[Senate Hearing 118-367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 118-367
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO
FACILITATE WILDLIFE MOVEMENT
AND IMPROVE MIGRATION CORRIDORS
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES,
WATER, AND WILDLIFE
of the
COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
NOVEMBER 14, 2023
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56-260 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia, Ranking Member
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon PETE RICKETTS, Nebraska
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
MARK KELLY, Arizona DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
ALEX PADILLA, California LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina
JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
Courtney Taylor, Democratic Staff Director
Adam Tomlinson, Republican Staff Director
----------
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife
ALEX PADILLA, California, Chairman
CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming, Ranking Member
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island PETE RICKETTS, Nebraska
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
MARK KELLY, Arizona SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware (ex Virginia (ex officio)
officio)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
NOVEMBER 14, 2023
OPENING STATEMENTS
Padilla, Hon. Alex, U.S. Senator from the State of California.... 1
Lummis, Hon. Cynthia M., U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming.. 2
WITNESSES
Bonham, Charlton H., California Department of Fish and Wildlife.. 3
Prepared statement........................................... 8
Response to an additional question from Senator Cardin....... 15
West, Madeleine, Director, Center for Public Lands, Theodore
Roosevelt Conservation Partnership............................. 20
Prepared statement........................................... 22
Response to an additional question from Senator Cardin....... 28
King, Richard, Chief Game Warden, Wyoming Department of Fish and
Game........................................................... 30
Prepared statement........................................... 32
Response to an additional question from Senator Cardin....... 39
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statements from:
Pew Charitable Trusts........................................ 61
Western Governors' Association (WGA)......................... 64
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO FACILITATE WILDLIFE MOVEMENT AND
IMPROVE MIGRATION CORRIDORS
----------
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:33 p.m. in
room 406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Alex Padilla
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Senators Padilla, Lummis, Carper, Ricketts,
Boozman, Sullivan.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ALEX PADILLA,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Senator Padilla. Good afternoon, everybody. This hearing
will come to order. Welcome to the third hearing this Congress
of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on
Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife and the first hearing this year
focused specifically on protecting wildlife.
Before I set the stage for the topic of today's hearing, I
will do one housekeeping item at the top. The time is just
after 2:30 in the afternoon now. At four o'clock, there is a
Rules Committee hearing, so somewhere a few minutes after four
o'clock, I may excuse myself for a few minutes to cast a vote
in the Rules Committee and then make my way back to the
hearing. I appreciate Senator Lummis or whoever may hold the
gavel for those few minutes while I come and go.
Back to the topic of today's hearing, every day, every
month, and every season in America, animals across the Country
cross roads and highways, hop fences, and barriers and navigate
human-made obstacles in order to survive. As our Country
continues to grow both in population and in development, so do
interactions between wildlife and humans. Yet, all too often,
that can mean traditional wildlife corridors for migration are
being cutoff by human-made barriers and that the biodiversity
of the land around us is coming under threat.
So, today, we will be examining the challenges and
opportunities to facilitating wildlife movement and improving
migration corridors across the Country. In California, we
certainly do love our wildlife, and not just because we are the
most biodiverse State in the Nation.
We regularly hear stories of a new critter that has
captured the hearts of Californians and the public's
imagination, whether a surfboard-stealing sea otter off the
coast of Santa Cruz or a band of newts so beloved they have
attracted a newt brigade of volunteers to help them cross the
road safely.
It is the awe that we felt when the Yurok Tribe
reintroduced the once nearly extinct and sacred California
condor, or the passion with which the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation
works to protect the Roosevelt elk in order to reduce human-elk
conflicts.
Perhaps none have reached the level of fame of the beloved
P-22, the mountain lion here behind me, the iconic mountain
lion of Griffith Park who was known for wandering around the
Hollywood Hills. Born in the Santa Monica mountains of Southern
California, P-22 had to cross two major freeways to get to his
eventual home in Griffith Park, and even then, he became
increasingly isolated by the habitat around him, severely
fragmented by human development.
A cultural icon of the Los Angeles area, photographed by
the Hollywood sign, adorned on tee-shirts and honored in the
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Angelenos' hearts
broke when last December, P-22 tragically passed away after
being hit by a car. But the fascination surrounding P-22 helped
spur a movement that led to the construction of the historic
Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which, when complete, will
allow more mountain lions to safely cross ten lanes of Highway
101 and connect to their needed habitat.
The truth is, while they might not all attract the same
following as P-22, stories like this happen every single day
across America, whether for daily or seasonal migration or
being pushed away by a climate in crisis, wildlife face
barriers to migration that threaten their lives and, in turn,
threaten the vibrant biodiversity of our Nation and our outdoor
recreational culture.
To be completely truthful, the interruption of wildlife
corridors and lack of adequate crossings threaten human lives,
as well. Drivers in the United States face a 1 in 127 chance of
hitting an animal in their lifetime, a statistic that increases
to as high as 1 in 38 for drivers in West Virginia, for
example.
It is estimated that wildlife involved in crashes kills
more than 150 drivers every year in America, with millions of
auto claims made for animal collisions on top of that, and
whether from vehicle repairs, medical expenses, towing or
cleanup, crashes cost between $8 billion to $12 billion
annually. We pay an enormous human toll when we fail to provide
adequate crossings.
Today, I am looking forward to having a bipartisan
discussion about the ways we can improve habitat connectivity,
boost biodiversity, and the resilience of our ecosystems and
protect human lives. That can come in the form of investing in
physical infrastructure and habitat connectivity projects like
overpasses, underpasses, culverts, and more.
To do that, we need better data gathering, with technology
like GPS collars to better understand where, when, and how
animals are migrating throughout the year and where the highest
risk of vehicular collisions exists.
It can also mean advancing nature-based solutions, like
protecting some of our last remaining wilderness areas and
improving management of the landscapes that species migrate
across. Because wildlife migration will never be neatly
confined to within one State, one county, or a city's borders,
we know that we will have to work collaboratively across local,
State, and tribal boundaries to share data, advance
partnerships, and improve connectivity.
In the past, this committee has come together in a
bipartisan way to approve $350 million to the Department of
Transportation to fund wildlife crossing projects and reduce
wildlife vehicle collisions. While we still await the
implementation of that funding, we have proven that there is a
bipartisan interest to make progress, and, as I think we will
learn more about today, to think even bigger than just
individual wildlife crossings to boost wildlife connectivity
across the Country. Often, we just need a roadmap to know what
we should do next, and I am grateful to all of our witnesses
for coming together to provide just that. I look forward to
hearing from each of you today.
With that, let me hand it over the Ranking Member Lummis to
make her opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CYNTHIA LUMMIS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WYOMING
Senator Lummis. Thank you, Chairman Padilla. One of the
really fun things about having you as the Chairman and getting
to be the Ranking Member with you is, of course, California is
the most populous State, mine is the least, but how similar the
problems are.
Yours are more exacerbated by dealing with the amount of
traffic that confronts your wildlife populations, and we have
tremendous issues with regard to State ownership of land,
Federal ownership of land, private ownership, tribal ownership,
you know. It is just so fun to work with you on this committee,
so I appreciate you.
I want to thank each of the witnesses for agreeing to be
here today.
Wyoming is a haven for big game species: bison, elk, moose,
pronghorn, mule deer, and many others whose habitat varies by
season. Wildlife migration corridors allow these big game
species to move between seasonal ranges, of which there are
many in Wyoming. In many cases, a herd's migration route will
encompass a mix of, as I said, Federal, State, tribal, and
private property, which makes their management a challenge that
must be addressed with a collaborative spirit.
It is very evident in Wyoming, and we, I think, have done a
really good job of creating a template for how these issues can
be addressed. Wildlife corridors can span hundreds of miles in
one direction, I am sure that is true in California as well,
like elk and mule deer that travel between the greater
Yellowstone ecosystem down to the red desert and back each
year, so that means going from the Teton Range that goes up
into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.
Down through the Bridger Teton National Forest, I have a
farm that abuts the Bridger National Forest, so I see a lot of
these animals passing through. Then it runs down to residential
areas near Pinedale, Wyoming, then to the checkerboard lands
near the Upper Green River Basin. Checkerboard means the Union
Pacific, and so there is Federal land mixed in with UP land and
private land along the railroad. That includes State and
private lands and Federal lands.
Then, it ends up on Bureau of Land Management land in
southern Wyoming. If you travel between Pinedale, Wyoming and
Jackson, you will see overpasses for the antelope, because they
don't like to go through a culvert. You will see underpasses
under the roads for deer, because they don't want to go over.
I think we have done a really good job, especially along
that particular migration corridor, of addressing these issues.
That has meant working with the National Parks Service, U.S.
Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, State and private
lands. Identifying and maintaining these corridors really takes
collaboration among all stakeholders, and that has got to be
even more difficult in California with your big populations.
That is why I am so pleased we will be able to hear today
from Richard King. Richard, thank you so much for coming.
Richard is the Chief Game Warden and Chief of Wildlife Division
at the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish.
Mr. King has worked at the Wyoming Game and Fish for 21
plus years, and his expertise in on-the-ground wildlife
management will enhance today's conversation, because he has
worked directly on the issues that I just discussed.
In 2018, then Secretary Ryan Zinke over at the Department
of the Interior signed Secretary Order 3362, which directs
Interior's agencies to work with western States to enhance and
improve the quality of migration corridors. The order
rightfully keeps States in the driver's seat, as States have
primacy over their wildlife. It also calls for the respect of
private property rights, ensuring the continuation of a
voluntary-based program.
That is how I believe it should be done. I used to be
involved with the Western Governors' Association. These issues
come up at WGA a lot. California is a member of the Western
Governors' Association, so we work with all the western States
on some of these issues.
Wyoming continues to lead the way in collaborating with
Federal land managers, private land owners, and other
stakeholders to complete important habitat conservation work in
a voluntary, incentive-based manner. In 2020, Wyoming Governor
Mark Gordon signed the Wyoming Mule Deer and Antelope Migration
Corridor Protection Executive Order. This order, in conjunction
with the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission's hard work,
implements a designation process for migration corridors with
public input and the best available science.
I am proud of the Wyoming model, which relies on
collaboration rather than coercion to benefit our State's big
game species. We must continue to recognize the leadership role
played by States while also respecting the rights of private
landowners. As you said, Chairman Padilla, providing some
funding through the Highway Bill, especially for States that
have tremendous issues with regard to collisions between
wildlife and vehicles is also an important part of this.
Thanks again to our witnesses. I look forward to hearing
your opening statements and our discussions afterwards.
Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Now, I would like to turn to our witnesses. I will
introduce them, and they will proceed with their testimony.
First, I am proud to introduce Chuck Bonham, who serves as
Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
California's habitat and wildlife diversity is unequaled by any
other State, so Chuck's testimony and knowledge will be
invaluable to us as we consider how to improve connectivity.
Second, we will hear from Madeleine West, who serves as
Director of the Center for Public Lands at the Theodore
Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, having previously worked
for the Western Governors' Association. Madeleine has spent a
lot of time working closely with State wildlife agencies,
hunting and fishing organizations, and private landowners on
wildlife migration.
Third, we will hear from Richard King, who, as you just
heard, serves as Chief Game Warden at the Wyoming Game and Fish
Department. He has served at the Department for an impressive
25 years, and I am glad to have Mr. King with us today, given
Wyoming's strong leadership in protecting migration and
advancing partnerships.
Senator Lummis. You know, Mr. Padilla, he is our Joe
Pickett. Do you know who Joe Pickett is?
Senator Padilla. Remind me.
Senator Lummis. C.J. Box, who is an author from Wyoming,
who has written numerous books about a game warden by the name
of Joe Pickett, and it is a series of books about a Wyoming
game warden, and he is a nationally acclaimed author. I will
give you a copy of one of his books. Anyway, Richard is
Wyoming's Joe Pickett.
Senator Padilla. Very good.
Senator Lummis. Without the flaws.
[Laughter.]
Senator Padilla. So that is just building suspense for his
testimony.
[Laughter.]
Senator Padilla. We will begin with Mr. Bonham.
STATEMENT OF CHARLTON H. BONHAM, DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA
DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
Mr. Bonham. Thank you, Chair, Ranking Member, Senator. My
name is Chuck Bonham, and I am the Director of the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, which I think is the greatest
job in the world.
I boiled my testimony down to two words today. The first is
connectivity, which is the underpinning of nature. All of life
needs connection. As people, we need it, like our social
connections in a chaotic world. Nature needs it too, but across
the United States, we face a challenge where wildlife is losing
the ability to migrate.
From our largest animals, bears and lions, down to our
smallest and everything in between, the reality is, all
wildlife needs the ability to move: small mammals, birds,
amphibians, invertebrates, plants, and reptiles. In California,
we have 60 species of reptiles and amphibians, like the Mohave
desert tortoise, the Arroyo toad, they need the freedom to
move.
That idea of freedom of movement applies to our fish, as
well, iconic salmon and steelhead swimming upstream, running
through culverts, bumping into barriers. Connectivity gives
them the freedom to roam and produces benefits: gene flow,
seasonal migration, pollination, foraging.
In a scrambled world because of climate disruption, animals
and plants face three basic choices. They can adapt, they die,
or they can move. We, as people, have the opportunity to give
them that movement through our decisions. Make no mistake, one
huge cause of wildlife mortality is vehicle collisions. This is
a glaring people problem, too, yet smart investments in our
infrastructure can solve this problem.
Then my second word for today: fixable. This is a fixable
problem, underscore fixable. The data speaks for itself. You do
a corridor project, pick a State, Oregon, Wyoming. After the
project, the collision rates drop dramatically, 80 to 90
percent. Our department in California has learned from other
States.
Mr. King in Wyoming was one of the first to forge an
alliance between their game department and transportation.
Arizona is doing innovative work on this. The same thing is
happening on the Federal front, where recently, the Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, along with the Native American
Fish and Wildlife Society and entities in Wyoming hosted
convenings to talk about doing these projects with tribal
rights in mind and landowner property rights in mind. It is
doable; it is fixable.
Your leadership has ensured the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law is providing $350 million annually through the Wildlife
Crossings Pilot Program. In California, we are matching that
investment and exceeding it. Just my little old department, one
State department, is spending $90 million in the last 2 years
to design and build crossings and fix fish barriers.
When you factor in our transportation agency Caltrans, that
number jumps exponentially in the investments we are making in
California. We have gotten new laws that requires to inventory
the corridor problems across our State highway system and
create market incentives, where my department, through
permitting, can grant to a developer or transportation agency,
a mitigation credit when they include a corridor in their
development. That is true voluntary, market-based resolution of
a long-running problem.
We see examples on the ground from Los Angelos, as the
Senator mentioned in his opening remarks, to Riverside County,
way up into the Redwood Forest, back down in the Mohave Desert,
along the coastal zone near San Diego. These are projects that
pop out as things people care about and want dealt with and is
fixable.
California is like other place. We have unrivaled diversity
in every way: our people, our economy, and our wildlife. We
actually have more types of animals and plants in California
than any other State. Sadly, though, we also face the highest
rate of imperiled species compared to all the other United
States. A reason is the lack of freedom to roam: connectivity,
my first word. My second word, it is fixable, we just to take
these kinds of lessons to heart. We need to allocate the time,
the energy, secure the funding, harness our people power, put
our creativity on collaboration, the utilization of
partnerships for science, for mapping, for engineering, design
and permitting.
These projects allow us to future-proof California, other
places in the west, so the angler can know salmon in the river,
the hunter can know bighorn sheep, and our people can know more
mountain lions wandering under the Hollywood sign in
California.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bonham follows:]
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Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Ms. West.
STATEMENT OF MADELEINE WEST, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR PUBLIC LANDS,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP
Ms. West. Good afternoon, Chairman Padilla, Ranking Member
Lummis, members of the subcommittee. I am Madeleine West,
Director of the Center for Public Lands at the Theodore
Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
Our mission is to ensure all Americans have quality places
to hunt and fish. We work with partners to develop and advance
policies at the State and Federal level that benefit fish and
wildlife habitat. Wildlife corridor conservation is therefore
core to our mission. Collaborative efforts to study how, why,
and where a variety of wildlife species move and migrate are
underway in many parts of the Country. My testimony focuses
largely on big game species in the west, as that is where the
majority of our work has been focused.
Across the west, herds of elk, mule deer, pronghorn, big
horn sheep, moose, and bison make seasonal movements year after
year from their summer ranges to their winter ranges and back
again. Healthy, robust big game herds contribute to a way of
life for many in the west, and they contribute to a $454
billion national outdoor recreation economy, particularly in
rural communities, often close to public land utilized for
hunting and other forms of recreation, but it is not only about
economics.
Big game species directly contribute to a critical
ecological food chain by serving as prey for apex predators
like mountain lions and bears, and habitat utilized by big game
is also habitat that supports a diverse suite of species, such
as waterfowl, riparian and aquatic species, even pollinators.
By making sure those habitats are conserved and connected, we
give a multitude of species greater ability to adapt and be
resilient to the effects of prolonged drought, harsher winter
climates, and a cycle of invasive annual weeds and wildfire
that we so often see in my part of the Country.
It is because of these broad ecological benefits that
support for the conservation of big game migration corridors
has persisted across three Presidential administrations
continues to earn support from a bipartisan collection of
western Governors. Back in 2008, the Western Governors'
Association, with leadership from the State of Wyoming in
particular, commenced a multi-year effort that brought together
State, Federal, and tribal agencies, private landowners,
industries, and nongovernmental organizations for the purpose
of prioritizing the conservation of wildlife corridors.
At that time, the Obama administration provided resources
to the States to support this locally driven, bottom up
approach. Then, as Senator Lummis noted, in 2018, the Trump
Administration doubled down on this work with the signing of
the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order 3362 that
focused on three distinct big game species and 11 of the
western States. The order created several programs that provide
grant funding and added capacity to State agencies, landowner
organization, and NGO's for research and conservation projects.
Then, after the Biden Administration began, the Department
of the Interior explicitly embraced the Secretarial Order,
consistently included this issue in their early priorities,
actively continued to implement programs and support funding,
and expanded those programs to Tribal governments and private
landowners.
Today, current programs focused on big game in the west
garner broad support and offer a model for how the Federal
Government can support State and tribal-led wildlife corridor
conservation efforts more broadly across the Country. We
believe this work should persist over time and be effectively
scaled up to include additional wildlife species and
geographies.
Demand for each of these programs is high, with requests
far exceeding available funding levels, yet these programs are
discretionary and funding levels are sourced from reprogrammed
funds, making them unreliable and inconsistent. Dedicated and
consistent Federal funding would be very valuable.
Importantly, it is critical that coordination between
Federal, State, and Tribal agencies, as well as private
landowners, and hunting, fishing, and conservation
organizations continue and be fostered.
In closing, we stand ready to work with Congress to advance
this issue. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I look forward
to answering questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. West follows:]
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Mr. King.
STATEMENT OF RICHARD KING, CHIEF GAME WARDEN, WYOMING
DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
Mr. King. Good afternoon, Chairman Padilla, Ranking Member
Lummis, and members of the committee. My name is Richard King,
aka Joe Pickett, and I am Chief Game Warden with Wyoming Game
and Fish Department.
Each summer, millions of people visit Wyoming's portion of
the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, making stops Grand Teton and
Yellowstone National Park. These visitors are blessed with the
opportunity to see a rich diversity of native wildlife on their
summer ranges and can observe mule deer and prong horned does
with newborn fawns and cow elk with their less-than-graceful
calves among a backdrop of the snow-covered Teton Range. These
does and cows capitalize on lush, protein-rich foods that this
high country environment delivers, and in turn, provides the
nourishment their offspring need to grow quickly.
As quickly as the green wave hits this high country
environment, winter returns, bringing snow and cold
temperatures in a challenging environment, triggered by
increasing snow and decreasing temperatures, migratory big game
begin to move out along routes learned over generations. These
routes will take them to lower elevation winter ranges, where
forage is abatable on south-facing slopes and wind-swept
ridges, although their odds of survival are largely determined
by the fat stores they bring with them from their summer
buffet.
Along their routes to winter ranges, they will make short
stops to rest in areas of high-quality habitat. These stopover
areas may be relatively small and used only for a short
duration, but are weighted heavily in the equation of survival.
Some of the mule deer observed in Grand Teton in July will
migrate through the private land of a fourth-generation dry
land farmer in Teton County, Idaho. Some will migrate to the
2.2 million acre Wind River Reservation, where tribal wildlife
managers welcome the return and oversee the well-being of this
natural resource, just as their ancestors have for thousands of
years. Some of the deer will move through Yellowstone National
Park, the Shoshone National Forest and eventually find winter
refuge on many small parcels of private property, just outside
of the fast-growing community of Cody, Wyoming.
Regardless of their final destination, migrating deer will
cross highways and other roads with rapidly increasing traffic
volumes, exposing people to greater and greater risk of a
collision.
In Wyoming, our biologists, working closely with scientist
at the University of Wyoming and elsewhere have entered the era
of big data, and we can now describe the routes used by
migratory wildlife in detail. This ability to trace these
movements allows us to visualize the importance of State,
Federal, tribal, and private land. The intact migrations we
observe in Wyoming today reflect the habitat stewardship that
has occurred and continues to occur on these lands.
Former Governor Mike Sullivan described Wyoming as a small
town with unusually long roads. I would add that Wyoming is a
small town with unusually long migrations, and Wyoming's
approach to policy starts with the recognition that our strong
sense of community shapes the way we work together. Governor
Mark Gordon's Migration Corridor Executive Order, which
supports conservation of migration habitat while recognizing
private landowner rights and multiple use opportunities, was
created after carefully listening to and incorporating the
ideas of private landowners, industry partners, including oil
and gas producers, and scientists who have devoted their
intellect to the study of animal movement.
Nearly a century ago, Aldo Leopold observed that
conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private
landowner, who conserves the public interest. Wyoming is
finding abundant opportunities to team up with private
landowners whose working lands provide a critical linkage in
the migration chain. Through our partnership with the USDA, for
example, we know that voluntary, incentive-based programs with
built in flexibility and agility to meet individual landowners
needs is paramount.
The intact landscapes that support migration provide
important ecological functions and benefit a wide diversity of
wildlife, from predators to pollinators. The management
abundance and quality of our wildlife resources are deeply
intertwined with important components of the State's economy,
including agriculture and tourism.
The study of animal migrations in Wyoming allows us to
prioritize conservation efforts and highlights the need to
focus our attention on working lands. These working lands are
integral in maintaining landscapes where animals can move
freely between important habitats, and landowners in Wyoming
are eager to help conserve the ecological functions their lands
provide. Conservation opportunities on working lands require
strong relationships, and State and Federal and private
resources applied in a flexible and agile manner.
I greatly appreciate your interest in wildlife conservation
and the opportunity to share some of Wyoming's experience with
you. Thank you, and I look forward to our discussion.
[The prepared statement of Mr. King follows:]
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Padilla. Thank you very much. Thank all three of
you for your testimony.
We will now turn to questions. Before I begin, I just want
to thank Senator Ricketts for being here, and we have also been
joined by Senator Boozman for this worthwhile conversation.
As we begin questions, I want to start with one relative to
public opinion as it relates to wildlife and wildlife
migrations. Polling has shown that an overwhelming majority of
Republicans, Democrats, and Independents support restoring or
preserving wildlife habitat connectivity and migration
corridors.
First, Director Bonham, are you seeing that level of
support in California?
Mr. Bonham. Absolutely, and the reason is pretty simple.
People get it. The experience people have with our wildlife
ranges, but they all intuitively connect with this idea of
connectivity.
I see it in three ways, as examples. The photo that you had
behind you of P-22, the mountain lion, that lion was in the
middle of Los Angeles. An apex predator in one of the largest
cities in the world, stuck in an island surrounded by roads,
that animal could look across 10 lanes of highway and see other
mountain lions, but they cannot connect. As a result, the
population that is stranded in the Santa Monica Mountains is
breeding out to extirpation.
As a result of his death, and I am the individual that made
the hard decision to euthanize that animal, a movement has
emerged. Citizens like Beth Pratt, foundations like the Wallis
Annenberg Foundation, 3,000 people who donated to the cause,
and now we will have a crossing over 10 lanes of highway,
300,000 people travel that daily, but there are different
examples.
In 2022, our department sold almost two million licenses
for hunting and fishing. I am a fly fisherman. I have been to
your great State, Ranking Member, for that passion. You stand
in a river; you know a salmon and a trout need connectivity.
If you are a hunter, and you hunt big game, you know desert
bighorn sheep need broad landscapes that they can move around
for their survival. Whether you are a hunter or an angler or a
Hollywood celebrity, you know what freedom to roam means, and
that is why it is, I would say, a nonpartisan issue in my
experience in California.
Senator Padilla. Mr. King, a followup question: can you
speak to the support for Wyoming's habitat connectivity efforts
and why these methods might be so broadly supported?
Mr. King. Absolutely, thank you for the question. In
Wyoming, we do enjoy broad support for preserving migration
corridors and the work we are doing to ensure safe passage
across highways and roadways in Wyoming. It is really easy to
get behind conserving wildlife.
Wyoming's wildlife is important to the people that live
there. It is also important to the millions of people that
visit every year, and it is easy to get behind those actions
that help safe passage of people along our roads and highways.
It is definitely a win-win situation.
I would just highlight the work of our State's first
overpass for pronghorns that was built in 2012 that was
mentioned already. That was a fantastic project where pronghorn
that have been crossing there for thousands of years were able
to continue to do so, and yet the safety for folks traveling on
that highway has been increased significantly. The support is
definitely there.
Senator Padilla. Finally, Ms. West, based on your work and
research, why do you believe there is such strong bipartisan
support for this issue, and why is it important to TRCP?
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. I can sit here and say that
this is the top conservation issue for hunting and fishing
organizations and conservation issues broadly right now,
because abundant wildlife populations of big game species and
small game species, even, like waterfowl, are important to the
TRCP and our partners and the 14 million hunters in this
Country, but it is more than just animals that you can hunt.
Many non-hunted species benefit from high quality habitat,
healthy habitat, connected habitat, indirectly. The work that
has been done for big game in indirectly supporting other
species, and that is why so many non-hunting conservation
organizations have supported this work over the years.
That is why this work is relevant to the 148 million people
who enjoy wildlife watching in this Country. A new report from
the Fish and Wildlife Service recently came out with numbers
from 2021, and 148 million people enjoy watching wildlife in
the Country, so it is an easy issue for the American public to
get behind.
Senator Padilla. Thank you. I will now recognize Senator
Lummis and ask her to chair in my absence for a few minutes
while I run over the Rules Committee and back.
Senator Lummis.
[Presiding.] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
When I turn it over to you, Senator Ricketts, I hope you
will talk a little bit about your work as Governor and member
of the Western Governors' Association on these issues at WGA,
but before that, I want to ask a couple of questions.
Mr. King, I know last week, you were involved in a meeting
on these subjects. Department of Interior was there, USDA,
conservation community. Could you describe what you heard from
those who are working so hard on this issue?
Mr. King. Thank you for the question. Last week in Jackson
was a great opportunity for folks that are working hard on the
ground to preserve wildlife migrations. They were able to get
together in this forum that was put together by the Greater
Yellowstone Coordinating Committee.
One of the first things I observed was just how important
that forum is. It was really important to get folks together
who are on the ground trying to do this work. The value of that
forum was invaluable. I heard a lot about the importance of
private lands, and I wanted to stress that point today.
Private lands are very important in a State like Wyoming
where half the State is privately owned. Our partnerships with
private lands is absolutely critical, and I heard the
practitioners at last week's meeting stress that point.
I also heard that time is of the essence. The west is
changing rapidly, and we need to respond rapidly. The
opportunities are there right now. I heard that government
leaders need to work closely together, so there is a lot of
great work going on amongst different departments and different
agencies. The more often that they can come together and
support one another's efforts, the better off wildlife will be.
I heard the importance of things like conservation
easements and other tools that are being put on the ground. I
heard a lot from nongovernmental organizations who are really
working hard to raise funds and to help in this effort. What I
heard from them is that they need things to move more quickly,
and they need speed and agility in the programs that they are
trying to put forth for wildlife conservation.
Last, I heard just how powerful Secretarial Order 3362 has
been in providing funding and support for Wyoming's efforts and
other States, as well. Again, it was a wonderful format. I
appreciate it. Thank you.
Senator Lummis. So, could you go into a little more detail
about Secretarial Order 3362 and how that affected what Wyoming
is already doing?
Mr. King. Yes, thank you. Secretarial Order 3362 really
was, first off, it was designed well. It was designed with
input from States and other agencies and entities. It has
provided us an opportunity to really maximize the great work
that Wyoming has been doing for a long time. It has provided
directed funding to efforts like fence conversions, where we
are able to convert hundreds of miles of fence into wildlife-
friendly fences that allow for passage and migration. It has
allowed us to address cheatgrass concerns, for example, which
is really a plague in our State right now.
Senator Lummis. It is.
Mr. King. Secretarial Order 3362 really has complemented
Wyoming's work. It is the right approach for us. Our State-
based action plans are driven by efforts that are already
underway in the States, and we really appreciate the help and
support that is provided.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. Ms. West, can you speak to how
TRCP works with State wildlife agencies and private landowners?
Before you answer, I want to put in a plug for the Partnership
of Rangeland Trusts. These trusts are, I think, another way to
really plug in to what is the West's most significant
conservation easement organization, the groups involving
California, the Montana Land Reliance, the Wyoming Stock
Growers Land Trust, Colorado Cattlemen's Land Trust, Kansas, I
don't know if Nebraska is involved in this, but those land
trusts, I think, can be a good partner in these efforts, as
well.
That said, Ms. West, I am interested in your response.
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. We work closely with State
wildlife agencies in the western States, as well as private
landowner and landowner organizations, like Wyoming Stock
Growers. This work is only happening because of the work that
State wildlife agencies and private landowners are doing on the
ground.
We are not an on-the-ground conservation organization. We
do not hold conservation easements. We are not a land trust. We
are a policy organization, and so we look at how we can add
capacity and support for the priorities that States and private
landowners have. In the context of wildlife migration
corridors, when the States have shown leadership around this
work, we have been working actively to make sure that support
for Secretarial Order 3362 continued when the Biden
Administration came in that the funding for the several
programs that have really been funneling money to States for
research and data collection and added capacity for
conservation projects continues and grows.
We have been working to make sure that those programs are
eligible for private landowners, like the grant program
administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
which funds not only State wildlife agencies and Tribal
wildlife agencies, but also private landowner groups and NGO's
doing conservation work, like land trusts. We have been
supportive of USDA expanding their work in this area into a
private land pilot program in Wyoming, and now also Montana and
Idaho.
I am here today just to talk about the wild success of
these programs to date in supporting State and private
landowners and acknowledge that with additional funding, more
benefit could be happening.
Senator Lummis. I have encouraged the USDA and will
continue to do so. If they are going to involve themselves to
actually help land trusts, they have to be more permissive.
Their restrictions make landowners not want to participate, and
that just dries up tremendous opportunities for conservation.
I have a question for you as well, Mr. Bonham, but my time
has expired, so I will come back to you in round two. The floor
is now with Mr. Ricketts.
Senator Ricketts. Great, thank you very much, Ranking
Member Lummis. I also want to thank the Chairman as well for
having this important hearing. Thank you to our witnesses for
coming to describe your experiences with wildlife management.
In Nebraska, we have a number of wildlife species that are
migratory, and in fact, we have that central flyway migratory
corridor that goes through our State that includes the
migration of the sandhill crane. The sandhill cranes have been
coming through Nebraska for millions of years. About a million
of them come to Nebraska and land in the Platte River Valley.
That is about 80 percent of the world's population of sandhill
crane.
As Governor, I actually named the sandhill crane as our
State migratory bird. Actually, we talked a little bit about
some of the risks to people when you have wildlife crossing
streets and there are car accidents.
Ms. West, you talked about some of the economic upsides,
but tourism is another one that doesn't involve hunting as we
get thousands of tourists to come in and watch those
migrations. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It
is actually a really fantastic thing to see. I was also
encouraged to hear you all talk about the need to have
cooperation with the Federal, State, local, NGO's, also, but
speaking with private landowners, because that is necessary
that we have a Federal land policy that includes all that.
In Nebraska, 97 percent of the State is privately owned. I
often say our farmers and ranchers are the original
conservationists because they wanted to pass on their family
farm or ranch to the next generation. We have to have Federal
land policy that includes collaborative cooperation in
collusion with those private landowners to be successful. I
have been concerned about some of the Federal programs that
have really gone beyond that and have presented overreach.
Maybe Ms. West, you can start us off, just talk a little
bit about how can private landowners be engaged and
incentivized to participate in these migratory corridor
programs?
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. First of all, seeing the
sandhill cranes in Nebraska is definitely on my bucket list.
They are nice in Colorado, but not as good as in Nebraska, so I
have been told.
Some of the best wildlife habitat and corridor habitat is
on private land in this Country because private landowners have
done so much proactive, voluntary conservation work on their
own to have outstanding habitat quality. The programs in place
now, the discretionary programs started under Secretarial Order
3362, offer a number of avenues for voluntary private
landowner-driven research and funding and conservation
opportunity.
The program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation that I mentioned, their Big Game Migration Corridor
Program, has funded, I will get you the actual number, but
somewhere in the realm of 170 different projects on private
land for conservation. That is one opportunity available to
private landowners, is to apply to that competitive grant
program.
Also, a discretionary program at the Fish and Wildlife
Service is their Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, which
has a long history of working with voluntary private landowner
incentives to fund conservation projects. They have received
about $3 million since the Secretarial Order was signed five
and a half years ago. That is another opportunity. The USDA
pilot program that we have been talking about is an opportunity
for private landowners to access a variety of existing Farm
Bill programs that have eligibility specifically if you are in
good quality or marginal quality migratory habitat for big game
and want to access those programs.
Senator Ricketts. Thank you, Ms. West.
Mr. King, talk to me a little bit about with your corridor
program, a couple things: how has the State had an opportunity
to participate with the Federal Government and private
landowners on this, and what do you do when you have
conflicting priorities with a land corridor and private
property use? How have you handled some of those priorities and
the differences and conflicts and resolved them?
Mr. King. Senator, thank you for that question. Wyoming has
been very fortunate in that we have tremendous landowner
support. We have landowners whose property, they recognize the
value of the ecological functions that they provide on their
property. We have been able to partner closely with them.
Some of our leadership was recognized early on. For
example, the USDA came to us and offered up the opportunity to
create a pilot program wherein the power of USDA programs could
be well-matched with what the State was already doing. That
pilot program has been proven to be tremendously successful. I
think some of the things that we have learned from that is that
those programs need to be adaptable and agile and be
implemented quickly to benefit landowners.
The second part of your question, I am sorry, was?
Senator Ricketts. Just about how you, if you have competing
interests for a land corridor versus private property use, how
do you resolve some of those?
Mr. King. You bet. As I mentioned in my testimony, in
Wyoming, we have found that it is really important that our
boots on the ground folks are working closely with all entities
that are involved.
What we have found that works best is that when folks come
together, they first identify the common need or theme that
they are focused on addressing, and then we can find creative
solutions to make sure that all stakeholder needs can be met. I
think that the development of our Governor's executive order,
for example, is a great example.
We talked to all the people that might be impacted and
affected by that order and developed a framework that could
work for everybody. At the end of the day, what is most
important is to make sure that we are talking to one another
and hearing each other's concerns and then putting our creative
thoughts together.
Senator Ricketts. It sounds like a lot of upfront work and
upfront communication.
Mr. King. Absolutely.
Senator Ricketts. Right. Thank you very much.
Mr. King. Thank you.
Senator Ricketts. I yield back.
Senator Lummis. Mr. Boozman.
Senator Boozman. Well, thank you very much for being here.
Thank you, Senator Lummis, for all of your work in this area. I
know that you are a leader and doing a tremendous job.
While most of the discussion today has been focused on
western issues and big game, I wanted to bring up a topic that
is important to both of us, and that is that there are a lot of
similarities between the Central Valley of California and the
Arkansas Delta and Grand Prairie with our bird migratory
corridors.
I am referring to you, Mr. Bonham. Can you discuss the
important of collaboration between the agriculture industry,
State wildlife agencies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on
water supply and management capability issues?
Mr. Bonham. I can, Senator, thank you for the question.
W.H. Auden wrote that thousands have lived without love, but
not one without water. That is true for the conflict we often
see in California's Central Valley, which was Senator Ricketts'
question. I have found, if you sit at the table long enough,
and you put in the sweat equity talking about issues, there is
a way to find balance.
The balance we are pursuing in the Central Valley is a
combination of things. Our species that migrate in our rivers
need water, but they also need habitat restoration. There is
strong common ground between the agricultural sector and my
department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do actual
hands-on restoration projects. Plant trees, improve riparian
corridors, restore floodplain habitat access for salmon, and
also encourage agricultural communities to engage on voluntary
redistribution of water that maximizes the time of year.
Voluntary agreements that incentivize habitat restoration
as a package through discussion and collaboration produces a
much more durable result, more regularly sometimes than the
regulator can do through the power of its authorities. I say
that as a regulator at the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Senator Boozman. Very good. I am a member of the Migratory
Bird Conservation Commission, and they do a tremendous job
preserving America's waterfowl for future generations, and that
is something I know that we are all very passionate about. At
the turn of the 20th century, over-hunting, neglect for
wetlands, the list goes on and on, really decimated the U.S.
waterfowl populations.
The Migratory Bird Commission was created in 1929 and has
been a tremendous success. It has surely been successful due to
effective cooperation between State and local governments and
the Federal Government. How do we take some of the other
programs or create new programs that build on that model? You
can all jump in and just kind of, again, it is a good model.
They have been very, very successful.
Mr. Bonham. If I might, Senator, I think the Secretarial
Order 3362, which has been raised several times, is a perfect
example of federalism. It happened here in Washington, but out
at the State level, it is our State agency, Mr. King's State
agency, that has the data, that has the relationships, that has
the staff that sit on the back of the tailgate, shooting the
breeze at the end of the day, trying to figure out solutions.
When you combine what is going on at our agencies at the
State level with guidance and policy direction from above, you
integrate funding sources, and you really incentivize
partnerships, you can fix the problem. That is playing out in
this wildlife corridor space. I think it is the integration of
the local knowledge, the State data and science, the guidance
from D.C., a soft touch, not too much of a hard touch, and an
infusion of investment where everyone is matching funds, public
and private, and we are doing projects.
Senator Boozman. Very good.
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. I concur with Mr. Bonham.
I will just add, there are a number of regional and locally
driven organizations working, like the Migratory Bird
Commission. There are a series of joint ventures supported by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but really, that bring
together State and NGO and landowner organizations in that
region to address the issues to migratory birds in that
specific region and come up with solutions.
When it comes to migratory bird corridor conservation,
migratory birds are very similar to big game. They need to
travel from their summer ranges long distances down to their
winter ranges, and they need places to stop along the way.
There has been a significant amount of data collected about
migratory birds and waterfowl, but not to the same extent as
there has been for some terrestrial species.
If the existing Secretarial Order programs and the funding
that they catalyze and the capacity that they have brought to
organizations to do research and mapping was expanded to
include birds, I think that would go a long way to helping our
understanding for what they need to really thrive into the
future.
Senator Boozman. Very good. One of the things that you all
can help me with is that you mentioned, Mr. Bonham, the
importance of water. I think we all agree with that. In fact,
if you look at what is asked for regarding conservation from
the USDA programs, when you get out west, 60 percent have to do
with water. I want to preserve that and make sure that in the
next Farm Bill that we have the ability to continue on, carbon
sequestration, all of those things are so important, the
different deals, but water is a big deal.
Again, it depends, so much of the Farm Bill is regionality,
different regions, you can't do a one-size-fits-all, so I need
your help regarding that. The other thing that I need your help
on--will you not yell at me if I ask more?
Senator Lummis. You go right ahead. Mr. Boozman, of course,
is the Ranking Republican on the Senate Ag Committee. He has
been working for the last year on this 5-year Farm Bill.
In about an hour, the U.S. House will be voting on a
continuing resolution that will include, as I understand it, an
extension of the Farm Bill, so Senator Boozman can continue
with his good work. I want to thank you so much for your
outstanding work on the Farm Bill and wish you well. With that,
you may proceed.
Senator Boozman. I appreciate it. Again, nobody is more of
a champion than you. We had the opportunity to be in Wyoming
and had a great visit. It was very, very successful.
The only thing that I wanted to say, also, that I think is
so important, when we look at the USDA programs, and this isn't
about the people or whatever, they do an excellent job. We make
these things way too complex. The grant process, it shouldn't
be that if you are interested, that you have to get a grant
writer to do it.
By the time you get it done, it takes forever, and then
once it is actually received and said you are good to go, it
might take 2 years before it is implemented. That is an area
that, again, these are low-hanging fruit that we need to work
together to make these programs more successful and I think are
really important.
Mr. Bonham. Senator, if I might, I 100 percent agree. I
come to my position from the private sector. I have been at it
12 years, so I can't use this excuse much longer. We make it
too complicated for those that are entering our pathways, and
this is showing up in wildlife corridors as well.
At the end of the day, when you build a crossing, it is a
construction project. You have to deal with procurement,
design, build, and contracting, and we could save a ton of time
through efficiencies just in the management of projects. That
translates, as well, into the farm world, as you know. Thank
you for your leadership on the Farm Bill. We are confident that
the tools in that bill, like easements, will help us both in
the water space and in the wildlife corridor space.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Senator Lummis.
Senator Lummis. Thank you, again, for your work on the Farm
Bill and on these issues.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. We appreciate all of you today,
very, very much.
Senator Lummis. Senator Sullivan.
Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank
the witnesses for being here. I am somebody who is an avid
outdoorsman; I was the former Commissioner of the Alaska
Department of Natural Resources, and I support proactive
approaches to conserve wildlife while keeping public lands open
to all, Alaskans and Americans, and managed for multiple uses,
but in my State, too often, we have outside groups who come up
and tell everybody how we should be running our State.
They especially tell the Native people in Alaska how to run
their lives. We call those groups eco-colonialists. I hope
there are no eco-colonialists here, because it is kind of
people with power come up from the lower 48, condescendingly
telling Alaska Natives who have been living there for tens of
thousands of years what is good for them, a lot of eco-
colonialists. There are a lot of eco-colonialists in the Biden
Administration. The pick and choose approach to consultation is
just remarkable to me, particularly, again, as it relates to
Native people.
Ms. West, I want to describe to you that the following
Federal processes as coordinated efforts between Federal,
State, and Tribal agencies, private landowners, and other
organizations, as you State, are needed in your testimony.
Assume a hypothetical, one that included no outreach or
consultation to any federally recognized Tribes, despite this
being required by law, so that is kind of category A.
The other, category B, included 36,000 public comments, 50
letters to federally recognized Tribes, 30 public hearings, and
30 consultation meetings. Which one of those pursuant to your
testimony would you think is the better approach, with regard
to just Federal management, but also respecting Alaska Native
people? Do you have a sense? It is a pretty easy question.
Ms. West. Senator, in your hypothetical scenarios, I would
pick option B.
Senator Sullivan. B, good. That is a good answer. I think
every American would.
The person who doesn't, though, is Secretary Haaland, so
what I just described was Secretary Haaland's outreach, lack of
outreach, to any Alaska Native groups on their ANWR and NPRA
proposed new regulations, none, zero. This is the
Administration that overturns all of the Trump records of
decisions in Alaska based on no consultation, and then they
don't consult. The hypocrisy is just unbelievable.
The second example, B, that you liked, that was the Trump
Administration's approach to the Ambler Road. Again, the
ironies here are just incredible.
Let me just open it up to all of you, Mr. King, Ms. West,
Mr. Bonham, can you explain from your perspective how it is
important to do consultations? Again, this Administration, they
talk environmental justice, they talk racial equity, but they
have a giant asterisk.
If it is for Alaska Natives, they don't get any justice, no
racial equity. Why? Because a lot of those groups want to have
resource development and want to build roads, want to develop
their economy. The Biden Administration is like, hell no. Hell,
no.
What do you think about consulting, especially with
federally recognized Tribes, but other stakeholders and how
important that is in the process that is all about the core
element of this hearing, which is improving migration
corridors? I will take it from any of you.
Mr. King, do you want to start?
Mr. King. Senator, thank you for that opportunity. I would
highlight this chart and graph that we brought. This highlights
some elk migrations out of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
That ribbon graph at the bottom demonstrates how they move in
and out of so many different land jurisdictions during their
seasonal migrations. I think it just highlights the point you
are making, that there are a lot of folks involved in
conserving wildlife in the States.
Senator Sullivan. Yes.
Mr. King. As we look to conserve wildlife, you can't just
focus on one aspect. You can't just focus on Federal lands; you
can't just focus on State lands. You have to incorporate the
entire ecosystem. That requires a lot of outreach and a lot of
boots on the ground and a lot of conversations, and looking for
those ways where we can put creative solutions into action.
We won't find those creative solutions unless we are
sitting at the table, talking face to face. We have seen in
Wyoming that is absolutely critical to getting work done, is
just sitting down with folks, finding out the common themes,
common threads, and then being creative about the best
solutions for everybody.
Senator Sullivan. Great. Go ahead.
Mr. Bonham. Senator, if I might, I am Chuck Bonham from the
State of California. I am flying home this evening, assuming I
can make it from here to DCA, to, tomorrow morning, preside
over a wildlife conservation board meeting, where my department
will return ancestral lands to the Fort Independence Indian
Community, one of four Paiute Tribes in the Owens Valley on the
east side of our Sierra, Nevada.
I am looking forward to that. It took many years of
conversation to realize the harms my predecessor has produces
and how to cure them.
Senator Sullivan. Did you learn about those through
consultations with those groups and respecting those groups?
Again, the Feds, in my State, the Alaska Native people, they
get ignored, right? That is almost 20 percent of the population
of Alaska, they talk a big game on racial justice, racial
equity, environmental justice, and then they ignore, Deb
Haaland ignores the Native people of Alaska more than any other
Secretary of Interior, probably, in history.
Mr. Bonham. I appreciate that feedback, but from
California, I can tell you, having spent a lot of time at the
table with federally recognized tribes, Klamath River Basin,
including the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe, and the Klamath
Tribes that the Department of the Interior and the State of
California and the State of Oregon have figured out the way to
do a corridor project.
Next year, we will open up access of 400 plus miles of
habitat for salmon and steelhead in the third-largest producer
of salmon on the west coast, the Klamath River. I understand
your frustration in Alaska, but I am also thankful for your
question, because today, on corridors, wildlife corridors are a
fixable problem around the United States with time, energy, and
partnerships.
Senator Sullivan. Good.
Ms. West, do you have a comment at all?
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. I will just add, the beauty
of the migration corridor programs that were put in place by
Secretary Zenke and Secretarial Order 3362 is that it puts the
Federal programs at the service of the States and the tribes
who are leading on the work.
The States and tribes raise their hands and volunteer or
actively, I should say, pursue Federal funding and capacity to
advance their priorities, their migration corridor priorities,
get capacity from the U.S. geological survey to collect data on
movement, and turn that into maps, where perhaps they don't
have the internal capacity, but they have access to experts as
USGS who can do the work with them collaboratively.
There are a number of programs in place that really are at
the service of the States and tribes who are leading on this
work, and that is what I think is very unique about this effort
and why it has garnered a lot of support.
Senator Sullivan. Good, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would just ask, and I know the big Chairman is here as well,
not just the subcommittee chairman, but this is a really
important issue.
My State is being slammed. The Department of Interior keeps
reversing previous Administration records of decisions because
there wasn't enough consultation, and then, they don't consult
at all. It is unbelievable. It is so hypocritical you can't
even believe it.
I would love to have a hearing on it and bring Secretary
Haaland here and say, why do you ignore the Native people of
Alaska? You just ignore them. She does it all the time, and she
does it because they want to develop their resources, and she
doesn't want to let them. It is an outrage. I appreciate the
witnesses for their good, thoughtful testimony on this topic.
Senator Padilla.
[Presiding.] Senator Lummis, for a comment, before
recognizing Senator Carper.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. I might point out that Mr.
Bonham ran Trout Unlimited before he was at the California
Department of Wildlife, and Trout Unlimited really has an
extraordinary reputation in this Country for work on
collaborative efforts and with private landowners. When you
lead an organization like that and then go into a government
agency, I think it is already in your DNA to work with private
landowners.
As a fisheries aficionado, it is just great that you have
chosen to go into government service for this time, but I just
want to thank you for your service at TU. It really is
outstanding and has a great track record. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. I yield back.
Senator Padilla. Thank you all for recognizing and
respecting the California way.
With that, Senator Carper.
Senator Carper. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. My thanks to you and
Senator Lummis for pulling this together to talk and listen
about some of the challenges and the opportunities to
facilitate wildlife movement and to improve migration
corridors. Our thanks to the witnesses. Where do you all live?
Mr. Bonham, where do you live?
Mr. Bonham. I live in the Bay Area. My home office is in
Sacramento, and I am very familiar with InterState 80 as a
result.
Senator Carper. I bet you are. I used to be stationed at
Moffatt Field Naval Air Station during the Vietnam War and
after that. I have a son that lives out there not far from you.
Ms. West.
Ms. West. Senator, I live in Denver, Colorado.
Senator Carper. OK, thanks.
Mr. Bonham. Senator, I live in Laramie, Wyoming at the
7,200-foot elevation of I-80.
Senator Carper. OK. We are glad you are here. Thanks for
joining us and giving us a chance to consider something that is
important to us in Delaware and across the Country.
We have heard a fair amount about successful programs that
are focused on big game migration in western States. I want to
talk a little bit about eastern States, and Delaware is one of
those, although I have lived all over the Country.
What can eastern States like Delaware, like my native State
of West Virginia, and others learn from what has worked out
west, and maybe what is not? I like to say, find what works,
and do more of that. Find out what doesn't work, and don't do
that.
Ms. West, why don't you lead us off? What can we learn?
Ms. West. Thank you very much, Senator. I think we can
learn that when the Federal Government supports bottom-up,
locally driven conservation priorities, it can be a wonderful
combination that leads to success. What we have seen with big
game in the west is a series of Federal program that
incentivize State and tribal agencies to do wildlife
conservation work. They build capacity when those agencies
don't have the staff or expertise necessary, and that has led
to significant conservation outcomes.
These programs are easily scalable to include additional
geographies, like the beautiful State of Delaware and
additional species, all the programs with the strike of a pen
you could expand the scope of the work, and it would be
applicable. I would say even conservation that focuses just on
big game still supports healthy habitat for a myriad of other
species, even amphibians and reptiles and avian migrating
species, because healthy connected habitat for big game
supports a broad array of other species.
That is why this issue has been so broadly supported, even
by organizations that work primarily outside of the west by the
National Audubon Society and others that focus all across the
Country on these priorities.
Senator Carper. Thank you. Mr. Bonham?
Mr. Bonham. Senator, I think a lesson you can learn, which
is 100 percent applicable in Delaware, if you build it, they
will come. You don't have to have a lion or a grizzly----
Senator Carper. I think I have heard that somewhere before.
Mr. Bonham. Yes. I hope it is not trademarked, because they
will be calling me.
You don't have to have a lion; you don't have to have a
grizzly bear to love wildlife crossings. In 2017, in Riverside
County in California, we completed the Clinton Keith Wildlife
Crossing Project. So it was designed for one particular animal,
but now it is supporting butterflies, birds, deer, coyote,
foxes, and get this, the Quino checkerspot butterfly, a
federally listed endangered species. We thought about it back
then for one animal, but we built it, and they all came. I
think that is a lesson available to every State when it comes
to wildlife crossings.
Senator Carper. Good. Mr. King, I was sitting here looking
at this, the order of your name reversed, instead of calling
you Richard King, we could call you King Richard.
[Laughter.]
Mr. King. Yes, sir.
Senator Carper. Not completely on a serious subject.
Mr. King. I appreciate your consideration in asking for
help in terms of lessons learned. While I am not familiar as
much with the east coast as much as I am with the west, one, I
do know that you have a lot of private property. And I know
that is where the conservation values really lie. There are
lots of opportunities on private lands.
In Wyoming, what we did was we went to private landowners
and asked them, what do you need, and how can we help, and what
will encourage and incentivize you to provide these
conservation benefits on your private land? Then we built
programs and partnerships to provide that. So my recommendation
is simply to have boots on the ground and meetings face to
face, and meeting landowners where they are, and recognizing
those significant values that private lands play in conserving
our Country's wildlife.
Senator Carper. Good, thank you.
Mr. Chairman, do I have time for one more question, please?
Senator Padilla. Mr. Chairman, of course.
Senator Carper. Thanks so much.
A question on wildlife corridors and endangered species,
this will be for each of you again. The habitat loss and
fragmentation is one of, I believe, five major drivers of
global biodiversity loss. My question would be, how can the
study of conservation of wildlife corridors help threatened and
endangered species, or prevent species from becoming endangered
in the first place? Mr. King?
Mr. King. Thank you. It has been mentioned by Mr. Bonham
that connectivity is key. When we can connect habitats
together, we can maximize the effectiveness of the conservation
efforts that are occurring on those properties. So part and
parcel and key to conserving our Country's wildlife is that
connectivity, and making sure that healthy habitats are
connected. Really, it is that simple, but it is difficult to
do.
Senator Carper. Thank you. Ms. West?
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. I would agree, and just add
that by investing in connecting habitat now, you are really
preventing the decline of species into the future. It is a
proactive step to invest in our species before they become
eligible under the Endangered Species Act. Once they are
imperiled, it is much more cost ineffective, rather expensive
and time consuming to try to recover them.
But if we can look at habitat connectivity and the movement
of wildlife species and create that interconnectedness and give
species more ability to adapt to changing habitat conditions
over time, we are setting them up for future success and we are
preventing declines that are very difficult to reverse once we
get there.
Senator Carper. Thanks. Mr. Bonham.
Mr. Bonham. Senator, same answer, different words. I forget
if I have mentioned, I have actually been director 12 years,
which makes me the longest serving ever, and I think now the
longest serving State director.
Senator Carper. Does it seem longer?
[Laughter.]
Mr. Bonham. I have lived through catastrophic wildfires,
epic, biblical drought, and so many things. I believe this is a
non-partisan issue, corridors, because everyone understands
what it means to have safe passage to a safe place. Climate
disruption has scrambled the natural world. We have some salmon
that we used to call spring run, the time of year they would
swim back upstream. They are no longer spring run, they are
fall run, because their life strategy is adapting to climate
change.
They need the ability to go from point A to point B, safe
passage to a safe place. Because they are either going to die,
adapt, or we can provide freedom to roam. That is why I think
this hearing is so important.
Senator Carper. Great. One of you said that you think the
subject matter here is, can and should be bipartisan. We have
plenty of partisan issues that we deal with all the time. It is
nice to have one that can help draw us together, so thank you.
Thanks for joining us.
Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Senator Lummis.
Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Continuing that theme and spirit of bipartisanship, I have
a question. We have heard a bit about Secretarial Order 3362,
which focused on improving migration corridors for big game
species. It is important to note that this order was issued
under the Trump Administration and was continued under the
Biden Administration, showing the broad support for wildlife
movement corridors.
My question is more specifically about mapping. Ms. West,
since the order was issued, how has research and mapping
improved, and have these improvements led to on-the-ground
projects? How can Congress further support these efforts?
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator.
The timing of the signing of the Secretarial order
coincided with a massive advancement in GPS technology in
general. So it really was the perfect timing to be providing
funding for increased data collection and mapping work. Even 10
years ago, GPS collars would only show you where and how
animals moved with a little blip every 12 hours. Now you can
get hourly pinpoints that help you really see specifically how
and where and why the animals are moving across the landscape
and using different components of their seasonal habitat along
the corridor.
That is just incredibly valuable information when you are
trying to figure out how to spend limited conservation dollars
on the ground. You can justify the need much better with this
really accurate data, and you can demonstrate a greater return
on investment for the conservation funding that you have spent,
whether it is on fence removal, oftentimes we talked about
working with private landowners.
If you go to a private landowner and you show them the maps
and the actual data and they can see how their fence might be
impeding a corridor, they had no idea before. Once they know,
that is when the roll up your sleeves and find a solution work
that my fellow panelists have talked about can really happen.
So the Secretarial Order catalyzed that in a few different
ways, funding through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
grant program can support that work. But also the U.S.
Geological Survey and their corridor mapping team brought not
just resources in terms of money to the table, but actual
technical capacity and expertise to many State agencies that
don't have that level of GIS capacity. So they have been able
to map 66, I believe it is 66 different migration routes and
corridors just in 11 western States in the last 5 years. So
that is pretty significant information.
Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Mr. Bonham, anything from California's efforts to improve
the data that you would like to share?
Mr. Bonham. Yes. Mapping results in direct action in the
field. Here is an example. Our Department of Fish and Wildlife
has worked with academics and also the National Park Service in
the Mojave Desert. I-15 connects Los Angeles to Las Vegas, I
hear the Olympics are coming to Los Angeles. It is a highly
transited area.
There is a private company, Brightline West, building a
high-speed rail to connect Las Vegas to Los Angeles. We have
desert bighorn sheep on either side of both the highway and the
future rail, not good for the sheep. The mapping, working with
tribes, Federal and State agencies, allowed us to identify
three specific spots along that corridor where we now have a
public-private partnership, I believe the commitment of two
States, Senator Padilla's leadership. Next year, we are
building three over-crossings over I-15.
So when people go back and forth between Los Angeles and
Las Vegas, they can see a crossing and realize, desert bighorn
sheep and a host of other species will be able to use it,
because of the mapping.
Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Senator Lummis.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. First of all, I want to thank
you all for coming and testifying today. Your expertise is very
much appreciated and needed by us.
My question is this. Think about your audience here. You
are talking to the U.S. Senate, which does not have your level
of expertise or your boots-on-the-ground experience on this
issue. But we want to know what we can do to help you do your
jobs better, and that is my question to each of you. First of
all, please use some time to say what you wish you would have
been asked that you weren't. And also say what you want us to
know that would allow us to help you.
Mr. Bonham.
Mr. Bonham. I could use your help on three things. Then I
will tell you what I wish you had asked me.
First, I do think there is value in considering
memorializing the Secretarial orders, in the sense that
congressional direction motivates. Second, Ranking Member
Lummis, it is not just a money issue. But these are
construction projects, and they cost. The Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law sent $350 million to the Federal Highway
Administration. My department is spending $90 million. We are
going to need an infusion of capital when it is warranted.
Third, one of the biggest challenges is collaboration
between government entities. For far too long, Richard and I
have been talking in the Wildlife space, and we need to have
this conversation with the Transportation space. We need to be
encouraged, cajoled, persuaded, motivated. It is the two
entities, Wildlife and Transportation together, that can change
this dynamic.
Here is what I wish you would have asked me. When would I
liked to come to Jackson and go fishing with you on the Snake
River?
Senator Lummis. That can be arranged. I love to fish, even
though I am a lousy fisherman.
Mr. Bonham. Me too.
Senator Lummis. No, I suspect that is not true. You are
welcome any time, and I would relish the opportunity. Thank
you.
Mr. Bonham. Thank you.
Senator Lummis. Ms. West?
Ms. West. Thank you. Senator, I will just say, I know a
number of outstanding anglers that we could provide to make the
trip valuable for you both.
Thank you for the opportunity. I would have liked to have
been asked a little bit more about where the funding for the
work to date focused on big game has come from. It has been,
the programs under Secretarial Order 3362 have been
discretionary in purpose and have been funded with reprogrammed
funds, which means every year, my good colleagues who are
relying on this funding and their colleagues in other States
and tribes, wonder if there will be another year of funding.
For 5 years, that has been fine, I think, and everyone has
been grateful for that assistance. But we are at a point where
I think we can claim success and it would be really valuable to
the project proponents who are working on crossing projects, or
fence removal projects, to be able to plan years out, to have
some dedicated, reliable funding so they can work on multi-year
projects. Because research for all kinds of wildlife takes more
than 1 year of data collection to really have a good sense for
how things are going.
So I think I would want you to note that. And also, back to
Director Bonham's testimony and opening remarks, that this is a
fixable issue. I may go so far as to say it is mostly a money
problem, not that we have limited amounts of money in this
Country, but we have the foundation of strong leadership at the
local level and at the State government level. We have people
rolling up their sleeves to do good work, and if they had more
resources, more good work could be done. Thank you.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. Mr. King, and excuse me if I
have to bug out halfway through your statement for another
meeting, but thanks so much for coming.
Mr. King. Thank you for the invitation, and that you for
the opportunity. I would State simply that recognition that the
States really are the right entity to lead these efforts, we
have great data, we have good wildlife managers. We know what
we are doing. We have a proven track record. I think just a
simple recognition that because of the importance of State-led
conservation efforts, and the importance of private lands that
more regulation probably isn't the answer, but more cooperation
certainly is.
So anything we can do to ensure that all entities are
working together and are pulling in the same direction is
critically important for us.
I think last, just to reiterate that recognizing that this
really is a multidisciplinary effort. It does involve
transportation departments; it does involve wildlife agencies.
It does involve extractive natural resources producers and
private landowners. There are a lot of people that play a role
in wildlife conservation. The recognition that we can achieve
great things if we work together is probably the simple
message, I would leave with you today.
Senator Lummis. Thank you, witnesses. I yield back to the
Chairman with my thanks for this panel of witnesses and this
topic. It is timely. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your
leadership on this issue.
Senator Padilla. Thank you, and thank you for your
partnership.
I have just one last round of questions before we will
begin to close this hearing. As you have heard from our
witnesses, States are pioneering new ways to make our
infrastructure more resilient and responsive to wildlife needs.
We also know that is just one piece of the puzzle. We also have
to protect the natural landscapes around us and ensure that we
have landscape scale connectivity.
A question for Mr. Bonham. How important is Federal and
State land acquisition to creating connectivity for wildlife?
What other ways can the Federal and State governments work
together to support connectivity?
Mr. Bonham. Senator, thank you for the question. Land
acquisition done willing seller, willing buyer, which need not
always be fee title, sometimes can be conservation easement, is
an integral part of a corridor project. Because it is just not
the physical infrastructure you are designing, you are thinking
about the ingress and egress to the structure for success
criteria on your design.
That means you need to take a look at the landscape mosaic,
sometimes it is private, sometimes it is public. Sometimes you
can find a partnership with a land trust that in turn is
working with a private landowner who already wanted to do
something with the property to benefit wildlife.
Two examples. If you have ever driven from San Jose,
California out to Santa Cruz, you are on Highway 17. People go
back and forth. One of the most notorious curves is called the
Laurel Curve. We have now a functioning under-crossing, which
is actually like an over-crossing, because it is an elevated
highway. The Santa Cruz Land Trust, working with landowners,
has conserved either side. So it is like an hourglass, allowing
animals to move into the connectivity structure. Within hours
of opening it, a bobcat wandered through.
Same thing is true for the Highway 101, P-22 Wallis
Annenberg crossing. The Santa Monica River's Mountain
Conservancy, in conjunction with the National Park system, has
made sure the properties on either side will remain open space
to facilitate the crossing.
Other landscape things include a lot of the initiatives you
are taking with Secretary Crowfoot and Governor Newsom around
conserving 30 percent of our biodiversity in California by
2030. Sometimes that is landscape-scale conservation through
national monuments and other things.
Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Ms. West, what other tools does the Federal Government have
to conserve areas for wildlife corridors?
Ms. West. Thank you, Senator. When it comes to public land
management, so when these wildlife corridors overlap with
federally managed public lands, we like to think of it as an
all tools in the toolbox approach. It really does depend on the
particular corridor, what the species needs to move.
Where I live in Colorado, there is a lot of mule deer. They
don't migrate in nice, beautiful lines like they often do in
Wyoming. They sort of move in more blobs down off the top of
mesas down into the valleys where there is food in the winter.
I completely lost my train of thought, I am sorry. What was
your question?
Senator Padilla. What other tools does the Federal
Government have?
Ms. West. Thank you. I am sorry, I got so distracted by
Wyoming and the lovely mule deer herd. So the tools in the
toolbox are different when the species migrate in different
ways. When you have a large landscape, the management tools
really need to be about keeping the landscape permeable, so
that species can move through. That means you don't have to
have a fence around the whole area and prevent the animals from
moving through, because there is not a road to protect them
from. It means that as long as you have development limited in
the density of the structures, they still have a pathway to
move through.
So you can have roads, but they are limited in density, or
they have crossing structures on them, or if it is renewable
energy development, for example, you can have a solar array,
but instead of having one large 2,000-acre solar array, you
chunk it out into pieces so the animals can move through it.
Where in Wyoming they have done amazing work mapping, not
just the migration corridor but along the path where the
animals stop over, where they might have bottlenecks because of
geographic features, you want to be more protective in those
important areas that are really critical for movement. If you
cutoff a bottleneck, then you have cutoff the whole corridor.
So there is a whole variety of tools in the toolbox and the
science and the mapping really help support what the best tool
is.
Senator Padilla. Thank you.
Finally, for Mr. King, we have talked about the
partnerships. From your experience, what kind of Federal and
State, for that matter, might encourage private landowners to
participate more in the establishment of protection of
corridors?
Mr. King. Thank you, Senator. There are some great projects
that are underway. I mentioned that our USDA partnership is one
such program, where we are able to stack together different
programs from the Farm Bill, for example, different NRCS and
FSA programs. Really, anything that can incentivize and keep
working lands as working lands is critically important.
So those Federal programs, if they can be designed in such
a way that they are attractive to private landowners, and those
private landowners can take advantage of those programs and
continue to keep their working lands as working lands, that is
I think where we will see the best success.
Senator Padilla. Thank you very much.
There may be additional questions you will receive in
writing, either from my office or other members of the
committee after the hearing. I want to thank you all for your
participation here today in a very thoughtful and productive
discussion.
I also want to thank Chairman Carper, Ranking Member
Capito, as well as Subcommittee Ranking Member Lummis and all
our colleagues who participated today, and I am sorry I missed
remarks by Senator Boozman, who reminded us of the importance
of waterways in this conversation as well, and the potential
use of the Farm Bill as a vehicle to advance some of the ideas
that have come up today.
As you have heard today, all across the Country, the same
roads, highways, bridges, and other human development that make
our Nation increasingly interconnected, both for people and our
economy, have the effect of disconnecting the wildlife around
us. By fragmenting migration routes, we endanger the lives of
countless animals, we risk decreasing the rich biodiversity of
our Nation, we undermine our thriving outdoor recreation
economy, and we even increase the risk to human life.
Because migration patterns will never adhere to State or
local or tribal boundaries, it is clear that in order to
protect ecosystems and better co-exist with the wildlife around
us, we need to come together in a bipartisan way to support
State, local, tribal, and private landowner efforts to restore
wildlife corridors and improve connectivity.
As I mentioned earlier today, just last Congress this
committee came together to approve $315 million in grants
through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to reduce the number
of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Yet while this funding has the
potential to usher in a future of safer, more resilient
infrastructure across the Country or future proofing, as
Director Bonham put it, the Department of Transportation has
yet to implement it.
So first, we need to continue to conduct oversight and
ensure this funding is administered as intended. I look forward
to the full committee's upcoming oversight hearing on the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law where we can do just that.
But as you heard from Ms. West, Congress can also take a
major step forward in improving habitat connectivity by
providing authorized funding streams for Federal agencies to
implement Secretarial Order 3362. Rather than force Federal
agencies to pull funding from their general funds, it is
Congress' job to provide the specific and stable funding needed
to address these issues over the long term.
We must also improve collaboration across jurisdictions. I
spend a lot of time in this committee talking about
California's leadership and how the Nation can learn from
California's progress. But as Director Bonham pointed out in
his testimony, and as we heard from Mr. King, we can all learn
a thing or two from Wyoming's leadership in designating
wildlife corridors and building partnerships.
And we must include what we learn from tribal governments
which often have cultural and spiritual connections to the
wildlife they seek to protect. I am proud that Senator Lujan,
my colleague from New Mexico, is advancing a separate effort on
that front.
Finally, my hope is that after today's hearing, we can take
some of the bipartisan momentum around habitat connectivity,
incorporate some of the ideas that we have heard today and come
together to move a bipartisan bill that supports voluntary
conservation efforts throughout the Country, whether that
includes Federal funding for State and local research and data
gathering, or on-the-ground projects that restore wildlife
corridors, bipartisan progress is possible.
I look forward to working with any and all of my colleagues
who are ready to continue this important work.
Once again, I want to thank you all for being here and with
that, this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:11 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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