OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Modernizing Access to Our Public Land Act

Floor Speech

Date: March 15, 2022
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I also rise in support, along with Chairman Grijalva, and I thank him for his support of H.R. 3113, the MAPLand Act, offered by the ranking member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Mr. Blake Moore of Utah.

This bill directs the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers to jointly develop and adopt interagency standards for the collection and dissemination of outdoor recreation data on Federal lands.

Our Nation's outdoorsmen and -women are increasingly reliant on digital mapping and GPS technologies to hunt, fish, and enjoy other recreation activities on our Nation's complicated patchwork of Federal lands. Unfortunately, inconsistent and incomplete digital mapping data frequently prevents the public and Federal land management agencies from maximizing the full benefits of these technologies.

Mr. Moore's bill requires our Federal land management agencies to digitize records of easements and rights-of-way across private lands so the public will have a better understanding of Federal land access points and ensure that Americans recreating stay safe and avoid trespassing.

Outdoor recreation is vital to our Nation's economy, and the way we expand outdoor recreation is to expand access.

Madam Speaker, I commend Mr. Moore for his hard work on this important legislation to modernize our Federal land management records, and I urge adoption of the measure.

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore).

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I encourage adoption of this commonsense bill. It will be very beneficial to provide better access to our outdoor recreation areas, and I think it would also be a great benefit to Americans.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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