A new report indicates Americans are locked out of more than 9.5 million acres of public land across 13 different states. The three states most affected are Wyoming (3.05 million acres), Nevada (2.05 million acres) and Montana (1.52 million acres).
Generated by the Montana GPS mapping company onX and presented at a media summit hosted by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a majority of the land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
“Public access isn’t fast but there’s a serious urgency to it,” Jennifer Doherty, director of lands for Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, told the Billings Gazette.
To date, RMEF opened or improved public access to more than 1.2 million acres of land.
Public access supporters advocate for the permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund which provides funding for conservation and access projects.