Nominate Public Land For Better Access

Mateo Lorenzo

last Monday at 5:13 PM

If you've ever stared at a map, seen a stretch of public land that's technically yours to use, and realized there's no legal way to actually get to it — you already understand the problem Access Granted was built to solve. Now the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is asking the public to help fix it, and we want every Access Granted member to know how to weigh in.

BLM just opened its fourth round of public nominations under the Dingell Act, running July 31 through August 30, 2026. This is a 30-day window for hunters, anglers, hikers, and anyone who cares about public land access to formally nominate BLM parcels that are landlocked or significantly restricted — the exact issue Access Granted exists to unlock.

What Is the Dingell Act, and Why Does It Matter?

The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (S. 47) became law in March 2019. Section 4105 of the Act directs BLM to build a priority access list of public parcels where legal access doesn't exist or is significantly restricted, then report to Congress on options to fix it — things like acquiring an easement, right-of-way, or fee title from a willing seller.

This isn't a one-time exercise. BLM has now run nomination rounds in 2020, 2022, 2024, and now 2026, and the results speak for themselves: 7,019 total nominations submitted across those rounds resulted in 1,016 distinct parcels — roughly 5.79 million acres — added to the current priority access list across 14 western states, including Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Oregon.

Who Can Nominate, and What Counts?

A nominated parcel must:

Be managed by BLM
Encompass at least 640 contiguous acres
Have no legal public access, or significantly restricted access
Be open for recreation consistent with existing land use plans

To submit a nomination, you'll need to provide the parcel's location, its approximate acreage, and a description of why access is blocked or restricted. BLM does not collect or publish any personal information about landowners in the resulting list or congressional reports — the focus stays entirely on the land, not on any individual's property.

How to Submit a Nomination

BLM built an interactive mapping tool for this exact purpose. You can draw the parcel boundary yourself and see every previously submitted nomination — approved, pending, or eliminated — layered on the same map.

Nominate a parcel on BLM's mapping portal →

If you want a walkthrough before diving in, BLM also published a step-by-step user guide for the portal.

Why Access Granted Is Getting Behind This

Part of Access Granted's mission is to unlock landlocked public land through flexible private-land access corridors. The Dingell Act process is doing the same work from a more long-term angle — using public nominations to build the federal case for permanent access solutions like easements and rights-of-way.

We see this as complementary, not competing: BLM's priority access list is the long-term, permanent-fix side of the access equation, while Access Granted offers a faster, lower-friction, and more flexible path for landowners to grant access to landlocked ground in the meantime. Every acre that gets identified, tracked, and eventually unlocked — by either path — is a win for public land recreation.

That's why we're asking our members to take five minutes this month and submit a nomination for any BLM parcel you know of that's cut off or hard to reach. The nomination window closes August 30, 2026 — after that, the next opportunity won't come around for another two years.

Take Action Before August 30

Think about BLM land near you that you know is landlocked or hard to access legally.
Head to the BLM nomination portal and draw the parcel boundary.
Add a short description of the access problem and submit.

It takes a few minutes, it's anonymous with respect to any private landowner, and it directly shapes which parcels BLM prioritizes for access solutions in the years ahead.

Have questions about the nomination process or want help identifying a candidate parcel? Reach out to the Access Granted team at info@accessgrantedinitiative.com — we're happy to help.

If you've ever stood on the edge of public land, staring at an invisible boundary you can’t legally cross, you’re not alone. Millions of acres of public land in the United States are landlocked and inaccessible- surrounded by private property with no realistic access to the public- but that changes now.

We're proud to introduce the Access Granted Initiative, a first-of-its-kind program by Infinite Outdoors that gives our members free, legal access to public lands that have been off-limits for generations.

A New Way Forward

Access Granted is built on a simple but powerful idea: Public land should be public.

Through strategic agreements with private landowners, we're opening walk-in access to landlocked Bureau of Land Management (BLM), state, and national forest parcels. These aren’t just a few extra acres either- at launch, Access Granted unlocks more than 50,000 acres of public land across Wyoming and Colorado, with more on the way.

These new access points are made possible through partnerships with outdoor brands and non-profits that share your values. These entities believe in access, conservation, and safeguarding the future of our public lands- and they’re stepping up to fund the legal easements and daily access licenses that make this initiative possible.

What This Means for You

As an Infinite Outdoors member, you don’t have to pay anything to access these lands. No hidden fees, no complex application process, no guesswork. Just log into the app, find an Access Granted property near you, and book your access for the day.

Each Access Granted listing includes detailed boundaries, parking instructions, and usage guidelines. Many of these access points are open for hunting, hiking, camping, shed hunting, and more; year-round.

Whether you’re a seasoned hunter chasing mule deer, or a young family looking for a quiet place to camp for the weekend, these new lands are now yours to enjoy.

Conservation Comes First

At Infinite Outdoors, access has never come at the expense of stewardship. That’s why every Access Granted property is supported by on-staff biologists who help landowners manage wildlife populations, enforce harvest quotas, and ensure habitat is preserved. Our joint commitment to stewardship on private land carries over to the public land we’re opening up. By leveraging the Infinite Outdoors app to keep a pulse on habitat concerns, harvest numbers and impact from access points we can ensure sustainable access and management- not possible by traditional public access programs.

This initiative isn’t just about unlocking gates- it’s about building a sustainable, long-term future for outdoor access and conservation.

A Community Effort

We're kicking off Access Granted with our first conservation event at the Andrus Draw property near Kaycee, Wyoming- an access point that now connects members to over 40,000 acres of newly accessible BLM. In partnership with the Mule Deer Foundation, we’re hosting a wildlife-friendly fencing project on June 7th, and members are invited to participate. It's a chance to get your hands dirty for a good cause- and see the new access up close.

Just the Beginning

This is only the start. With new landowners joining every month and more partners lining up to support the cause, the footprint of Access Granted is set to grow dramatically over the coming seasons.

We built this program for you- our members and the public at large. Because we believe the outdoors belongs to everyone, and no one should be locked out of public land that was meant for us all.

Explore newly opened lands or learn more about Access Granted in your Infinite Outdoors app or by visiting infiniteoutdoorsusa.com/access-granted. Support our ability to fund further access by upgrading your free membership to an Access + Membership (for only $49.99/yr).

Let’s tear down the invisible fences—together.