This is a specialized legislative research report published by the National Diet Library in the "Foreign Legislation" series in August 2025, dealing with legal analysis of the US Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experience Expansion Act enactment.
Legislative Background and Purpose
While federal public lands managed by agencies such as the National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife Service comprise approximately 28% of US territory, urbanization progress and demographic changes have expanded disparities in outdoor recreation access opportunities among diverse citizen backgrounds. Particularly, limited outdoor recreation experience opportunities among low-income groups, minorities, disabled persons, and urban residents were recognized as social problems, making the elimination of these disparities and establishment of environments ensuring equal access to public land outdoor recreation activities for all Americans the primary legislative purpose.
Main Legal Provisions
The Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experience Expansion Act imposes comprehensive access improvement obligations on federal agencies. Specifically, barrier-free facility development for disabled persons, multilingual information system construction, usage fee reduction systems for low-income households, transportation access improvement from urban areas, and culturally diverse program development are stipulated as legal requirements. Additionally, each federal agency is required to report diversity and inclusion indicator achievement status to Congress through annual reports.
Budget Measures and Implementation Structure
This Act is designed as a large-scale public investment program premised on congressional budget approval, with initial-stage budget measures expected at approximately $5 billion scale. Implementation structures including inter-agency coordination mechanisms centered on the National Park Service, strengthened cooperation with state and local governments, and collaborative frameworks with non-profit organizations are legally stipulated.
Harmony with Environmental Protection
Outdoor recreation opportunity expansion simultaneously presents the dilemma of increased environmental burden. Based on sustainable tourism policy principles, this Act comprehensively stipulates environmental protection measures including stricter environmental impact assessments, appropriate visitor number management, ecosystem protection area designation, and environmental education program enhancement. Particularly emphasized are consistency with climate change countermeasures, biodiversity protection, and coordination with environmental policies including water resource management.
Economic Effects and Regional Development
The outdoor recreation industry generates approximately $800 billion in annual economic impact and supports about 5 million jobs in the American economy. Act implementation is expected to bring secondary effects including rural tourism industry vitalization, related industry job creation, and regional economic development through infrastructure improvement. As part of post-COVID economic recovery strategy, the policy significance of simultaneously promoting domestic tourism and addressing regional disparities is emphasized.
Relationship with International Policy Trends
This Act aligns with international policy trends including UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) objectives of "ensuring inclusive, equitable, quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning opportunities" and "sustainable tourism" promotion, drawing international attention as indicating new directions in American environmental and social policy.
The article provides specialized analysis from comparative policy perspectives on how the US Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experience Expansion Act provides insights for other developed countries' park management and inclusive tourism policies, and what characteristics it holds as a new model for central-local government role sharing in federal nations.