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To amend the Wilderness Act to allow certain entities to use unmanned aircraft systems within wilderness areas, potential wilderness areas, and wilderness study areas.
Summary
This bill would amend the Wilderness Act to permit federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to use unmanned aircraft systems (drones) within designated wilderness areas, potential wilderness areas, and wilderness study areas for specific purposes. Authorized uses would include environmental monitoring and research such as tracking harmful algal blooms and invasive species, law enforcement and search and rescue activities, and monitoring the effects of natural disasters. The amendment would create an exception to the Wilderness Act's general prohibition on motorized equipment in wilderness areas for these agency uses.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Byron Donalds’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $212,903
- ENTREPRENEUR $17,899
- ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ $13,200
- ROBINHOOD MARKETS INC $12,750
- SAULSBURY INDUSTRIES $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Byron Donalds → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- May 15, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
- May 15, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 15, 2025
Mr. Donalds introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To amend the Wilderness Act to allow certain entities to use unmanned aircraft systems within wilderness areas, potential wilderness areas, and wilderness study areas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Wilderness Inclusion for Limited-use Drones Act of 2025” or the “WILD Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS WITHIN WILDERNESS.
Section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(8)(A) A Federal, State, local, or Tribal agency may use and operate an unmanned aircraft system within a wilderness area designated by this Act, potential wilderness area, or wilderness study area identified pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782) to—
“(i) carry out environmental monitoring and research activities, including with respect to harmful algal blooms and invasive species;
“(ii) carry out law enforcement and search and rescue activities, including such activities carried out by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and
“(iii) monitor the effects of a natural disaster.
“(B) In this paragraph:
“(i) The term ‘natural disaster’ has the meaning given the term in section 602(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a(a)).
“(ii) The term ‘unmanned aircraft system’ has the meaning given the term in section 44801(12) of title 49, United States Code.”. <all>
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