Hearing Features Bills Creating Wisconsin’s First National Park, Addressing Park Overcrowding

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on six bills that will establish a new national park and preserve in Wisconsin, streamline the permitting of broadband infrastructure, encourage visitation to state parks and more. Subcommittee Chairman Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) issued the following statement in response:

"The bills on today's legislative agenda take important steps to expand digital access, while also preserving our past by supporting key historical and commemorative sites across the country. Too often, rural and tribal areas face challenges bridging the digital divide, and today, the Federal Lands Subcommittee is working to close this gap."

Background

H.R. _____,the Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve Act,introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), redesignates the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as the Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve. Redesignating the Apostle Islands as a national park would further recognize this area's unique characteristics and growing popularity as a tourist destination.

H.R. 2405, the North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act of 2023,introduced by U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), facilitates land exchanges in North Dakota, allowing the state to generate more revenue for education while providing increased land ownership for tribes.

H.R. 3293, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act,introduced by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), streamlines broadband deployment and closes the digital divide by creating a new strike force to address federal agency permitting bottlenecks. Once established, the strike force would periodically convene to ensure the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service prioritize reviewing requests for communications use authorizations, establish goals for those reviews and hold the agencies accountable for meeting those goals.

H.R. 8603, the Recreation and Outdoor Access Membership (ROAM) Act,introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), creates a pilot program allowing the National Park Service (NPS) to issue a single annual pass covering entry into federal and state parks in one or more states in the Southeastern region. This would increase visitation to state parks, improve customer service and reduce overcrowding at national parks.

H.R. 6210,introduced by U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Md.), designates the George C. Marshall House as an affiliated area of the National Park System. The home will not be managed by the NPS or added to the federal estate.

H.R. 8403, the Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2024,introduced by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), authorizes a study of the feasibility of designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a National Scenic Trail.

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