Sponsors (18)
The bill prioritizes keeping publicly accessible federal lands intact and maintaining public access and environmental stewardship, at the cost of reduced flexibility to transfer parcels for local economic uses, higher federal management responsibilities, and some remaining legal ambiguities that could increase disputes and administrative burdens.
Rural and local communities retain recreational access and open space because the bill keeps publicly accessible federal parcels and adjacent public parcels in federal ownership, preserving public uses and preventing loss of access.
State and local governments and nearby residents keep continuous access routes (roads, trails, waterways, easements) because the bill limits parcelization and bans subdividing federal land to defeat transfer thresholds, reducing the risk that transfers will sever corridors of access.
Federal land managers and the public get clearer, more uniform criteria for which federal tracts are covered under the Act, reducing ambiguity for implementation and giving users more predictable expectations about which tracts are treated as publicly accessible.
Local governments, tribes, and private parties face reduced ability to acquire certain federal parcels for development, housing, or local projects because the bill restricts transfers and keeps more land in federal control.
Taxpayers and federal agencies may incur higher costs because parcels remain under agency control rather than being transferred to entities that would assume maintenance and management responsibilities.
Residents who currently rely on de facto access across federal tracts may lose protections or practical access because lands lacking a formal public easement or right‑of‑way can be excluded from coverage under the Act.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Stops Interior and Agriculture from transferring title of federally managed lands that are publicly accessible or adjacent to publicly accessible/state/local land, with narrow statutory and small‑parcel exceptions.
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Ryan Zinke · Last progress January 23, 2025
Prohibits the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture from transferring title of federal land to non‑federal entities when the land is publicly accessible or lies next to publicly accessible federal land or state/local public land. It defines what counts as a "publicly accessible tract," sets small‑parcel and statutory exceptions, bars agencies from subdividing holdings to evade size limits, and clarifies it does not change legal questions about crossing between adjacent public‑land corners.