Tagged: land use and conservation

Yosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness ActThis bill modifies the Raker Act, which allowed San Francisco to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley within Yosemite National Park, to (1) increase the annual rent San Francisco pays to the National Park Service (NPS), and (2) direct the NPS to expand public access to the reservoir and lake created by the dam.Specifically, the bill increases rent paid by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for the use of the park from $30,000 to $2 million per year. That amount must be adjusted annually to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The commission may not recoup such sums from wholesale water or power customers. The bill allows collected rent to be used by the Department of the Interior for wildfire mitigation activities in the park and other national parks in California.The bill also requires the NPS to administer the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for public recreation, benefit, and use in a manner that will preserve scenic, historic, scientific, or otherwise important features.

Proven Forest Management Act of 2025This bill sets forth provisions to expedite the approval and implementation of forest management activities and establishes related requirements.First, the bill categorically excludes a forest management activity conducted on National Forest System land for reducing forest fuels from certain environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 if the activity (1) does not exceed 10,000 acres (including not more than 3,000 acres of mechanical thinning), (2) is developed in a collaborative manner, and (3) is consistent with the forest plan developed for the relevant National Forest System land. Next, the bill directs the Forest Service to conduct forest management activities in a manner that attains multiple ecosystem benefits unless the costs associated with attaining such benefits are excessive.Additionally, the Forest Service must (1) establish any post-program ground condition criteria for a ground disturbance caused by a forest management activity required by the applicable forest plan, and (2) provide for monitoring to ascertain the attainment of relevant post-program conditions.The bill also allows the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior, as appropriate, to enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with certain entities to provide for fuel reduction, erosion control, reforestation, and similar activities on federal and nonfederal lands within land adjustment programs.Finally, the bill directs the Forest Service, when conducting a forest management activity on National Forest System land, to coordinate with impacted parties to increase efficiency and maximize the compatibility of management practices across such land.

Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act or the MAPWaters Act of 2025 or the MAPWaters Act of 2025This bill directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to standardize and publish data relating to public's access to federal waterways for recreational use.Specifically, the Forest Service and Interior must jointly develop and adopt interagency standards for data collection and dissemination of geospatial data relating to public outdoor recreational access of federal waterways and federal fishing restrictions. The standards must ensure compatibility and interoperability among applicable federal databases with respect to collection and dissemination of such data.Within five years, the Forest Service and Interior must also digitize and make publicly available online certain geographic information system data about (1) federal waterway restrictions, (2) federal waterway access and navigation information, and (3) federal fishing restrictions. They must also update the data about waterway restrictions, waterway access, and navigation information at least twice per year. Data about fishing restrictions must be updated in real time as changes go into effect. Finally, the Forest Service and Interior must develop a process to allow members of the public to submit questions or comments regarding the data regarding waterway restrictions, waterway access, and navigation information.

Strategic Production Response and Implementation ActThis bill modifies the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to prohibit the Department of Energy (DOE) from drawing down petroleum products in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until DOE develops and implements a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production. The increase must be equal to the percentage of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that is to be drawn down. However, the bill does not apply to a drawdown of petroleum products in the case of a severe energy supply interruption, which is permitted under current law. The plan must not provide for a total increase in the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production in excess of 10%.