented the report at a Capitol news conference.

The 17-member Outdoor Resources Review Group was organized by Henry Diamond, an environmental lawyer and former commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation; Patrick Noonan, chairman emeritus of The Conservation Fund; and Gilbert Grosvenor, chairman of the board of the National Geographic Society.