II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4451 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement with 

the National Academy of Sciences to carry out a study on reservation 

systems for Federal land. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2024 

Mr. PADILLA 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 the Interior to enter into an 

agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to 

carry out a study on reservation systems for Federal 

land. 

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 ‘‘Review and Evaluation 

5 of Strategies for Equal Reservations for Visitor Experi6 ences Federal Land Act’’ or the ‘‘RESERVE Federal 

7 Land Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BOOKING WINDOW.—The term ‘‘booking 

4 window’’, with respect to a reservation system, 

5 means the time period during which a reservation or 

6 lottery entry is available to the public. 

7 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

8 means— 

9 (A) public lands (as defined in section 103 

10 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

11 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

12 (B) National Forest System land; 

13 (C) units of the National Park System; 

14 (D) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 

15 System; 

16 (E) sites administered by the Bureau of 

17 Reclamation; and 

18 (F) sites administered by the Corps of En19 gineers. 

20 (3) RECREATION ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘recre21 ation activity’’ includes camping, backpacking, 

22 climbing, fishing, hiking, driving, and other rec23 reational opportunities. 

24 (4) RESERVATION SYSTEM.— 

25 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘reservation 

26 system’’ means any platform or method used by 


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1 managers of Federal land to ration recreation 

2 activities. 

3 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘reservation 

4 system’’ includes reservation, lottery, metering, 

5 pricing, merit-based, and other similar rationing 

6 methods via online, telephone, paper, in-person, 

7 or other methods. 

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

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY OF RES11 ERVATION SYSTEMS FOR RECREATION AC12 TIVITIES ON FEDERAL LAND. 

13 (a) STUDY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina15 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec16 retary of the Army, acting through the Chief of En17 gineers, shall, not later than 60 days after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, enter into an agreement 

19 with the National Academy of Sciences to carry out 

20 a study of reservation systems for recreation activi21 ties on Federal land. 

22 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the study 

23 under paragraph (1), the National Academy of 

24 Sciences shall carry out the following: 


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1 (A) A comprehensive review of the history 

2 of reservation systems, such as recreation.gov, 

3 including a review of— 

4 (i) the studies that led to the estab5 lishment of the applicable reservation sys6 tem; 

7 (ii) the iterations of the applicable 

8 reservation system over time to meet the 

9 needs of the applicable Federal agency; 

10 and 

11 (iii) any visitor feedback provided with 

12 respect to the applicable reservation sys13 tem. 

14 (B) Based on available data and existing 

15 research, answer the following questions: 

16 (i) What are the benefits and chal17 lenges of implementing reservation systems 

18 for visitor management and conservation 

19 goals for Federal land? 

20 (ii) What data are available to under21 stand demand for recreation on Federal 

22 land? How can the data be used to balance 

23 visitor management and conservation 

24 goals? 


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1 (iii) What information is available re2 garding Federal land users and reservation 

3 system users? What information is avail4 able or needs to be collected regarding de5 mographics and characteristics of success6 ful applicants using the reservation sys7 tems? 

8 (iv) What best practices should guide 

9 reservation system design, including diver10 sity of rationing mechanisms and booking 

11 windows, and would promote equal access 

12 to recreation activities? What metrics can 

13 be used to record outcomes of reservation 

14 system design? 

15 (v) How have fees been collected for 

16 reservation systems over time to meet the 

17 needs of the applicable Federal agency? 

18 How are the revenues from fees for res19 ervation systems split between, and spent 

20 by, Federal land units, Federal agencies, 

21 and third-party contractors? How is the 

22 fee structure disseminated to users? How 

23 could dissemination of information with re24 spect to the fee structure be improved? 


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1 (vi) What are the odds of success with 

2 respect to securing a reservation under res3 ervation systems? How are the odds of suc4 cess disseminated to users? How could dis5 semination of information with respect to 

6 the odds of success be improved? 

7 (vii) How are data, including data col8 lected by contractors, on reservation sys9 tems shared with Federal land managers, 

10 researchers, and the public? How can 

11 transparency be improved to inform the 

12 decisionmaking of users of reservation sys13 tems? 

14 (b) REPORT.—The agreement entered into under 

15 subsection (a)(1) shall include a requirement that, not 

16 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

17 Act, the National Academy of Sciences shall submit to the 

18 appropriate committees of Congress a report that de19 scribes the results of the study carried out under sub20 section (a)(1). 

Æ 


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