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Read. Follow. Verify.Congressional Hearing on the Future of Recreation.gov
Record date · January 1, 2017
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What This Bill Does
This hearing transcript documents a 2016 Congressional review of the Recreation.gov reservation portal. The subcommittee examined the portal's exclusive control over booking data and discussed how future management contracts could better support open data sharing and competition among reservation services.
The hearing addresses how the federal government manages the booking system for 60,000 public facilities, which impacts how citizens reserve access to national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Federal land visitors
Users of the portal are affected by the accessibility and functionality of the reservation system.
Third-party reservation sites
These entities are affected by the government's policies on sharing real-time reservation data.
Concessionaires
These businesses operate facilities on federal lands and rely on the portal for bookings.
Key Facts
- Recreation.gov serves as the central booking portal for 60,000 facilities and activities on federal lands.
- The portal has maintained exclusive control over real-time reservation data for the 10 years preceding the 2016 hearing.
- The 10-year management contract for the website was set to expire in 2016.
- The U.S. Forest Service released a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the new management contract in 2014.
Show all 6 facts
- The government extended the comment period for the RFP twice and held an industry day to discuss stakeholder concerns.
- Primary concerns regarding the RFP included open data requirements and language regarding third-party commissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceFull breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Transition toward open data
The hearing highlights a shift in government philosophy from exclusive data management to promoting open data sharing for public services.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz10Current news / social attention level
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