The MAPLand act will open up 16.4 million previously inaccessible acres of public land. President Biden signed it into law today.
Thanks to a broad pool of lawmakers, conservationists, and activists, Americans will soon have easier access to far more public land.
The Modernizing Access to Our Public Land (MAPLand) Act will shore up and digitize public land maps for the benefit of all users. In a nutshell, the act gives visitors viable maps of public easements that allow access to public land surrounded by private land.
These maps will further clarify where access does and doesn’t exist for the public, and they will likely point out some easements that were previously unknown. This information will also serve as a guide for future access projects and potential acquisitions that may create more access.
And it’s worth noting that the outdoor mapping brand onX Hunt partnered with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership to initially inspire and endorse this bill. OnX’s effort to highlight landlocked public land is ongoing, and the MAPLand Act looks to digitize and modernize the information surrounding much of these public lands.
What the MAPLand Act Will Do
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- Status information on road and trail closures
- Seasonal closure dates for roads and trails
- The classes of vehicles and types of recreational uses that are allowed on each segment of roads and trails on the Federal land, including the permissibility of
- Off-highway vehicles
- Motorcycles
- Bikes and e-bikes
- Passenger vehicles
- Snow vehicles
- The boundaries of areas where hunting or recreational shooting (including archery, firearm discharge, and target shooting) is regulated or closed.