Sen. Barrasso and Sen. King Introduce MAPWaters Act to Create Digital Maps for Boaters and Anglers
The MAPWaters Act of 2025 is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently introduced in the Senate and sent to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time.
This bill has support from both parties and follows the success of a similar law for public lands. It helps outdoor enthusiasts without costing a huge amount of money.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Federal employees at the five covered agencies (Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service) will need to carry out the substantial work of digitizing waterway data, building new databases, and maintaining updates. This creates new workload responsibilities, though it also modernizes their data systems.
“the Bureau of Reclamation; (B) the National Park Service; (C) the Bureau of Land Management; (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and (E) the Forest Service.”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S5001)
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
The MAPWaters Act will require federal agencies to digitize and publish water and fishing access points, along with recreational use information, for every waterbody managed by federal agencies. This aims to clarify access points and regulations that are currently difficult to find.
The House passed H.R. 187, the MAPWaters Act, in a 414-0 vote. The bipartisan bill requires agencies to digitize and publicize maps showing where federal waterways are accessible for recreation and fishing, ensuring users have up-to-date information on rules and restrictions.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
MAPWaters Act of 2025
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