EQUAL Parks Act Codifies Diversity Mandate: Making Public Lands Inclusion Permanent Law

The newly introduced EQUAL Parks Act (Expanding Quality and Universal Access to Lands and Parks Act) is short, but it carries a big punch for how our federal lands are managed. This bill isn’t creating a new program or spending a ton of money right away; instead, it’s taking an existing executive policy and making it permanent law.

Specifically, Section 2 codifies a Presidential Memorandum from January 12, 2017, which focused on promoting diversity and inclusion across all public lands and waters. Think of it like this: that memorandum was a temporary directive, essentially a sticky note on the fridge of the federal government. The EQUAL Parks Act takes that sticky note and permanently engraves it into the legal code. This means the mandate to ensure public lands are managed and accessed in a diverse and inclusive way now has the full, stable weight of a statute passed by Congress.

The Legal Upgrade: From Memo to Mandate

Why does upgrading a memorandum to a statute matter? Because executive orders and memorandums can be revoked or changed easily by the next administration. By codifying this policy, the EQUAL Parks Act provides a much more stable legal foundation for federal agencies like the National Park Service or the Bureau of Land Management to prioritize inclusive practices. For the average person, this means that policies aimed at reducing barriers to access—whether those barriers are financial, physical, or cultural—are less likely to disappear with a change in political leadership.

For example, if you live in an urban area and rely on federal programs to facilitate access to a distant national forest, this bill helps ensure those programs—which often target underserved communities—have a legal basis that can’t be easily swept away. It’s a formal, long-term commitment to making sure the great outdoors is truly for everyone, regardless of background.

The Catch: Clarity Versus Commitment

While the goal is clearly positive—promoting diversity and inclusion—the bill inherits the language of the original 2017 memorandum, which can be somewhat vague. When policy terms like “diversity” and “inclusion” are codified without extensive, specific definitions, they can sometimes lead to inconsistent application across different agencies. The vagueness (assessed as Medium) means federal land managers are given broad authority to interpret what these terms mean in practice.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it allows for flexibility in implementation, but it does mean the real-world impact will depend heavily on the specific rules and regulations the agencies write next. Ultimately, the EQUAL Parks Act is a commitment to equitable access, ensuring that the policy goals of making our national treasures accessible to all communities are locked into law.