[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 260 Referred in House (RFH)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 260


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 28, 2005

                 Referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide technical and 
  financial assistance to private landowners to restore, enhance, and 
 manage private land to improve fish and wildlife habitats through the 
                Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program.

    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 ``Partners for Fish and Wildlife 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) approximately 60 percent of fish and wildlife in the 
        United States are on private land;
            (2) it is imperative to facilitate private landowner-
        centered and results-oriented efforts that promote efficient 
        and innovative ways to protect and enhance natural resources;
            (3) there is no readily available source of technical 
        biological information that the public can access to assist 
        with the application of state-of-the-art techniques to restore, 
        enhance, and manage fish and wildlife habitats;
            (4) a voluntary cost-effective program that leverages 
        public and private funds to assist private landowners in the 
        conduct of state-of-the-art fish and wildlife habitat 
        restoration, enhancement, and management projects is needed;
            (5) durable partnerships working collaboratively with 
        willing private landowners to implement on-the-ground projects 
        has lead to the reduction of endangered species listings;
            (6) Executive Order No. 13352 (69 Fed. Reg. 52989) directs 
        the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and 
        Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency to pursue new 
        cooperative conservation programs involving the collaboration 
        of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, private for-
        profit and non-profit institutions, non-governmental entities, 
        and individuals;
            (7) since 1987, the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program 
        has exemplified cooperative conservation as an innovative, 
        voluntary partnership program that helps private landowners 
        restore wetland and other important fish and wildlife habitat; 
        and
            (8) through 33,103 agreements with private landowners, the 
        Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program has accomplished the 
        restoration of 677,000 acres of wetland, 1,253,700 acres of 
        prairie and native grasslands, and 5,560 miles of riparian and 
        in-stream habitat since 1987, demonstrating much of that 
        success since only 2001.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide for the 
restoration, enhancement, and management of fish and wildlife habitats 
on private land through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, a 
program that works with private landowners to conduct cost-effective 
habitat projects for the benefit of fish and wildlife resources in the 
United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Federal trust species.--The term ``Federal trust 
        species'' means migratory birds, threatened species, endangered 
        species, interjurisdictional fish, marine mammals, and other 
        species of concern.
            (2) Habitat enhancement.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``habitat enhancement'' 
                means the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or 
                biological characteristics of a habitat to change a 
                specific function or seral stage of the habitat.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``habitat enhancement'' 
                includes--
                            (i) an activity conducted to increase or 
                        decrease a specific function for the purpose of 
                        benefitting species, including--
                                    (I) increasing the hydroperiod and 
                                water depth of a stream or wetland 
                                beyond what would naturally occur;
                                    (II) improving waterfowl habitat 
                                conditions;
                                    (III) establishing water level 
                                management capabilities for native 
                                plant communities;
                                    (IV) creating mud flat conditions 
                                important for shorebirds; and
                                    (V) cross fencing or establishing a 
                                rotational grazing system on native 
                                range to improve grassland nesting bird 
                                habitat conditions; and
                            (ii) an activity conducted to shift a 
                        native plant community successional stage, 
                        including--
                                    (I) burning an established native 
                                grass community to reduce or eliminate 
                                invading brush or exotic species;
                                    (II) brush shearing to set back 
                                early successional plant communities; 
                                and
                                    (III) forest management that 
                                promotes a particular seral stage.
                    (C) Exclusions.--The term ``habitat enhancement'' 
                does not include regularly scheduled and routine 
                maintenance and management activities, such as annual 
                mowing or spraying of unwanted vegetation.
            (3) Habitat establishment.--The term ``habitat 
        establishment'' means the manipulation of physical, chemical, 
        or biological characteristics of a project site to create and 
        maintain habitat that did not previously exist on the project 
        site, including construction of--
                    (A) shallow water impoundments on non-hydric soils; 
                and
                    (B) side channel spawning and rearing habitat.
            (4) Habitat improvement.--The term ``habitat improvement'' 
        means restoring, enhancing, or establishing physiographic, 
        hydrological, or disturbance conditions necessary to establish 
        or maintain native plant and animal communities, including 
        periodic manipulations to maintain intended habitat conditions 
        on completed project sites.
            (5) Habitat restoration.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``habitat restoration'' 
                means the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or 
                biological characteristics of a site with the goal of 
                returning the majority of natural functions to the lost 
                or degraded native habitat.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``habitat restoration'' 
                includes--
                            (i) an activity conducted to return a 
                        project site, to the maximum extent 
                        practicable, to the ecological condition that 
                        existed prior to the loss or degradation, 
                        including--
                                    (I) removing tile drains or 
                                plugging drainage ditches in former or 
                                degraded wetland;
                                    (II) returning meanders and 
                                sustainable profiles to straightened 
                                streams;
                                    (III) burning grass communities 
                                heavily invaded by exotic species to 
                                reestablish native grass and plant 
                                communities; and
                                    (IV) planting plant communities 
                                that are native to the project site;
                            (ii) if restoration of a project site to 
                        its original ecological condition is not 
                        practicable, an activity that repairs 1 or more 
                        of the original habitat functions and that 
                        involve the use of native vegetation, 
                        including--
                                    (I) the installation of a water 
                                control structure in a swale on land 
                                isolated from overbank flooding by a 
                                major levee to simulate natural 
                                hydrological processes; and
                                    (II) the placement of streambank or 
                                instream habitat diversity structures 
                                in streams that cannot be restored to 
                                original conditions or profile; and
                            (iii) removal of a disturbing or degrading 
                        element to enable the native habitat to 
                        reestablish or become fully functional.
            (6) Private land.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``private land'' means 
                any land that is not owned by the Federal Government or 
                a State.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``private land'' includes 
                tribal land and Hawaiian homeland.
            (7) Project.--The term ``project'' means a project carried 
        out under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program 
        established by section 4.
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM.

    The Secretary shall carry out the Partners for Fish and Wildlife 
Program within the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to provide--
            (1) technical and financial assistance to private 
        landowners for the conduct of voluntary projects to benefit 
        Federal trust species by promoting habitat improvement, habitat 
        restoration, habitat enhancement, and habitat establishment; 
        and
            (2) technical assistance to other public and private 
        entities regarding fish and wildlife habitat restoration on 
        private land.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act not 
more than $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011.

            Passed the Senate June 27, 2005.

            Attest:

                                             EMILY J. REYNOLDS,

                                                             Secretary.