Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, John Barrasso (R-WY), Ranking Member of the Committee, Angus King (I-ME) and James Risch (R-ID) to enhance access to our nation’s outdoor recreational opportunities. The bipartisan Modernizing Access to our Public Land (MAPLand) Act now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“As Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a lifelong outdoorsman, I’ve long championed initiatives to increase access to our country’s stunning public lands and natural resources. I am therefore incredibly proud to see the Senate pass our common sense, bipartisan legislation that further pursues this mission. By providing our federal land management agencies with the resources to collect and digitize public land mapping records, we will improve public knowledge of outdoor recreation opportunities with up-to-date information and help our sportsmen and women better navigate the wild and wonderful outdoor playground we’ve been blessed with,” said Chairman Manchin.

Every year, hunters, anglers, and outdoorsmen miss out on opportunities to recreate on public lands because the only maps showing access points are stored as printed copies in local field offices. The MAPLand Act will digitize and standardize mapping records, like access points and permissible uses on federal public lands, to boost outdoor recreation and improve hunting and fishing access for sportsmen and women.

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