House approves water, public land, conservation bills

By Amelia Davidson | 01/22/2025 06:45 AM EST

One proposal aims to address shark depredation, another to access federal waters.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) during a hearing.

The House approved legislation from Rep. Robert Wittman (R-Va.) to address shark depredation. Alex Brandon/AP

As partisan politics took center stage across Washington on Tuesday, the House managed to push through three bipartisan bills related to water and public land use.

The bills came from the Natural Resources Committee, and passed the House during the last Congress but failed to become law. Lawmakers passed the measures under suspension of the rules, a mechanism to fast track the noncontroversial bills.

H.R. 187, the “Modernizing Access to our Public Waters (MAPWaters) Act,” received a 414-0 vote. The bill, from Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), would require agencies to digitize and publicize maps that show where federal waterways are accessible for recreation and fishing.

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Natural Resources Committee leadership applauded the legislation as a necessary step to ensure those using public waterways have up-to-date information.

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