II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3551 

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

to carry out certain activities to enhance recreational opportunities for 

gateway communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2022 

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, 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 ‘‘Gateway Community 

5 and Recreation Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) GATEWAY COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘gate2 way community’’ means a community that serves as 

3 an entry point or is adjacent to a recreation destina4 tion (including a recreation destination on Federal 

5 land) at which there is consistently high, in the de6 termination of the Secretaries, seasonal or year7 round visitation. 

8 (2) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

9 means— 

10 (A) the Secretary of the Interior; and 

11 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

12 through the Chief of the Forest Service. 

13 SEC. 3. VISITATION PILOT PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, using existing funds avail16 able to the Secretaries, the Secretaries, in partnership 

17 with gateway communities, State and local outdoor recre18 ation and tourism agencies, local governments, Tribal gov19 ernments, data and technology companies, and other rel20 evant stakeholders, shall carry out a pilot program for the 

21 purposes described in subsection (b). 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—Under the pilot program carried out 

23 under subsection (a), the Secretaries shall, with respect 

24 to each Federal land management unit selected for partici25 pation in the pilot program under subsection (c), make 


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1 available to the public, either directly or through partner 

2 organizations— 

3 (1) data on visitation, including data and re4 sources publicly available from existing nongovern5 mental platforms, at— 

6 (A) the Federal land management unit; 

7 and 

8 (B) to the extent available, recreation sites 

9 managed by any other Federal agency, a State 

10 agency, or a local agency located near the Fed11 eral land management unit; and 

12 (2) through different media platforms, informa13 tion about lesser-known recreation sites (including 

14 recreation sites managed by any other Federal agen15 cy, a State agency, or a local agency) located near 

16 the Federal land management unit, in an effort to 

17 disperse visitation among recreational sites. 

18 (c) LOCATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall select 

20 Federal land management units to participate in the 

21 pilot program carried out under subsection (a) in ac22 cordance with this subsection. 

23 (2) FEEDBACK; SUPPORT OF GATEWAY COMMU24 NITIES.—In selecting a Federal land management 


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1 unit to participate in the pilot program carried out 

2 under subsection (a), the Secretaries shall— 

3 (A) solicit feedback from gateway commu4 nities; and 

5 (B) select a Federal land management unit 

6 that is supported by the applicable gateway 

7 community. 

8 (3) INITIAL NUMBERS OF FEDERAL LAND MAN9 AGEMENT UNITS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall 

11 select for participation in the pilot program car12 ried out under subsection (a)— 

13 (i) 15 Federal land management units 

14 managed by the Department of the Inte15 rior; and 

16 (ii) 5 Federal land management units 

17 managed by the Forest Service. 

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

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, in addi20 tion to the Federal land management units se21 lected for the pilot program under subpara22 graph (A), the Secretaries shall select for par23 ticipation in the pilot program carried out 

24 under subsection (a) 80 additional Federal land 

25 management units managed by the Secretaries, 


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1 not fewer than 50 of which shall be Federal 

2 land management units managed by the De3 partment of the Interior. 

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

5 existing programs or products of the Secretaries to carry 

6 out this section. 

7 (e) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section authorizes the 

8 Secretaries— 

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

10 visitor to Federal land; 

11 (2) to restrict, interfere with, or monitor a pri12 vate communication of a visitor to Federal land; 

13 (3) to take possession of any documents, data, 

14 or other personal effects of a visitor to Federal land; 

15 or 

16 (4) to collect— 

17 (A) information from owners of land adja18 cent to Federal land; or 

19 (B) information on non-Federal land. 

20 SEC. 4. GATEWAY COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS. 

21 Using existing funds available to the Secretaries, the 

22 Secretaries shall— 

23 (1) collaborate with State and local govern24 ments, Tribal governments, housing authorities, apVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:11 Feb 02, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3551.IS S3551

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1 plicable trade associations, nonprofit organizations, 

2 and other relevant stakeholders— 

3 (A) to improve the understanding of the 

4 economic impacts of visitation on gateway com5 munities; and 

6 (B) to identify community needs in gate7 way communities, including housing shortages, 

8 demands on existing municipal infrastructure, 

9 and accommodation and management of sus10 tainable visitation; and 

11 (2) in accordance with existing law, seek to ad12 dress community needs in gateway communities 

13 identified under paragraph (1)(B) by— 

14 (A) entering into cooperative agreements, 

15 memoranda of understanding, or similar agree16 ments with gateway communities; 

17 (B) offering leases, rights-of-way, or ease18 ments; 

19 (C) entering into public-private partner20 ships; or 

21 (D) providing financial assistance under 

22 existing programs. 

Æ 


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