I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5179 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife Corridors, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 

and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal 

Wildlife Corridors, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Wildlife Cor5 ridors Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CONNECTIVITY.—The term ‘‘connectivity’’ 

2 means the degree to which the landscape or seascape 

3 facilitates native species movement. 

4 (2) CORRIDOR.—The term ‘‘corridor’’ means a 

5 distinct component of a landscape or seascape 

6 that— 

7 (A) provides habitat or ecological connec8 tivity; and 

9 (B) allows for fish, wildlife, or plant move10 ment. 

11 (3) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

12 means land of an Indian tribe, or an Indian indi13 vidual, that is— 

14 (A) held in trust by the United States; or 

15 (B) subject to a restriction against alien16 ation imposed by the United States. 

17 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

18 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

19 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

20 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

21 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di23 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv24 ice, in consultation with the Bureau of Indian Af25 fairs. 


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1 (6) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR.—The term 

2 ‘‘Tribal Wildlife Corridor’’ means a corridor estab3 lished by the Secretary under section 3(a). 

4 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 (1) NOMINATIONS.—An Indian tribe may nomi7 nate a corridor within Indian land of the Indian 

8 tribe as a Tribal Wildlife Corridor by submitting to 

9 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

10 manner, and containing such information as the Sec11 retary may require. 

12 (2) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days 

13 after the date on which the Secretary receives an ap14 plication under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

15 determine whether the nominated Tribal Wildlife 

16 Corridor described in the application meets the cri17 teria established under subsection (b). 

18 (3) PUBLICATION.—On approval of an applica19 tion under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall pub20 lish in the Federal Register a notice of the establish21 ment of the Tribal Wildlife Corridor, which shall in22 clude a map and legal description of the land des23 ignated as a Tribal Wildlife Corridor. 

24 (b) CRITERIA.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall establish criteria for determining wheth4 er a corridor nominated by an Indian tribe under 

5 subsection (a)(1) qualifies as a Tribal Wildlife Cor6 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 pur13 poses of facilitating connectivity. 

14 (C) The management of land to prevent 

15 the imposition of barriers that may hinder cur16 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. 


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1 SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF LAND USE PLANS. 

2 Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage3 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘Indian tribes by’’ and in6 serting the following: ‘‘Indian tribes— 

7 ‘‘(1) by’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 

9 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

10 and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(2) for the purposes of determining whether 

13 the land use plans for land in the National Forest 

14 System would provide additional connectivity to ben15 efit the purposes of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor estab16 lished under section 3(a) of the Tribal Wildlife Cor17 ridors Act of 2019.’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS.—On the estab20 lishment of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor under section 3(a) 

21 of the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019, the Secretary 

22 shall conduct a meaningful consultation with the Indian 

23 tribe that administers the Tribal Wildlife Corridor to de24 termine whether, through the revision of one or more ex25 isting land use plans, the Tribal Wildlife Corridor can— 

26 ‘‘(1) be expanded into public lands; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) otherwise benefit connectivity (as defined 

2 in section 2 of that Act) between public lands and 

3 the Tribal Wildlife Corridor.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

5 The Secretary shall provide to Indian tribes technical 

6 assistance relating to the establishment, management, and 

7 expansion of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor, including assist8 ance with accessing wildlife data and working with private 

9 landowners to access Federal and State programs to im10 prove wildlife habitat and connectivity on non-Federal 

11 land. 

12 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE. 

13 (a) CONSERVATION PROGRAMS PRIORITY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating applications 

15 under conservation programs described in paragraph 

16 (2), the Secretary of Agriculture may give priority to 

17 an application for a project that would enhance 

18 connectivity through the expansion of a Tribal Wild19 life Corridor. 

20 (2) PROGRAMS DESCRIBED.—The conservation 

21 programs referred to in paragraph (1) are any of the 

22 following conservation programs administered by the 

23 Secretary of Agriculture: 

24 (A) The conservation reserve program es25 tablished under subchapter B of chapter 1 of 


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1 subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act 

2 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.). 

3 (B) The environmental quality incentives 

4 program established under subchapter A of 

5 chapter 4 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food 

6 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa et 

7 seq.). 

8 (C) The conservation stewardship program 

9 established under subchapter B of chapter 4 of 

10 subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act 

11 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–21 et seq.). 

12 (D) The agricultural conservation ease13 ment program established under subtitle H of 

14 title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

15 U.S.C. 3865 et seq.). 

16 (b) WILDLIFE MOVEMENTS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

18 a Tribal Wildlife Corridor grant program to encour19 age wildlife movement in accordance with this Act. 

20 (2) GRANTS.—Beginning not later than 3 years 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary shall make grants under the program estab23 lished under paragraph (1) to one or more Indian 

24 tribes to increase connectivity through Tribal Wild25 life Corridors. 


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1 SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

2 Nothing in this Act authorizes or affects the use of 

3 private property or Indian land. 

Æ 


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