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119-hr-5497119th Congress

Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve Act

Sponsored By: Representative Tiffany, Thomas P. [R-WI-7]

In Committee

Summary

This bill would redesignate Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve. It would create two components with distinct management rules and require the Interior Secretary to provide visitor interpretation and a public boundary map.

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  • Tribes: It would preserve treaty and reserved rights for Tribes, including hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering on lands within the Park and Preserve.
  • Hunters, trappers, and fishers: Hunting and trapping would be prohibited inside the Park except where allowed by treaty, statute, or executive order, while hunting and trapping in the Preserve would be allowed and managed as they were before. Fishing would be administered the same way it was under the Lakeshore rules.
  • Visitors and landowners: Visitor centers must display interpretation about Ojibwe tribes and regional history and keep the official boundary map available for public inspection. Private landowners could continue hunting, fishing, and trapping consistent with state and federal law.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

New name and single-unit management

If enacted, the bill would rename Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve. The Secretary of the Interior would run the Park and Preserve as one unit under National Park System laws. Federal references to the old lakeshore name would be read as the new Park and Preserve name.

New visitor center history signs

If enacted, the bill would require the Secretary to place signs at the main visitor centers describing the region's history. The signs would cover Ojibwe tribes, early settlers, the fur trade, logging, quarries, lighthouses, and commercial fishing. A copy of the bill would also be kept at those centers.

Official map and Ashland light rule

If enacted, the bill would make the October 2024 map the official map showing Park and Preserve boundaries. The map would be kept on file and open for public inspection at National Park Service offices. The bill would also say it does not create a protective buffer around the Ashland Harbor Breakwater Light shown on the map.

Hunting and fishing rules, Tribal rights

If enacted, fishing would be managed in the Park and Preserve the same way it was the day before enactment. Hunting and trapping would be allowed in the Preserve as before, but hunting and trapping would be prohibited inside the Park except where a treaty, statute, or executive order for a Tribe permits it. The bill would also say nothing in it changes Tribal treaty, statute, or executive-order rights to hunt, fish, trap, or gather.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Tiffany, Thomas P. [R-WI-7]

WI • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Steil, Bryan [R-WI-1]

    WI • R

    Sponsored 9/18/2025

  • Rep. Wied, Tony [R-WI-8]

    WI • R

    Sponsored 9/18/2025

  • Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6]

    WI • R

    Sponsored 9/18/2025

  • Rep. Fitzgerald, Scott [R-WI-5]

    WI • R

    Sponsored 9/18/2025

  • Rep. Van Orden, Derrick [R-WI-3]

    WI • R

    Sponsored 9/18/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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