# 119-hr-718: Public Lands in Public Hands Act

119-hr-718, Public Lands in Public Hands Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Zinke, Ryan K. [R-MT-1] (R-MT); status in_committee (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-718
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-718
- Congress: 119
- Title: Public Lands in Public Hands Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-01-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Zinke, Ryan K. [R-MT-1] (R-MT)
- Cosponsors: 18
- Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Would stop most transfers of publicly accessible federal land to non‑federal owners to keep access in public hands.** This bill would bar the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from transferring title when a tract is publicly accessible or is contiguous to publicly accessible or government‑owned land, and it would prohibit subdividing Federal land to meet transfer‑size rules. - Families and outdoor users would see fewer park, trail, and waterway parcels turned over to private owners, preserving places for recreation and local access. - Federal land managers would face a clear sale limit but retain a narrow set of exceptions. Transfers under existing laws and authorized land exchanges remain possible, and parcels under 300 acres or under 5 acres if reachable by public waterway are allowed in some cases. - Developers and private buyers would have reduced ability to buy contiguous, publicly reachable Federal parcels, though specific statutes such as the Small Tract Act, Recreation and Public Purposes Act, and various Alaska and Native allotment laws can still authorize transfers.

## Cosponsors (18)

- Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM), 2025-01-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Simpson, Michael K. [R-ID-2] (R-ID), 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Downing, Troy [R-MT-2] (R-MT), 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bynum, Janelle S. [D-OR-5] (D-OR), 2025-06-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kim, Young [R-CA-40] (R-CA), 2025-06-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2] (D-NH), 2025-07-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] (D-WA), 2025-07-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kean, Thomas H. [R-NJ-7] (R-NJ), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA), 2025-09-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ciscomani, Juan [R-AZ-6] (R-AZ), 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO), 2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (D-NJ), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] (D-MI), 2026-01-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4] (D-OR), 2026-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ), 2026-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kiley, Kevin [I-CA-3] (I-CA), 2026-04-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA), 2026-04-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18] (D-CA), 2026-07-22T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Protect public access to federal land: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would bar the Interior and Agriculture Secretaries from giving title of publicly accessible Federal land to non-Federal parties. "Publicly accessible tract" would mean federal land run by the Interior or Forest Service that is reachable by a public road, trail, waterway, easeme…
- No change to corner‑stepping law: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would say nothing in it may be used to change or interpret the legality of stepping over a property corner between public parcels. This would limit citing the bill in boundary-dispute or corner-stepping arguments. It would not itself change existing property boundary law.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-718 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/718)

## Related
- [119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1993)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9250)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-718 (as of 2026-09-21).