Witnesses tell House subcommittee Explore Act needs funding, staff and clearer rules to deliver accessibility on public lands

Chairman Tiffany convened the Subcommittee on Federal Lands on April 27 to examine implementation of Title Two of the Explore Act, which directs federal land managers to expand meaningful access to trails, campsites and recreation facilities for people with disabilities and veterans. Witnesses testified that policy is in place but execution is lagging because of staffing shortages, funding gaps and inconsistent agency definitions for adaptive devices.

The hearing focused on how to translate the law's inventories and pilots into on-the-ground accessibility. Joe Stone, co-owner of Dovetail Trail Consulting and a C7 quadriplegic, told the subcommittee that personal experience and field assessments point to three practical obstacles: inaccessible parking and trailheads, lack of reliable pre-visit information about trail conditions, and the prohibitive cost of adaptive equipment. "Should they not be able to access the lands they sacrificed so much to protect?" Stone asked, describing veterans left on a dock because trail steps blocked access to Hidden Falls.

Stone and other witnesses stressed that Title Two can close long-standing gaps between civil-rights accessibility laws and outdoor recreation if Congress pairs mandates with funding and staff capacity. Mike Passo, executive director of American Trails, said agency capacity—not policy—is the largest barrier: workforce reductions and hiring freezes are preventing already-funded projects from receiving final sign-offs. "We have the funding encumbered and it's ready to go, but they can't get the sign-offs on their Forest Service land," Passo said, citing stalled projects and wasted volunteer time.

Representatives and witnesses also raised statutory and regulatory obstacles to modern assistive technologies. Paralyzed Veterans of America's Associate Legislative Director Julie Howell explained that long-standing agency interpretations of the term "wheelchair" under wilderness and other statutes can limit the use of newer adaptive devices in certain settings, and that different land-management agencies may apply inconsistent definitions. She urged either a centralized statutory fix or clear interagency guidance to prevent uneven access across parks, forests and BLM lands.

Panels of veterans'serving organizations and park-access experts described practical implementation priorities: fund and protect front-line trail- and maintenance staff; prioritize parking-lot access and van-accessible spaces; collect and publish standardized condition and wayfinding information so visitors can plan independently; and include people with disabilities in design and decision-making. The Paralyzed Veterans of America and Wounded Warrior Project recommended performance tracking that measures participation and health outcomes tied to recreation programs.

Witnesses offered concrete data and examples: Stone said some adaptive equipment can cost more than $20,000 and is out of reach for many families; Passo described a grant program his organization administers that yields an 8-to-1 return on volunteer and nonprofit leverage; and multiple members cited staff reductions in management agencies, including testimony that the National Park Service had lost a quarter of its permanent staff and the Forest Service had lost roughly 9,000 workers. Witnesses said those losses make it difficult to implement even low-cost accessibility improvements.

Members on both sides of the aisle framed the issue as bipartisan and urgent ahead of increased visitation for the nation's semiquincentennial. Several members noted the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service did not send agency representatives to answer live questions; the ranking member and others said written submissions are not an adequate substitute for a live exchange.

The subcommittee asked that witnesses respond in writing to submitted questions by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2026, and left the hearing record open for ten business days. No formal votes or committee actions were taken at the hearing.

The hearing highlighted a central practical conclusion: Title Two provides a framework, but lawmakers and advocates said Congress and federal agencies must secure sustained funding, restore or protect staffing capacity, and resolve definitional and information gaps if expanded access to public lands is to reach the veterans and people with disabilities the law was intended to serve.