House Committee on Natural Resources

Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act

Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act This bill directs the Government Accountability Office to study wildfire mitigation across land ownership boundaries and make recommendations to simplify cross-boundary wildfire mitigation between federal land management agencies and state, local, and Indian tribal governments.

To amend the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993.

This bill revises tribal membership requirements for the Catawba Indian Nation (a tribe in South Carolina). The Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 explicitly restricted the tribe’s future membership to lineal descendants of people on the final base membership roll who maintained continuous political relations with the tribe. This bill removes these membership criteria and allows the tribe to determine its membership. (The tribe uses three base membership rolls and anyone who wants to be enrolled must prove lineal descent from someone listed on one of these base membership rolls.)

ARTIST Act

Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition Act or the ARTIST Act This bill prohibits states from imposing bans on marine mammal products produced by Alaska Natives. Specifically, states may not prohibit the importation, sale, transfer, trade, barter, or possession of marine mammal ivory, marine mammal bone, or baleen legally produced by an Alaska Native as an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing.

Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025

Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025 This bill revises and reauthorizes for seven years the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative and its Northwest Straits Advisory Commission. The initiative and the commission work to protect and restore marine waters, habitats, and species of the Northwest Straits region (i.e., the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and of Puget Sound from the Canadian border to the south end of Snohomish County in Washington state). Among other duties, the commission must provide resources and technical support for marine resources committees, develop scientifically sound restoration and protection recommendations, and serve as a public forum for informal policy discussions about the marine ecosystem of the Northwest Straits region.

Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act

Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act This bill allows five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to form urban corporations and receive land entitlements. Specifically, the bill allows the Alaska Native residents of each of the Alaska Native villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, to organize as Alaska Native urban corporations and to receive certain settlement land. The bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey specified land to each urban corporation. Further, Interior must convey the subsurface estate for that land to the regional corporation for Southeast Alaska. The land conveyed to each urban corporation must include any U.S. interest in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and appurtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the urban corporation. The bill also allows each urban corporation to establish a settlement trust to (1) promote the health, education, and welfare of the trust beneficiaries; and (2) preserve the Alaska Native heritage and culture of their communities.

Florida Safe Seas Act of 2025

Florida Safe Seas Act of 2025 This bill prohibits shark feeding in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) seaward of Florida for any purpose other than to harvest sharks, subject to limited exceptions. (Florida state waters generally extend 3 miles from the shore in the Atlantic Ocean and 9 miles from the shore in the Gulf of America. The EEZ is seaward of and adjacent to state waters and generally extends to 200 miles from the U.S. coastline.) Specifically, the bill makes it unlawful to introduce, or attempt to introduce, food or any other substance into these waters to attract sharks for any purpose other than to harvest sharks. Exceptions allow shark feeding (1) for research programs funded by federal appropriations, or (2) to the extent that the feeding presents no public health hazard or safety risk (as determined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or under state law).

Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act

Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act This bill directs the Forest Service to convey specified property and water rights in Ouray County, Colorado, to the City of Ouray, Colorado, for use as open space for recreational activities (such as fishing) at no cost to the public. The property and water rights include the site known as Crystal Reservoir and the associated lake and infrastructure, Full Moon Dam and the associated facilities, and the approximately 45-acre parcel of land underlying and surrounding Crystal Reservoir. The conveyance must (1) convey fee simple title to the land; (2) be subject to existing valid rights and easements; and (3) be completed at no cost to the city, except for costs related to necessary surveys. The conveyance must also be subject to a reversionary interest whereby if the land is used in a manner that violates the conveyance, the land shall revert to the United States, subject to the discretion of the Forest Service. In addition to holding the land open to the public for recreational purposes, the city must assume responsibly for Full Moon Dam and must not conduct unneeded development or commercial operations, nor alter Crystal Reservoir in a manner that would harm wetlands located upstream, subject to certain conditions. After the completion of this conveyance, the Forest Service must recognize a perpetual easement for the site known as Red Mountain Ditch for use by the city for specified activities related to Crystal Reservoir.

Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2026

Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2026 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture to study the feasibility of designating the Benton MacKaye Trail (located in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina) as a national scenic trail.

American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2026

American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2026 This bill extends through FY2036 three National Park Service (NPS) grant programs that preserve U.S. battlefields and requires the NPS to study additional sites for potential preservation. Specifically, the bill extends through FY2036 grant programs for the acquisition, interpretation modernization, and restoration of certain U.S. battlefields. (Under current law, the grants are authorized through FY2028.) The bill also requires the NPS to prepare or certify studies of locations tied to significant events during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) for potential preservation.

To take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Pechanga Band of Indians, and for other purposes.

This bill takes approximately 860 acres of land in Riverside County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Pechanga Band of Indians. The land is currently administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The land taken into trust shall be (1) part of the tribe's reservation; (2) maintained as an open space; and (3) used only for purposes consistent with the maintenance of the land as open space and for the protection, preservation, and maintenance of the archaeological, cultural, and wildlife resources on the land. Further, the bill prohibits gaming on the land.

To reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000.

This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 the planning, design, and construction of the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water System and the Dry Prairie Rural Water System, both located in Montana.

License to Drill Act

License to Drill Act This bill extends through FY2037 the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) authority to collect oil and gas permit processing fees. For each new permit application, BLM collects a fee that is transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund. (Under current law, the fees are authorized through FY2026.)

To redesignate Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia as Rock Creek National Park.

The proposal would change Rock Creek Park's official designation from a national park to a national park, giving it a new name and potentially adjusting its management structure. This change would primarily affect how the park in Washington, D.C. is administered and could impact visitors, local residents, and park management agencies. The bill is currently under review by the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act

Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act This bill establishes a geothermal ombudsman and task force to oversee geothermal project permitting and authorizations on federal land. The Department of the Interior must appoint a geothermal ombudsman from within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ombudsman must act as a liaison among different parts of BLM, provide dispute resolution services between BLM and geothermal project applicants, and facilitate permit processing in different BLM field offices regarding geothermal projects on federal land. The ombudsman must also lead the Geothermal Permitting Task Force established by this bill. The task force must support the ombudsman’s duties. Through the task force, the ombudsman may reassign employees from other Interior bureaus or offices to assist in the completion of geothermal authorizations. The ombudsman may pay a retention allowance to reassigned employees.

CLEAN Act

Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act or the CLEAN Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to increase the frequency of lease sales for developing and utilizing geothermal energy on federal land. Specifically, Interior must hold lease sales at least once a year (rather than two years) in states with pending nominations of federal land to be leased for geothermal energy development. In conducting such lease sales, Interior must offer all of the pending nominated parcels eligible for geothermal development and utilization under the resource management plan in effect for the state. If a lease sale is canceled or delayed, Interior must conduct a replacement sale during the same year. Finally, the bill establishes deadlines for Interior to respond to applications for geothermal drilling permits.

Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025

Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025 This bill takes three tracts of specified federal land (approximately 9.89 acres) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico. (These three tracts of land were historically part of the Albuquerque Indian School, which was an Indian boarding school until 1981.) The land is currently administered by the General Services Administration (GSA). Within 90 days of this bill's enactment, the GSA must (1) relocate all federal tenants on the land, and (2) transfer administrative jurisdiction over the land to the Department of the Interior. Within 90 days after the relocation of federal tenants and transfer of administrative jurisdiction, the bill requires (1) Interior to take the land into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos, and (2) the federal government to convey its ownership interests in buildings and other structures located within Tract 1 to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to own in fee. (Tract 1, which is approximately 3.57 acres, contains a warehouse that is 76,682 square feet.) The bill requires the land taken into trust to be used for the educational, health, cultural, business, and economic development of the 19 Pueblos. Further, the land must remain subject to existing private and municipal encumbrances, rights-of-way, restrictions, easements of record, and utility service agreements. The bill prohibits gaming on the land taken into trust.

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide for the regulation of fishing in marine national monuments.

The proposal would give federal authorities the power to set fishing rules and limits in marine national monuments, which are protected ocean areas. Currently, fishing regulations in these underwater protected zones are unclear or limited, so this change would let the government manage what fish can be caught there and by whom. This would affect commercial fishing companies, recreational fishers, and coastal communities that depend on ocean resources.

To restrict the establishment of triumphal arches within certain areas of the District of Columbia and the capital region, and for other purposes.

The proposal would prevent the construction of large ceremonial arches in Washington D.C. and surrounding areas, likely to protect the appearance and historical character of the nation's capital and its monuments. The restriction would apply to government and private projects in designated zones around the capital region. The bill was sent to the House Committee on Natural Resources for review.

Offshore Parity Act of 2026

This bill would give Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama more control over managing ocean areas off their coasts, including decisions about fishing and other uses of underwater lands on the continental shelf. The states would take on responsibilities currently handled by the federal government, allowing them to set their own rules for these coastal waters. The change affects fishing companies, commercial fishermen, and anyone involved in offshore activities in these three states.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025 This bill expands requirements for addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault involving personnel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The bill specifies that NOAA's sexual harassment prevention and response policy applies to personnel such as observers, at-sea monitors, and voting members and staff of regional fishery management councils. The bill removes the requirement that certain acts, such as assault, intimidation, and sexual harassment of an observer or a data collector, be forcible in nature to be unlawful. The bill also requires NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations to establish a policy for reporting to the Coast Guard the names of NOAA personnel involved in a sexual harassment or sexual assault claim. Specifically, such reports must identify employees or contractors who are the subject of such claim, the time and date of the incident, and the location of the vessel when the incident occurred. The bill prohibits a person convicted of certain sexual offenses from enlisting with or being commissioned by NOAA. Additionally, the bill directs NOAA to update its policies to develop a restricted reporting system that allows employees and other personnel to confidentially report sexual harassment or assault and receive services without triggering an investigation. Finally, the bill also expands reporting requirements on sexual harassment, sexual assault, and equal employment.