The MAPWaters Act of 2025 directs five Federal land and water management agencies (Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service) to create common geospatial data standards and to publish digital maps and information about public outdoor recreational access to Federal waterways. The Secretaries must adopt interagency data standards within 30 months. Within 5 years the agencies must, to the maximum extent practicable, digitize and post GIS data showing waterway access and restrictions (status, seasonal closures, motorized-propulsion limits, anchoring/no-wake zones, direction-of-travel rules, and specific allowed or restricted uses such as paddlecraft, motorboats, aircraft, and swimming). Agencies must also publish boat ramp, portage, and fishing access locations and their open/close dates, and bathymetric information as feasible. Fishing restriction boundaries and rules (closures, no-take zones, equipment limits, catch-and-release rules) must be made available and updated in real time; other access/navigation data should be updated at least twice per year. The Act creates a public comment process, permits partnerships with States, Tribes, private and nonprofit partners, and allows use of the USGS to help carry out the work. It excludes irrigation canals, protects location details of archaeological resources, requires annual progress reports through March 30, 2034, and states it does not change the legal definition of navigable waters or agency authorities.
If you recreate on Federal waterways, this law aims to make maps and rules easier to find online. Over the next 5 years you can expect agencies to publish locations of boat ramps, fishing access sites, and the rules for where and when different activities and types of watercraft are allowed. Fishing restriction maps and related rules are required to be updated in real time. There will be a public process to submit questions or comments about the posted information.
No publicly available information.
The Act’s stated purpose is to standardize, consolidate, and publish data relating to public outdoor recreational use of Federal waterways. Supporters framed the measure as a way to modernize access by making compatible, interoperable geospatial data available online and by allowing agencies to work with States, Tribes, and non-Federal partners to compile and publish that data.
No publicly available information.