EXPLORE Act (Outdoor Recreation on Federal Lands)
Current understanding
The EXPLORE Act (P.L. 118-234) establishes a federal policy to foster outdoor recreation on public lands and directs the Department of the Interior and USDA Forest Service to inventory and assess recreation resources and infrastructure across their holdings. It creates a Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation to coordinate policy across land-management agencies. Effects on rural communities near federal lands include potential expansion of recreation access, permitting reforms, and infrastructure investment; consumer and food-price effects are indirect.
Evidence log
- 2026-08-24 — Travel Management; National Forest System Lands: cross-connection with forest-service-travel-management: Both shape public recreational access on federal lands; the travel management rewrite would broaden motorized/OHV and aviation access that the EXPLORE Act framework supports. (novelty: 3)
- 2017-06-02 — Outdoor Recreation Enhancement Act: cross-connection with usda-recreation-service-contract-labor-exemption: Both address the federal outdoor recreation permittee/outfitter workforce on federal lands; the Outdoor Recreation Enhancement Act would layer FLSA and service-contract labor exemptions onto the recreation activities administered under EXPLORE Act authorities. (novelty: 2)
- 2025-01-04 — EXPLORE Act: cross-connection with communications-use-authorizations-federal-lands: Both concern access and infrastructure authorizations on federal lands managed by the Forest Service and Interior; the EXPLORE Act’s recreation-infrastructure focus intersects with permitting frameworks used for communications facilities. (novelty: 3)