Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Joe Manchin
“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.