Federal Recreational Fishing Data Moves Into 21st Century Due to New Legislation

In the same week that Congress rolled out landmark bipartisan legislation to make historic investments in our public lands and waters, another key bipartisan recreation access measure was introduced. Led by Senators Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Angus King (I-ME) and Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Russ Fulcher (R-ID), the Modernizing Access to Our Public Land (MAPLand) Act makes a pivotal step forward in improving overall recreational experiences through investments in modern technology.

The MAPLand Act would require the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to consolidated and digitize recreation access information and make those resources available to the public. Currently, much of this information that provides necessary information to access national forests, national parks, or USACE-managed lands and waters are stored at the local level in paper files, making it difficult for these agencies and the American public to identify public access opportunities.

NMMA applauded this commonsense legislation that makes it easier for boaters, anglers, and all that partake in outdoor recreation to find public access points, and provides the agencies with an important toolset to identify public lands in need of accessible entry points to improve existing access.

This flurry of recreation-focused legislation that enjoys broad support from both sides of the aisle demonstrates recognition throughout Congress that as rising demand for outdoor recreation continues to spiral upward, with the nation’s economic vitality is increasingly tied to outdoor recreation.

For more information, please contact NMMA director of federal government relations, Callie Hoyt at choyt@nmma.org.