II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 390 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 

to carry out certain activities to enhance recreational opportunities for 

gateway communities, to amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to provide for the establishment of a digital National Parks 

and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2023 

Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior to carry out certain activities to enhance 

recreational opportunities for gateway communities, to 

amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act 

to provide for the establishment of a digital National 

Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gateway Community 

3 and Recreation Enhancement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS AND

7 WATERS.—The term ‘‘Federal recreational lands and 

8 waters’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

9 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 

10 Act (16 U.S.C. 6801). 

11 (2) GATEWAY COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘gate12 way community’’ means a community that serves as 

13 an entry point or is adjacent to a recreation destina14 tion on Federal recreational lands and waters or 

15 non-Federal land at which there is consistently high, 

16 in the determination of the Secretaries, seasonal or 

17 year-round visitation. 

18 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

19 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

20 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

21 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

22 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

23 means— 

24 (A) the Secretary; and 

25 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

26 through the Chief of the Forest Service. 


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1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 SEC. 3. GATEWAY COMMUNITIES. 

4 (a) ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND NEEDS IN GATE5 WAY COMMUNITIES.—Using existing funds available to 

6 the Secretaries, the Secretaries— 

7 (1) shall collaborate with State and local gov8 ernments, Indian Tribes, housing authorities, appli9 cable trade associations, nonprofit organizations, 

10 and other relevant stakeholders to identify needs and 

11 economic impacts in gateway communities, includ12 ing— 

13 (A) housing shortages; 

14 (B) demands on existing municipal infra15 structure; 

16 (C) accommodation and management of 

17 sustainable visitation; and 

18 (D) the expansion and diversification of 

19 visitor experiences by bolstering the visitation 

20 at— 

21 (i) underutilized locations on nearby 

22 Federal recreational lands and waters that 

23 are suitable for developing, expanding, or 

24 enhancing recreation use, as identified by 

25 the Secretaries; or 


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1 (ii) lesser-known recreation sites, as 

2 identified under section 4(b)(1)(B), on 

3 nearby land managed by a State agency or 

4 a local agency; and 

5 (2) may address a need identified under para6 graph (1) by— 

7 (A) providing financial or technical assist8 ance to a gateway community under an existing 

9 program; 

10 (B) entering into a lease, right-of-way, or 

11 easement, in accordance with applicable laws; or 

12 (C) issuing an entity referred to in para13 graph (1) a special use permit (other than a 

14 special recreation permit), in accordance with 

15 applicable laws. 

16 (b) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO

17 BUSINESSES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

19 (acting through the Administrator of the Rural 

20 Business-Cooperative Service), in coordination with 

21 the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 

22 provide to businesses in gateway communities the 

23 assistance described in paragraph (2) to establish, 

24 operate, or expand infrastructure to accommodate 


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1 and manage sustainable visitation, including hotels, 

2 campgrounds, and restaurants. 

3 (2) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

4 may provide assistance under paragraph (1) through 

5 the use of existing, or the establishment of new, en6 trepreneur and vocational training programs, tech7 nical assistance programs, low-interest business loan 

8 programs, and loan guarantee programs. 

9 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—In carrying out this section, the 

10 Secretaries may, in accordance with applicable laws, enter 

11 into a public-private partnership, cooperative agreement, 

12 memorandum of understanding, or similar agreement with 

13 a gateway community or a business in a gateway commu14 nity. 

15 SEC. 4. IMPROVED RECREATION VISITATION DATA. 

16 (a) CONSISTENT VISITATION DATA.— 

17 (1) ANNUAL VISITATION DATA.—The Secre18 taries shall establish a single visitation data report19 ing system to report accurate annual visitation data, 

20 in a consistent manner, for— 

21 (A) each unit of Federal recreational lands 

22 and waters; and 

23 (B) land held in trust for an Indian Tribe, 

24 on request of the Indian Tribe. 


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1 (2) CATEGORIES OF USE.—Within the visitation 

2 data reporting system established under paragraph 

3 (1), the Secretaries shall— 

4 (A) establish multiple categories of dif5 ferent recreation activities that are reported 

6 consistently across agencies; and 

7 (B) provide an estimate of the number of 

8 visitors for each applicable category established 

9 under subparagraph (A) for each unit of Fed10 eral recreational lands and waters. 

11 (b) REAL-TIME DATA PILOT PROGRAM.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, using existing 

14 funds available to the Secretaries, the Secretaries 

15 shall carry out a pilot program, to be known as the 

16 ‘‘Real-time Data Pilot Program’’ (referred to in this 

17 section as the ‘‘Pilot Program’’), to make available 

18 to the public, for each unit of Federal recreational 

19 lands and waters selected for participation in the 

20 Pilot Program under paragraph (2)— 

21 (A) real-time or predictive data on visita22 tion (including data and resources publicly 

23 available from existing nongovernmental plat24 form) at— 


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1 (i) the unit of Federal recreational 

2 lands and waters; 

3 (ii) to the extent practicable, areas 

4 within the unit of Federal recreational 

5 lands and waters; and 

6 (iii) to the extent practicable, recre7 ation sites managed by any other Federal 

8 agency, a State agency, or a local agency 

9 that are located near the unit of Federal 

10 recreational lands and waters; and 

11 (B) through multiple media platforms, in12 formation about lesser-known recreation sites 

13 located near the unit of Federal recreational 

14 lands and waters (including recreation sites 

15 managed by any other Federal agency, a State 

16 agency, or a local agency), in an effort to en17 courage visitation among recreational sites. 

18 (2) LOCATIONS.— 

19 (A) INITIAL NUMBER OF UNITS.—On es20 tablishment of the Pilot Program, the Secre21 taries shall select for participation in the Pilot 

22 Program— 

23 (i) 15 units of Federal recreational 

24 lands and waters managed by the Sec25 retary; and 


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1 (ii) 5 units of Federal recreational 

2 lands and waters managed by the Sec3 retary of Agriculture (acting through the 

4 Chief of the Forest Service). 

5 (B) EXPANSION.—Not later than 5 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retaries shall expand the Pilot Program by se8 lecting 80 additional units of Federal rec9 reational lands and waters managed by the Sec10 retaries for participation in the Pilot Program, 

11 not fewer than 50 of which shall be units man12 aged by the Secretary. 

13 (C) FEEDBACK; SUPPORT OF GATEWAY

14 COMMUNITIES.—The Secretaries shall— 

15 (i) solicit feedback regarding partici16 pation in the Pilot Program from commu17 nities adjacent to units of Federal rec18 reational lands and waters and the public; 

19 and 

20 (ii) in carrying out subparagraphs (A) 

21 and (B), select a unit of Federal recreation 

22 lands and waters to participate in the Pilot 

23 Program only if the community adjacent to 

24 the unit of Federal recreational lands and 

25 waters is supportive of the participation of 


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1 the unit of Federal recreational lands and 

2 waters in the Pilot Program. 

3 (3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

4 Secretaries may disseminate the information de5 scribed in paragraph (1) directly or through an enti6 ty or organization referred to in subsection (c). 

7 (c) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND THIRD-PARTY PRO8 VIDERS.—For purposes of carrying out this section, the 

9 Secretary concerned may— 

10 (1) coordinate and partner with— 

11 (A) communities adjacent to units of Fed12 eral recreational lands and waters; 

13 (B) State and local outdoor recreation and 

14 tourism offices; 

15 (C) local governments; 

16 (D) Indian Tribes; 

17 (E) trade associations; 

18 (F) local outdoor recreation marketing or19 ganizations; 

20 (G) permitted facilitated recreation pro21 viders; or 

22 (H) other relevant stakeholders; and 

23 (2) coordinate or enter into agreements, as ap24 propriate, with private sector and nonprofit part25 ners, including— 


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1 (A) technology companies; 

2 (B) geospatial data companies; 

3 (C) experts in data science, analytics, and 

4 operations research; or 

5 (D) data companies. 

6 (d) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Secretaries may use 

7 existing programs or products of the Secretaries to carry 

8 out this section. 

9 (e) PRIVACY CLAUSES.—Nothing in this section pro10 vides authority to the Secretaries— 

11 (1) to monitor or record the movements of a 

12 visitor to a unit of Federal recreational lands and 

13 waters; 

14 (2) to restrict, interfere with, or monitor a pri15 vate communication of a visitor to a unit of Federal 

16 recreational lands and waters; or 

17 (3) to collect— 

18 (A) information from owners of land adja19 cent to a unit of Federal recreational lands and 

20 waters; or 

21 (B) information on non-Federal land. 

22 (f) REPORTS.—Not later than January 1, 2024, and 

23 annually thereafter, the Secretaries shall publish on a 

24 website of the Secretaries a report that describes the an25 nual visitation of each unit of Federal recreational lands 


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1 and waters, including, to the maximum extent practicable, 

2 visitation categorized by recreational activity. 

3 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DIGITAL VERSION OF AMER4 ICA THE BEAUTIFUL—THE NATIONAL PARKS 

5 AND FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS 

6 PASSES. 

7 Section 805(a) of the Federal Lands Recreation En8 hancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6804(a)) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(10) DIGITAL RECREATION PASSES.—By not 

11 later than January 1, 2024, the Secretaries shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) establish a digital version of the Na13 tional Parks and Federal Recreational Lands 

14 Pass that is able to be stored on a mobile de15 vice; and 

16 ‘‘(B) on the completion of a sale of a Na17 tional Parks and Federal Recreational Lands 

18 Pass carried out under paragraph (6)(A), make 

19 available to the passholder the digital version of 

20 the National Parks and Federal Recreational 

21 Lands Pass established under subparagraph 

22 (A).’’. 

Æ 


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