II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 491 

To reaffirm the policy of the United States with respect to management 

authority over public land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. UDALL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. TESTER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To reaffirm the policy of the United States with respect 

to management authority over public land, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘America’s Public Land 

5 Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) public land in the United States is— 


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•S 491 IS

1 (A) iconic, including national parks, wild2 life refuges, and national forests; and 

3 (B) irreplaceable, including wildlife habi4 tat, archaeological resources, and other national 

5 treasures; 

6 (2) public land— 

7 (A) provides unrivaled recreational oppor8 tunities; and 

9 (B) is enjoyed by hundreds of millions of 

10 people in the United States each year; 

11 (3) public land— 

12 (A) strengthens the United States econ13 omy; and 

14 (B) powers a recreation industry that sup15 ports— 

16 (i) 7,600,000 jobs; and 

17 (ii) nearly $900,000,000,000 in direct 

18 spending annually; 

19 (4) United States public land provides numer20 ous other benefits to the people of the United States, 

21 including— 

22 (A) clean air and water; 

23 (B) public health gains; and 

24 (C) access to the outdoors; 


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1 (5) retaining United States public land is in the 

2 public interest; and 

3 (6) except as expressly authorized by Congress, 

4 United States public land should be retained under 

5 the ownership of the United States. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘management authority’’ means— 

10 (A) the ability to determine— 

11 (i) which uses to permit on public 

12 land, including uses relating to— 

13 (I) timber; 

14 (II) grazing; 

15 (III) renewable and nonrenewable 

16 energy and mineral resources; 

17 (IV) recreation; and 

18 (V) vegetation management; or 

19 (ii) where and how those uses of pub20 lic land take place; and 

21 (B) the ability to regulate, permit, or au22 thorize use of public land. 

23 (2) PUBLIC LAND.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

25 means any land or interest in land— 


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1 (i) owned by the United States; and 

2 (ii) administered by— 

3 (I) the Secretary of the Interior, 

4 acting through— 

5 (aa) the Director of the Bu6 reau of Land Management; 

7 (bb) the Director of the Na8 tional Park Service; or 

9 (cc) the Director of the 

10 United States Fish and Wildlife 

11 Service; or 

12 (II) the Secretary of Agriculture, 

13 acting through the Chief of the Forest 

14 Service. 

15 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

16 does not include land held in trust for the ben17 efit of an Indian Tribe. 

18 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec19 retary concerned’’ means— 

20 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re21 spect to land or an interest in land under the 

22 jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior; 

23 and 


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1 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re2 spect to land or an interest in land under the 

3 jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture. 

4 SEC. 4. REAFFIRMATION OF POLICY. 

5 Congress reaffirms that the policy of the United 

6 States is— 

7 (1) to retain public land in Federal ownership 

8 unless the disposal of public land has been author9 ized by an Act of Congress; 

10 (2) to retain management authority over public 

11 land, except in any case in which a non-Federal indi12 vidual or entity is authorized to exercise manage13 ment authority pursuant to— 

14 (A) an Act of Congress; or 

15 (B) another applicable law; and 

16 (3) that retention of public land and the man17 agement authority over public land is in the public 

18 interest. 

19 SEC. 5. RETENTION REQUIREMENTS. 

20 (a) PUBLIC LAND.—Except as authorized by an Act 

21 of Congress, the Secretary concerned shall not approve or 

22 permit the conveyance of public land to any non-Federal 

23 individual or entity. 

24 (b) MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.—Except as author25 ized by an Act of Congress or other applicable law, the 


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1 Secretary concerned shall not approve or permit the grant2 ing of management authority over public land to any non3 Federal individual or entity. 

4 SEC. 6. EFFECT OF ACT. 

5 Nothing in this Act— 

6 (1) affects the jurisdiction of any State with re7 spect to the management of fish or wildlife on public 

8 land; 

9 (2) diminishes the rights of any Indian Tribe, 

10 including rights regarding access to public land for 

11 Tribal activities (including spiritual, cultural, and 

12 traditional food-gathering activities); 

13 (3) alters, modifies, enlarges, diminishes, or ab14 rogates the treaty rights of any Indian Tribe, includ15 ing off-reservation reserved rights; 

16 (4) creates an express or implied reservation by 

17 the United States of any water or water right for 

18 any purpose; 

19 (5) affects, modifies, or affects the use or allo20 cation, as in existence on the date of enactment of 

21 this Act, of any water, water right, or interest in 

22 water; or 

23 (6) affects any interstate water compact in ex24 istence on the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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