MAPWaters Act of 2025

The law directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to jointly develop interagency standards, within 30 months, for collecting and sharing geospatial data on public recreational access to federal waterways and federal fishing restrictions, ensuring the data is compatible across agency databases. Within five years, the agencies must digitize and publish online data covering waterway restrictions (closures, motor and speed limits, permitted watercraft types), waterway access and navigation information (boat ramps, portages, depth charts), and fishing restrictions. Waterway and access data must be updated at least twice yearly; fishing-restriction data must be updated in real time. The law also requires a public comment process on the data, allows agencies to partner with states, tribes, and private companies, and requires annual progress reports to Congress through 2034. It explicitly does not alter the legal definition of "navigable waters," agency jurisdiction over waterways or fisheries, or actual public access to recreation areas.

Recreational boaters, anglers, and other outdoor users of federal waterways; the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Reclamation; state and tribal natural resource agencies; and private geospatial data or technology companies that may partner with agencies to build the data systems.

Once implemented, the public would gain a consolidated, regularly updated online source for finding out which federal waters are open, closed, or restricted, reducing confusion and potential violations from outdated or scattered agency information. Agencies face new deadlines and reporting obligations, and third parties may be enlisted to help build and maintain the data systems.

The Forest Service and Interior must first jointly develop, with the Federal Geographic Data Committee, interagency data standards within 30 months to ensure compatibility across databases. Within five years, they must digitize and publish geographic information system data on waterway restrictions, access points, and fishing rules, updating waterway/access data twice yearly and fishing data in real time. Agencies may partner with states, tribes, and private geospatial or tech firms, or use the U.S. Geological Survey, to compile the data. A public comment mechanism must be established, and agencies must report implementation progress annually to five congressional committees through 2034.