[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.

                                  [all]