Last week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill with important ramifications for waterfowl hunters across the country. The Modernizing Access to Our Public Waters, or MAPWaters Act, passed unanimously, with broad bipartisan support, on December 18.
The bill was sponsored by U.S. Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Angus King of Maine and also garnered bipartisan support in the U.S. House. Essentially, what the act will do is simple: it will direct federal agencies to digitize and make publicly available water and fishing access and recreational use information for every body of water that is managed or partially managed by a federal agency such as the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Such a move has obvious benefits for duck and goose hunters: it will clarify where they’re allowed to hunt, as well as other potential access regulations, such as watercraft or engine restrictions. Currently, a lot of this information, including 42 pages of National Wildlife Refuge-specific recreation rules pertaining to waterway navigation and use, is buried in the Code of Federal Regulations and can be inconvenient for hunters to access.
“Federally managed waters provide millions of American anglers and hunters with innumerable opportunities to fish and hunt,” said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, in a press release. “The MAPWaters Act will digitize and clarify the complex rules of public waterways and make them readily available to all to ensure Americans recreate legally and safely on our public waters.”
The bill complements the 2022 MAPLand Act, which had similar ramifications for federal public lands. President Trump is expected to sign the MAPWaters Act into law shortly.
“For hunters, anglers, and paddlers, knowing where to legally and responsibly access our waterways is essential,” added Laura Orvidas, onX CEO. The bill would augment the information that satellite mapping services, such as onX, can provide users. “By digitizing complex water access information, this legislation provides the outdoor community with the critical data they need to access, explore, and protect our public waters. We’re proud to support this effort to make water access more transparent and available—both now and for future generations.”