Interior Releases First-Ever Interagency Recreation Visitation Report and Announces Nationwide Pilot Projects to Improve Recreation-Use Modeling

The Department of the Interior today announced the release of the Interagency Recreation Visitation Data Report, the first unified compilation of recreation visitation estimates across all federal land and water management agencies, as directed by the EXPLORE Act. The landmark report provides a comprehensive, standardized view of how millions of people experience outdoor recreation across hundreds of millions of acres of federally managed public lands and waters. 

“Outdoor recreation is a powerful economic engine and a defining part of the American way of life,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “With the first unified interagency visitation report, we now have clearer insight into how millions of people engage with their public lands and waters. This information will help federal agencies work together to improve visitor services, support rural and gateway communities and ensure that these opportunities remain accessible to all.” 

Outdoor recreation continues to be a cornerstone of American life by supporting $1.2 trillion in economic output, 5 million jobs, and 2.3 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product each year. Activities such as hiking, camping, boating, wildlife viewing and nature study deliver health, cultural, and community benefits while strengthening small businesses and rural and gateway communities. Escalating participation in nature-based recreation underscores the public’s growing demand for access to America’s natural spaces. 

The federal government manages vast and varied outdoor landscapes, including lands and waters overseen by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. The new visitation report standardizes data reporting across 11 recreation activity categories, creating the most consistent and comparable interagency dataset to date. Agencies contributed visitation estimates for activities such as biking, motorized and non-motorized boating, camping, fishing, hiking, hunting, interpretation and education programs, off-highway vehicle use, sightseeing and other recreation. 

The report was developed by the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation, a coordinating body codified by the EXPLORE Act. The council includes representatives from all major federal land and water management agencies and collaborates with state, tribal and local partners to improve access, strengthen coordination and advance shared outdoor recreation priorities. 

Furthermore, Section 133 of the EXPLORE Act directs federal land and water management agencies to test new ways of measuring how people recreate on public lands, particularly activities that are difficult to capture through traditional methods. In response, the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation has identified forty proposed pilot projects across a range of landscapes and recreation settings. These pilots will evaluate innovative approaches by including data from mobile devices, automated counters, on‑site observations, GPS units, questionnaires, game cameras, community science and social media to build a more complete understanding of how visitors use both popular and lesser‑known areas. Insights from this effort will help agencies improve resource allocation, identify emerging trends, and ensure management strategies reflect the full spectrum of public use. Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service are collecting comments from the public via the Bureau of Land Management's ePlanning site. 

These initiatives under the EXPLORE Act will help agencies better anticipate and meet the nation’s growing recreation needs, ensuring public lands remain accessible and well‑managed for generations to come.