Sponsors (6)
The bill strengthens federal protection and conservation while preserving tribal subsistence rights and improving public education, at the cost of higher federal management expenses, possible limits on some recreational uses, and administrative updates for governments and agencies.
Indigenous and tribal communities: retain treaty and statutory hunting, fishing, and gathering rights within the Park and Preserve and keep existing Preserve hunting/trapping rules, preserving subsistence and cultural practices and regulatory continuity.
Rural communities and the broader public: redesignates the area as a unified National Park System unit, increasing federal protection, management resources, and long-term conservation of natural and cultural resources.
Students, educators, visitors, and local communities: requires interpretive signage and copies of the Act at visitor centers, improving public education about regional history and Ojibwe tribes.
Taxpayers and federal budgets: redesignation could increase federal management costs, requiring new spending or reallocation of NPS resources that may be paid by taxpayers or reduce funding for other priorities.
Recreational hunters and local recreationists: stronger federal protection and park status may restrict hunting and trapping on lands now within the National Park, changing access and recreational patterns for some users.
Local and state governments and agencies: changing the area's status and regulatory references will require updates to documents and planning materials, creating administrative burden and one-time implementation costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Redesignates Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve, splits it into a Park and a Preserve, preserves tribal rights, and sets administration and boundaries.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Thomas P. TIFFANY · Last progress September 18, 2025
Redesignates the existing national lakeshore on the Apostle Islands as a combined National Park and National Preserve, dividing the area into a Park and a Preserve and establishing the boundaries on an official map dated October 2024. The Secretary of the Interior will administer the Park and Preserve as a single National Park Service unit under applicable law, while preserving tribal treaty and statutory rights and keeping existing fishing, hunting, and trapping rules in place where specified. The measure also requires interpretive signage and a copy of the Act at main visitor centers, places the official boundary map on file for public inspection, and specifies that hunting and trapping are prohibited in the Park except as allowed by tribal authorities while rules in the Preserve remain as they existed immediately before enactment and consistent with existing federal law.