ROUTES Act

Restoring Our Unopened Trails for Enjoyment and Safety Act or the ROUTES Act

This bill requires the reopening of certain recreation sites closed due to a natural disaster.

In the case of a recreation site that is fully or partially closed due to damage caused by a natural disaster (including certain standing trees that present a visible hazard), the Department of the Interior (with respect to Interior recreational lands) or the Department of Agriculture (with respect to National Forest System lands) must reopen the site not later than two years after the date on which the disaster ends.

The bill categorically excludes specified activities from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement where the primary purpose of the activity is, consistent with the applicable management plan, to

• repair and restore recreation sites damaged by a natural disaster,
• remove hazard trees for the purpose of public safety or improving access,
• mitigate and reduce soil erosion impacting a recreation site,
• restore drainage patterns to support a recreation site, or
• any combination of these purposes.

The bill provides for emergency hazard tree removal.

Interior or Agriculture must report to Congress and make the report publicly available.