US Senate passes sweeping national outdoor recreation package

The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed one of the largest outdoor recreation packages aimed at supporting public lands and bolstering the nearly $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation industry.

The “Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act,” which passed the House in April, includes more than a dozen individual bills that will enact sweeping policy changes around public lands and recreation, including streamlining permitting processes, funding parks and green spaces, and modernizing technology to enhance visitor experiences.

Among the suite of bills comprising the bipartisan legislation package were several measures championed by Montana’s congressional delegation.

“I’m proud to see my bipartisan bills pass the U.S. Senate and head to the president’s desk to be signed into law,” said Montana’s soon-to-be-senior Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican. “This package includes major wins for Montana’s beautiful public lands, and I’ll always keep fighting for more ways to protect our outdoor way of life.” 

One of the bill’s major policy initiatives is the Gateway Community and Recreation Enhancement Act, which was introduced by Daines in the Senate and cosponsored by Montana’s Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican from the western district, in the House.

The measure focuses on gateway communities near popular recreation areas — like the towns near the West Entrance to Glacier National Park — to address increased visitation to national parks and public lands and housing shortages in nearby communities.

“Montanans know how important our gateway communities are, and supporting the areas around our beautiful national parks and public lands is critical to Montana’s economy,” Daines said in a statement when the bill cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Zinke, who grew up in Whitefish, has been critical of Glacier National Park’s ticketed entry system, which requires visitors to reserve a time to enter the Park’s most popular locations in advance, for impacting local community economies and made a key part of the bill a requirement for the National Park Service to consult with gateway communities before restricting access to parks.

Glacier National Park recently announced the latest changes to its pilot program of managed access, first enacted in 2021, to handle congestion at the increasingly popular park, and is seeking public feedback on its long-range visitor-use management and public transportation plan.

“The bill addresses a lot of the difficulties faced by Flathead County and gateway communities around the U.S. The most important part of the bill is that it requires public land management to consult with locals to address problems of the present and the future,” Flathead County Commissioner Randy Brodehl wrote in a column this spring after testifying in favor of the bill in Congress. “Our parks are not going away and neither are we, so we need to establish rules of engagement into law with the National Park Service.”

The Gateway Communities bill also establishes a pilot program to provide real-time visitation data for public lands in order to promote lesser known, lesser visited sites during times of high congestion; requires public land management agencies to collaborate with local stakeholders to address economic needs, including housing shortages and infrastructure deficiencies, related to increased visitation; and creates a digital America the Beautiful national park and public lands pass to make visitor access easier.

“The bill solves the longtime issue of unrealized potential in capturing real-time data on trail density and encouraging visitation to nearby, less traveled trails,” Zinke said in a statement. “If hikers see a trail is crowded and have the option to hike a different route that is low traffic, that helps alleviate congestion and resource strain and also allows land managers to welcome more members of the public without restricting access to parks.

“It’s a win-win. I am looking forward to this bill being signed into law before peak park season next year.”

Another part of the EXPLORE Act, co-sponsored by Daines and Montana’s Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, was the “Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation Act,” aimed at streamlining the permitting process for public lands.

Among the changes to the recreational permitting process are directives for federal agencies to rely on existing environmental reviews for the issuance of permits, develop or expand existing categorical exclusions (or exemptions), and prohibit needs assessments, with exceptions for wilderness, for issuing special recreation permits. Agencies are also urged to eliminate duplicate processes and decrease costs for permits, which Daines said will benefit Montana outfitters and guides who often operate across multiple land agencies.

To address housing shortages in communities near popular recreation sites, a section of the EXPLORE Act will allow the Department of the Interior to enter into agreements with local governments to “develop, construct, rehabilitate, or manage housing in and adjacent to NPS lands for rent to field employees and members of the public.”

Additional parts of the EXPLORE Act will enhance veteran and youth access to public lands; boost internet infrastructure at recreation sites; increase watercraft inspections for invasive species; simplify commercial film and photography permits on federal lands; protect wilderness rock climbing access; invest in long-distance biking trails; and establish an interagency federal council on recreation comprising the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law before the end of his term.