Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 605 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2891 [Report No. 116–305] To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife Corridors, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. TESTER, Ms. SMITH, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on In- dian Affairs DECEMBER 9, 2020 Reported by Mr. HOEVEN, without amendment A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife Corridors, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Wildlife Cor- 4 ridors Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2891 RS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) CONNECTIVITY.—The term ‘‘connectivity’’ 3 means the degree to which the landscape or seascape 4 facilitates native species movement. 5 (2) CORRIDOR.—The term ‘‘corridor’’ means a 6 distinct component of a landscape or seascape 7 that— 8 (A) provides habitat or ecological connec- 9 tivity; and 10 (B) allows for fish, wildlife, or plant move- 11 ment. 12 (3) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 13 means land of an Indian tribe, or an Indian indi- 14 vidual, that is— 15 (A) held in trust by the United States; or 16 (B) subject to a restriction against alien- 17 ation imposed by the United States. 18 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 19 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 20 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 21 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 24 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2891 RS ice, in consultation with the Bureau of Indian Af- 1 fairs. 2 (6) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR.—The term 3 ‘‘Tribal Wildlife Corridor’’ means a corridor estab- 4 lished by the Secretary under section 3(a). 5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 7 (1) NOMINATIONS.—An Indian tribe may nomi- 8 nate a corridor within Indian land of the Indian 9 tribe as a Tribal Wildlife Corridor by submitting to 10 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 11 manner, and containing such information as the Sec- 12 retary may require. 13 (2) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days 14 after the date on which the Secretary receives an ap- 15 plication under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 16 determine whether the nominated Tribal Wildlife 17 Corridor described in the application meets the cri- 18 teria established under subsection (b). 19 (3) PUBLICATION.—On approval of an applica- 20 tion under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall pub- 21 lish in the Federal Register a notice of the establish- 22 ment of the Tribal Wildlife Corridor, which shall in- 23 clude a map and legal description of the land des- 24 ignated as a Tribal Wildlife Corridor. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2891 RS (b) CRITERIA.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days 2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall establish criteria for determining wheth- 4 er a corridor nominated by an Indian tribe under 5 subsection (a)(1) qualifies as a Tribal Wildlife Cor- 6 ridor. 7 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The criteria established 8 under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, 9 the following: 10 (A) The restoration of historical habitat 11 for the purposes of facilitating connectivity. 12 (B) The management of land for the pur- 13 poses of facilitating connectivity. 14 (C) The management of land to prevent 15 the imposition of barriers that may hinder cur- 16 rent or future connectivity. 17 (c) REMOVAL.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An Indian tribe may elect to 19 remove the designation of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor 20 on the Indian land of the Indian tribe by notifying 21 the Secretary. 22 (2) EFFECT OF REMOVAL.—An Indian tribe 23 that elects to remove a designation under paragraph 24 (1) may not receive assistance under section 5 or 6. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2891 RS SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF LAND USE PLANS. 1 Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 2 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (b)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘Indian tribes by’’ and in- 5 serting the following: ‘‘Indian tribes— 6 ‘‘(1) by’’; 7 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 8 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 9 and’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(2) for the purposes of determining whether 12 the land use plans for land in the National Forest 13 System would provide additional connectivity to ben- 14 efit the purposes of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor estab- 15 lished under section 3(a) of the Tribal Wildlife Cor- 16 ridors Act of 2019.’’; and 17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(g) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS.—On the estab- 19 lishment of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor under section 3(a) 20 of the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019, the Secretary 21 shall conduct a meaningful consultation with the Indian 22 tribe that administers the Tribal Wildlife Corridor to de- 23 termine whether, through the revision of one or more ex- 24 isting land use plans, the Tribal Wildlife Corridor can— 25 ‘‘(1) be expanded into public lands; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2891 RS ‘‘(2) otherwise benefit connectivity (as defined 1 in section 2 of that Act) between public lands and 2 the Tribal Wildlife Corridor.’’. 3 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 4 The Secretary shall provide to Indian tribes technical 5 assistance relating to the establishment, management, and 6 expansion of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor, including assist- 7 ance with accessing wildlife data and working with private 8 landowners to access Federal and State programs to im- 9 prove wildlife habitat and connectivity on non-Federal 10 land. 11 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE. 12 (a) CONSERVATION PROGRAMS PRIORITY.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating applications 14 under conservation programs described in paragraph 15 (2), the Secretary of Agriculture may give priority to 16 an application for a project that would enhance 17 connectivity through the expansion of a Tribal Wild- 18 life Corridor. 19 (2) PROGRAMS DESCRIBED.—The conservation 20 programs referred to in paragraph (1) are any of the 21 following conservation programs administered by the 22 Secretary of Agriculture: 23 (A) The conservation reserve program es- 24 tablished under subchapter B of chapter 1 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2891 RS subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act 1 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.). 2 (B) The environmental quality incentives 3 program established under subchapter A of 4 chapter 4 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food 5 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa et 6 seq.). 7 (C) The conservation stewardship program 8 established under subchapter B of chapter 4 of 9 subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act 10 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–21 et seq.). 11 (D) The agricultural conservation ease- 12 ment program established under subtitle H of 13 title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 14 U.S.C. 3865 et seq.). 15 (b) WILDLIFE MOVEMENTS GRANT PROGRAM.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 17 a Tribal Wildlife Corridor grant program to encour- 18 age wildlife movement in accordance with this Act. 19 (2) GRANTS.—Beginning not later than 3 years 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 21 retary shall make grants under the program estab- 22 lished under paragraph (1) to one or more Indian 23 tribes to increase connectivity through Tribal Wild- 24 life Corridors. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2891 RS SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 1 Nothing in this Act authorizes or affects the use of 2 private property or Indian land. 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 605 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2891 [Report No. 116–305] A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife Corridors, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 9, 2020 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2891.RS S2891 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS