[Senate Report 116-305]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 605
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 116-305
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TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ESTABLISH TRIBAL WILDLIFE
CORRIDORS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
December 9, 2020--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hoeven, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2891]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (S. 2891), to require the Secretary of the Interior to
establish Tribal Wildlife Corridors, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 2891 is to maintain, enhance, or restore
historical habit, and manage Indian land to facilitate native
species movement. The bill is also designed to prevent the
imposition of barriers that threaten to hinder native species
movement.
BACKGROUND
Native fish, wildlife, and plant species are an integral
component of the cultural heritage of Indian tribes throughout
the nation. The sacred connection between Native communities
and fish, wildlife, and plant species is under threat from the
loss, degradation, fragmentation, and obstruction of natural
habitats. Use of wildlife corridors across federal, state, and
private lands to conserve native biodiversity and foster
ecosystem resiliency against a range of stressors, including
climate change, are increasing as a proven strategy to conserve
native fish, wildlife, and plant species.
S. 2891 recognizes the unique relationship between Indian
lands, and the patchwork of land ownership patterns across the
West, by authorizing the establishment of Tribal wildlife
corridors to restore habitat connectivity on Indian lands. The
bill improves coordination between federal land management
agencies, and Indian tribes, and strengthens consultation
efforts between them. The bill prioritizes conservation funding
to projects that enhance native species movement through the
expansion of Tribal wildlife corridors. The bill also provides
grant funding to identify and expand wildlife corridors on
Indian lands.
Maintaining or restoring habitat connectivity through
Tribal wildlife corridors builds on ongoing efforts by Indian
tribes to promote species preservation and diversity, lower the
risk of species extinction, and conserve biodiversity for
future generations. S. 2891 acknowledges the importance of
native fish, wildlife, and plant species to the heritage of
Native communities, recognizes the sovereignty of Indian
tribes, and respects the role of federal, state, local, and
private land owners in conserving the broader landscape for
species movement.
NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Fish and wildlife migration corridors and habitat are
necessary to maintain healthy populations of most fish,
wildlife, and plant species. Western landscapes consist of a
patchwork of landownership patterns, including Federal, State,
Tribal, and private lands, which can limit or eliminate
connectivity for migrating species. Fragmentation by roads,
fences, development, energy facilities, and other man-made
barriers hinder the safe migration of wildlife across large
landscapes. Climate change is also fundamentally altering
landscapes, forcing many animals to relocate.
Due to increased population growth in the wildland urban
interface over the last few decades, there has been rapid loss
of natural areas and wildlife in the United States. From 2001
to 2017, a quantity of natural areas equal to the size of a
football field disappeared, due to development, every 30
seconds in the United States, constituting more than 1,500,000
acres per year.\1\ In the United States and Canada,
2,900,000,000 birds have been lost since 1970, representing a
decline of 29 percent.\2\ State fish and game agencies have
identified approximately 12,000 animal and plant species in the
United States that require proactive conservation efforts to
avoid extinction, of which approximately one third will be lost
in the next decades.\3\
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\1\David D. Theobald et al., Loss of Fragmentation on Natural Lands
in the Conterminous U.S. From 2001 to 2017, Conservation Science
Partners, (January 18, 2019).
\2\Kenneth V. Rosenberg et al., Decline of North American Avifauna,
Science, Sept. 2019.
\3\Bruce A. Stein et al., Reversing America's Wildlife Crisis:
Securing the Future of Our Fish and Wildlife (Washington: National
Wildlife Federation, 2018).
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The use of wildlife corridors in the transportation sector,
using wildlife crossing infrastructure, has been proven to
significantly reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. Whether
through fencing, overpasses, underpasses, motion sensors and
other technology, wildlife corridors can guard against the
significant threat to public safety and wildlife populations.
For example, according to an annual State Farm Mutual
Automobile Insurance Company report, it is estimated that there
were over one million wildlife-vehicle collisions with deer,
elk, moose or caribou in the United States between July 2017
and June 2018. Roads receiving heavy daily vehicular traffic
create barriers for migrating species and pose dangerous, and
often fatal, wildlife crossings for animals that do navigate
them, as well as putting human lives at risk. Wildlife
corridors are a way to address the fragmentation caused by
roads and related development which further fragment the
landscape and degrades the quality of wildlife habitat.
Wildlife corridors have garnered broad interest throughout
the United States. The Department of the Interior announced
Secretarial Order 3362 in February 2018, which aimed to improve
wildlife corridor and habitat connectivity for big game species
on federal lands.\4\ In 2019, the Western Governors'
Association declared their support for state and Tribal efforts
to identify key wildlife migration corridors and habitat in the
West through its policy resolution, ``Wildlife Migration
Corridors and Habitat.''\5\ On May 23, 2019, the Native
American Fish and Wildlife Society passed a resolution in
support of efforts among Tribal, state, federal, and private
land managers to protect wildlife corridors and other habitat
connectivity needs across large landscapes on and off Tribal
lands, and called for the Department of the Interior to make
Secretarial Order 3362 inclusive of the nation's federally
recognized Indian Tribes.\6\
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\4\Department of the Interior, Improving Habitat Quality in Western
Big-Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors, Secretarial Order No.
3362 (Feb. 9, 2018).
\5\Western Governors' Association, Wildlife Migration Corridors and
Habitat, Policy Resolution 2019-08 (2019).
\6\Native American Fish & Wildlife Society, Support for the
Protection of Wildlife Corridors, Resolution No. 19-002 (May 23, 2019).
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S. 2891 would improve coordination between federal land
management agencies and Indian tribes, facilitate the
identification and use of wildlife migration corridors and
habitat, strengthen consultation with Indian tribes, and
provide grant funding to identify and expand wildlife corridors
on Indian lands.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 2891 was introduced on November 19, 2019 by Senator
Udall, along with Senators Booker, Harris, Blumenthal, Sanders,
Tester, Smith, and Warren. The bill was referred to the
Committee on Indian Affairs. On March 4, 2020, the Committee
held a legislative hearing on S. 2891. The Committee received
testimony from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in support of
the intent of S. 2891, and the Service expressed interest in
working with the Committee to ensure that legislation
complements the existing work of the Administration to improve
the habitat conditions in migration corridors. The Committee
also received testimony in support of the bill from Lawrence
Montoya, Governor of the Pueblo of Santa Ana. On July 29, 2020,
the Committee met at a duly called business meeting to consider
the bill. The bill was ordered to be reported favorably,
without amendment, to the Senate by voice vote.
On November 19, 2019, a companion bill was introduced, H.R.
5179, by Representative Gallego, in the U.S. House of
Representatives. The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives. On
January 29, 2020, the House Committee on Natural Resources met
at a duly called business meeting to consider the bill. The
bill was ordered to be reported favorably, without amendment,
to the House by a vote of 22-15. H.R. 5179 did not have a
legislative hearing. No further action was taken.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section states that the bill may be cited as the
``Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019''.
Section 2. Definitions
This section provides for definitions used throughout the
bill.
Section 3. Establishment of Tribal wildlife corridors
Section 3 establishes a process for Indian tribes to submit
an application to the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) for
Indian land of the Indian tribe to be recognized as a Tribal
wildlife corridor. The Secretary has 90 days to determine
whether the application meets the criteria for a Tribal
wildlife corridor. Upon finding the Tribal wildlife corridor
meets the criteria, the Secretary must publish a Federal
Register notice on the establishment of the Tribal wildlife
corridor, along with a map and legal description.
Section 3 also requires the Secretary to publish Tribal
Wildlife Corridor criteria in the Federal Register within 540
days of enactment of the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019,
which must include at a minimum: (1) the restoration of
historical habitat for facilitating connectivity; (2)
management of land for the purposes of facilitating
connectivity; or (3) management of land to prevent the
imposition of barriers that hinder current and future
connectivity. Section 3 allows Indian tribes to remove the
designation of a Tribal wildlife corridor by notifying the
Secretary.
Section 4. Coordination of land use plans
Section 4 amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 to require: (1) the U.S. Forest Service, in the
development and revision of land use plans, to determine
whether such plans would provide additional connectivity with a
newly established Tribal wildlife corridor, and (2) the
Secretary to conduct meaningful consultation with the Indian
tribe upon the creation of a Tribal wildlife corridor, to
determine whether that corridor can be expanded into public
lands or otherwise benefit connectivity through revision of a
land use plan.
Section 5. Technical assistance
Section 5 requires the Secretary to provide technical
assistance relating to the establishment, management, and
expansion of a Tribal wildlife corridor, which may also include
assisting with accessing wildlife data and working with private
landowners to access Federal and State programs to improve
wildlife habitat and connectivity on non-Federal land.
Section 6. Availability of assistance
Section 6 authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to give
priority to applications for four U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA)-managed conservation programs that would
benefit a Tribal wildlife corridor. These USDA programs
include: (1) the conservation reserve program, (2) the
environmental quality incentives program, (3) the conservation
stewardship program, and (4) the agricultural conservation
easement program. This section also establishes a grant program
to encourage wildlife movement, and the Secretary must makes
grants under this authority to one or more Indian tribes no
later than 3 years after enactment of the Tribal Wildlife
Corridors Act of 2019 for purposes of increasing connectivity
through Tribal Wildlife Corridors.
Section 6. Savings clause
Section 6 provides that nothing in the Tribal Wildlife
Corridors Act of 2019 authorizes or affects the use of private
property or Indian land.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, September 3, 2020.
Hon. John Hoeven,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2891, the Tribal
Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani
Shankaran.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
S. 2891 would direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) to establish a program to designate wildlife corridors
on tribal land and to provide related grants to tribes
beginning no later than three years after enactment. For this
estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted
early in fiscal year 2021.
Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates
that USFWS would require two additional employees at an average
annual cost of $125,000 each to manage the program. In 2019,
USFWS awarded $2 million to states to conserve habitat
corridors for several species. On that basis, CBO estimates
that the agency would award similar amounts under S. 2891.
Assuming USFWS takes three years to implement the grant
program, we expect that the agency would begin to obligate
funds in 2024. The bill also would direct the Forest Service
and the Department of the Interior to coordinate land use
planning with tribes. CBO estimates that annual costs for that
provision would be insignificant and would be incurred when
those plans are updated. In total, we estimate that
implementing S. 2891 would cost $6 million over the 2020-2025
period, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
On May 29, 2020, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
5179, the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019, as ordered
reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on January
29, 2020. The two bills are similar and CBO's estimates of
their budgetary effects through 2025 are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani
Shankaran. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The Committee did not receive any Executive communications
on this bill.
REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 2891 will
have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
On February 6, 2019, the Committee unanimously approved a
motion to waive subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing
Rules of the Senate. In the opinion of the Committee, it is
necessary to dispense with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate to expedite the business of the
Senate.
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