16 U.S.C. § 8443 — Monitoring for improved recreation decision making

submitted 1 year ago by Pub. L. 118-234 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 196 words · no verdicts yet

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Federal land agencies must gather better data on how people use recreational lands to help them make decisions. Within a year, each agency must set up pilot data-collection methods at 10 or more of its sites, to measure recreation activities that current surveys miss. The section also defines which officials count as "Secretaries."

(a) General goal. The Secretaries (the federal officials managing the relevant lands) must try to collect thorough data on recreation use to better understand it and make informed decisions. (b) Pilot protocols. Within 1 year after January 4, 2025, and after giving the public notice and a chance to comment, the Secretaries must set up pilot data-collection methods at 10 or more land management units under each Secretary's authority. These pilots are meant to model recreation-use patterns — including low-use and dispersed recreation activities — that existing general survey and monitoring methods may not measure well. (c) Definition. In this section, "Secretaries" means: the Secretary (of the Interior), for lands under their jurisdiction; the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service Chief, for Forest Service lands; the Secretary of Commerce, acting through NOAA's Administrator, for NOAA's federal waters; and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, for lakes and reservoirs run by the Army Corps of Engineers.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) In general

The Secretaries shall seek to capture comprehensive recreation use data to better understand and inform decision making by the Secretaries.

(b) Pilot protocols

Not later than 1 year after January 4, 2025, and after public notice and comment, the Secretaries shall establish pilot protocols at not fewer than 10 land management units under the jurisdiction of each of the Secretaries to model recreation use patterns (including low-use recreation activities and dispersed recreation activities) that may not be effectively measured by existing general and opportunistic survey and monitoring protocols.

In this section, the term “Secretaries” means—

(1)

the Secretary, with respect to lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary;

(2)

the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, with respect to lands under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service;

(3)

the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with respect to Federal waters under the jurisdiction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and

(4)

the Assistant Secretary of Army for Civil Works, with respect to lakes and reservoirs under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 118–234, title I, § 133, Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2862.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2025Enacted · Pub. L. 118-234 · 138 Stat. 2862

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 118-234 on 2025-01-04.

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