Land Manager Housing and Workforce Improvement Act of 2025
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill addresses the housing crisis affecting federal land management employees who work in remote national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. It gives agencies like the National Park Service and Forest Service new tools to build, lease, and manage employee housing both within and outside park boundaries, while also streamlining hiring for local residents.
Who Benefits and How
Federal land management employees (park rangers, wildlife officers, forest workers) benefit from improved housing options closer to their worksites. Private developers and contractors may gain opportunities through extended lease terms (up to 50 years for Forest Service permits) and public-private partnerships. Local residents near federal lands gain preferential hiring pathways for positions up to GS-9 level. Philanthropic organizations and partners receive expanded authority to support housing projects.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Secretary of Agriculture faces new reporting requirements when providing emergency subsistence to employees, requiring justification reports within 30 days to Congress. The Government Accountability Office must conduct housing needs assessments and oversight studies within 18 months. No significant new costs or regulatory burdens are imposed on private citizens or businesses.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes National Park Service to acquire up to 20 acres outside park boundaries specifically for employee housing
- Extends Forest Service permit terms from 30 to 50 years for workforce housing projects
- Creates direct hiring authority for local residents near federal land units through September 2030
- Requires comprehensive housing needs assessment and oversight reports from GAO
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Improves workforce housing for federal land management agencies (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service) to address recruitment and retention challenges.
Key Policy Areas
Public Lands, Federal Workforce, Housing, Government Operations
Primary Purpose
Improves workforce housing for federal land management agencies (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service) to address recruitment and retention challenges.
Policy Domains
Title I - National Park Service Workforce Housing
Identified Gains
- National Park Service field employees
- Federal land management workforce
Title II - Partnerships and Cooperation
Identified Gains
- State and local governments with adjacent parkland
- Tribal governments
- Philanthropic organizations
- Private housing developers
Title IV - Assessments and Oversight
Identified Gains
- Congress (oversight capacity)
- Federal workforce (better housing policies)
Identified Costs
- Government Accountability Office
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Covered agency heads
Title III - Workforce Support
Identified Gains
- Local residents near federal lands
- Seasonal NPS employees
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Barrasso (for himself, Mr. Daines, and Mr. King) introduced …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bureau of Land Management, Congress, Covered agency heads
Positive-direction: Congress, Federal employees assigned to partner entities, Federal land management agencies, Federal land management workforce, Federal workforce in covered agencies, Forest Service employees, NPS field employees, National Park Service, National Park Service field employees, Seasonal National Park Service employees
Negative-direction: Covered agency heads, Government Accountability Office, Office of Management and Budget, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of the Interior
Local governments with adjacent parkland, State and Tribal park employees, State and local governments
Forest Service workforce housing developers, Private developers on Forest Service land, Private housing developers
Philanthropic organizations supporting NPS
Gateway community residents, Local residents near federal land units
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "secretary_of_agriculture"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General of the United States
- "secretary_of_agriculture"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
Note: The Secretary refers to Secretary of the Interior throughout most of the bill, but some provisions in Titles III and IV also reference the Secretary of Agriculture for Forest Service matters
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; the Committee on Natural Resources of the House; the Committee on Agriculture of the House; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House
The National Park Service; the Bureau of Land Management; the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Forest Service
The Secretary of the Interior
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology