S. 704 — Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act of 2025

This section revises the funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program—under which the Secretary of Agriculture provides grants to states and tribal governments to encourage public access to private agricultural and forested lands for outdoor recreation (e.g., hunting, fishing) and to improve wildlife habitat—to make available $150 million in mandatory Commodity Credit Corporation funds for FY2025 through FY2029 (from $10 million annually for FY2019 through FY2023). Of those funds, the Secretary shall use $3 million, to the maximum extent practicable, to encourage public access to land enrolled in wetland reserve easements under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program through agreements with states and tribal governments.