PUBLIC LAW 109–294—OCT. 3, 2006 120 STAT. 1351

Public Law 109–294

109th Congress

An Act

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners to restore, enhance, and manage private land to

improve fish and wildlife habitats through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife

Program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partners for Fish and Wildlife

Act’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

(1) approximately 60 percent of fish and wildlife in the

United States are on private land;

(2) it is imperative to facilitate private landowner-centered

and results-oriented efforts that promote efficient and innovative ways to protect and enhance natural resources;

(3) there is no readily available source of technical biological

information that the public can access to assist with the application of state-of-the-art techniques to restore, enhance, and manage fish and wildlife habitats;

(4) a voluntary cost-effective program that leverages public

and private funds to assist private landowners in the conduct

of state-of-the-art fish and wildlife habitat restoration, enhancement, and management projects is needed;

(5) durable partnerships working collaboratively with

willing private landowners to implement on-the-ground projects

has lead to the reduction of endangered species listings;

(6) Executive Order No. 13352 (69 Fed. Reg. 52989) directs

the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and

Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency to pursue

new cooperative conservation programs involving the collaboration of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, private

for-profit and non-profit institutions, non-governmental entities,

and individuals;

(7) since 1987, the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program

has exemplified cooperative conservation as an innovative, voluntary partnership program that helps private landowners

restore wetland and other important fish and wildlife habitat;

and

(8) through 33,103 agreements with private landowners,

the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program has accomplished

the restoration of 677,000 acres of wetland, 1,253,700 acres

16 USC 3771.

16 USC 3771

note.

Partners for Fish

and Wildlife Act.

Oct. 3, 2006

[S. 260]

120 STAT. 1352 PUBLIC LAW 109–294—0CT. 3, 2006

of prairie and native grasslands, and 5,560 miles of riparian

and in-stream habitat since 1987, demonstrating much of that

success since only 2001.

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide for the

restoration, enhancement, and management of fish and wildlife

habitats on private land through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife

Program, a program that works with private landowners to conduct

cost-effective habitat projects for the benefit of fish and wildlife

resources in the United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) FEDERAL TRUST SPECIES.—The term ‘‘Federal trust species’’ means migratory birds, threatened species, endangered

species, interjurisdictional fish, marine mammals, and other

species of concern.

(2) HABITAT ENHANCEMENT.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘habitat enhancement’’

means the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or

biological characteristics of a habitat to change a specific

function or seral stage of the habitat.

(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘habitat enhancement’’

includes—

(i) an activity conducted to increase or decrease

a specific function for the purpose of benefitting species, including—

(I) increasing the hydroperiod and water depth

of a stream or wetland beyond what would naturally occur;

(II) improving waterfowl habitat conditions;

(III) establishing water level management

capabilities for native plant communities;

(IV) creating mud flat conditions important

for shorebirds; and

(V) cross fencing or establishing a rotational

grazing system on native range to improve grassland nesting bird habitat conditions; and

(ii) an activity conducted to shift a native plant

community successional stage, including—

(I) burning an established native grass

community to reduce or eliminate invading brush

or exotic species;

(II) brush shearing to set back early successional plant communities; and

(III) forest management that promotes a particular seral stage.

(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘habitat enhancement’’

does not include regularly scheduled and routine maintenance and management activities, such as annual mowing

or spraying of unwanted vegetation.

(3) HABITAT ESTABLISHMENT.—The term ‘‘habitat establishment’’ means the manipulation of physical, chemical, or

biological characteristics of a project site to create and maintain

habitat that did not previously exist on the project site,

including construction of—

(A) shallow water impoundments on non-hydric soils;

and

16 USC 3772.

PUBLIC LAW 109–294—OCT. 3, 2006 120 STAT. 1353

(B) side channel spawning and rearing habitat.

(4) HABITAT IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘habitat improvement’’ means restoring, enhancing, or establishing

physiographic, hydrological, or disturbance conditions necessary

to establish or maintain native plant and animal communities,

including periodic manipulations to maintain intended habitat

conditions on completed project sites.

(5) HABITAT RESTORATION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘habitat restoration’’

means the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or

biological characteristics of a site with the goal of returning

the majority of natural functions to the lost or degraded

native habitat.

(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘habitat restoration’’

includes—

(i) an activity conducted to return a project site,

to the maximum extent practicable, to the ecological

condition that existed prior to the loss or degradation,

including—

(I) removing tile drains or plugging drainage

ditches in former or degraded wetland;

(II) returning meanders and sustainable profiles to straightened streams;

(III) burning grass communities heavily

invaded by exotic species to reestablish native

grass and plant communities; and

(IV) planting plant communities that are

native to the project site;

(ii) if restoration of a project site to its original

ecological condition is not practicable, an activity that

repairs 1 or more of the original habitat functions

and that involve the use of native vegetation,

including—

(I) the installation of a water control structure

in a swale on land isolated from overbank flooding

by a major levee to simulate natural hydrological

processes; and

(II) the placement of streambank or instream

habitat diversity structures in streams that cannot

be restored to original conditions or profile; and

(iii) removal of a disturbing or degrading element

to enable the native habitat to reestablish or become

fully functional.

(6) PRIVATE LAND.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘private land’’ means any

land that is not owned by the Federal Government or

a State.

(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘private land’’ includes

tribal land and Hawaiian homeland.

(7) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a project carried

out under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program established by section 4.

(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

of the Interior.

120 STAT. 1354 PUBLIC LAW 109–294—0CT. 3, 2006

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 260:

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 109–562 (Comm. on Resources).

SENATE REPORTS: No. 109–86 (Comm. on Environment and Public Works).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:

Vol. 151 (2005): June 27, considered and passed Senate.

Vol. 152 (2006): Sept. 20, considered and passed House.

Æ

SEC. 4. PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM.

The Secretary shall carry out the Partners for Fish and Wildlife

Program within the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to

provide—

(1) technical and financial assistance to private landowners

for the conduct of voluntary projects to benefit Federal trust

species by promoting habitat improvement, habitat restoration,

habitat enhancement, and habitat establishment; and

(2) technical assistance to other public and private entities

regarding fish and wildlife habitat restoration on private land.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act not more than $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through

2011.

Approved October 3, 2006.

16 USC 3774.

16 USC 3773.