Sponsors (2)
The bill expands free access to federal recreational lands for military members, their dependents, and first responders—improving access and morale—at the modest expense of taxpayers and with some added verification burden for government agencies.
Members of the Armed Forces, their dependents, law enforcement officers, and firefighters will receive free annual National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes, increasing affordable access to public lands and supporting morale among these groups.
Federal clarification of the terms “firefighter” and “law enforcement officer” standardizes eligibility rules and reduces administrative uncertainty for pass issuance across federal, state, local, and tribal employers.
All taxpayers may indirectly bear the cost of providing free passes to the expanded groups, which could modestly reduce revenues from pass sales that support park maintenance.
Expanding free passes to dependents and broad categories of public employees may increase administrative workload for federal, state, and local agencies that must verify eligibility.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands free annual National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes so the Secretary must provide them at no cost to law enforcement officers and firefighters in addition to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents. The change also adds definitions for “firefighter” and “law enforcement officer,” covering employees of the Federal Government, States, local governments, and Indian Tribes who perform fire suppression work or are authorized to enforce or investigate criminal law violations.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Tom McClintock · Last progress July 22, 2025