S-904-117
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 284.
Sponsored by James Risch (R-ID)
What it does
This bill would require the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to jointly create shared data standards so their outdoor recreation databases work together. Each agency would be required to digitize and post on their websites geographic information system (GIS) maps showing federal interests in private land (such as easements and rights-of-way), road and trail open/closed status and seasonal dates, vehicle type restrictions, and boundaries of areas where hunting or recreational shooting is regulated or prohibited.
Who benefits
Outdoor recreationists (hikers, hunters, anglers, off-road vehicle users, campers) who would gain easier, centralized access to accurate public land information. Rural communities and tourism-dependent businesses near public lands that may see increased visitor traffic. Hunters and recreational shooters who would have clearer information about where those activities are permitted. Disability advocates and accessibility-focused users who benefit from standardized digital data. Researchers, app developers, and mapping companies that use federal GIS data.
Who is hurt
Federal agencies (Interior, Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers) that would bear the administrative and financial costs of digitizing records, standardizing databases, and maintaining updated public-facing GIS systems. Landowners with federal easements or rights-of-way on their property, whose land interests would be publicly mapped, potentially affecting privacy or land-use negotiations. State and local governments that have built their own recreation data systems may face pressure to align with new federal standards.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that millions of Americans visit federal public lands each year but are hampered by outdated, fragmented, and inconsistent information spread across multiple agency websites. A unified, digitized GIS system would give recreationists reliable, real-time data on trail access, road conditions, vehicle restrictions, and hunting boundaries — reducing dangerous situations caused by outdated maps and improving the overall public land experience. Supporters also contend that better access information would boost rural economies by directing more visitors to public lands, and that digitizing federal land interests in private property would bring long-overdue transparency to a patchwork of easements and rights-of-way that currently exist only in paper records. The bill imposes no new land-use restrictions and simply makes existing public information more accessible.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that mandating interagency database compatibility and full GIS digitization across three large federal agencies would be a costly and complex undertaking, with implementation timelines and price tags that are difficult to predict and potentially significant. Critics contend that publicly mapping all federal easements, reservations, and rights-of-way on private land could expose sensitive landowner information, invite trespass disputes, and create friction with private landowners whose cooperation is often essential for maintaining recreational access. Some argue that the bill's broad mandate for "interoperability" and "compatibility" gives agencies wide discretion to define standards with little congressional oversight, and that the resulting systems may be inconsistently implemented across regions. Others question whether the federal government, rather than states or local land managers with on-the-ground knowledge, is best positioned to maintain accurate, up-to-date trail and road status data.