I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4790

To recognize hunting heritage and provide opportunities for continued hunting

on public lands.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 29, 2000

Mr. CHAMBLISS (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin,

Mr. THUNE, and Mr. HANSEN) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To recognize hunting heritage and provide opportunities for

continued hunting on public lands.

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 ‘‘Hunting Heritage Pro5 tection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Recreational hunting is an important and

2 traditional recreational activity in which 14,000,000

3 Americans 16 years of age and older participate.

4 (2) Hunters have been and continue to be

5 among the foremost supporters of sound wildlife

6 management and conservation practices in the

7 United States.

8 (3) Persons who hunt and organizations related

9 to hunting provide direct assistance to wildlife man10 agers and enforcement officers of Federal, State,

11 and local governments.

12 (4) Purchases of hunting licenses, permits, and

13 stamps and excise taxes on goods used by hunters

14 have generated billions of dollars for wildlife con15 servation, research, and management.

16 (5) Recreational hunting is an essential compo17 nent of effective wildlife management, in that it is

18 an important tool for reducing conflicts between peo19 ple and wildlife and provides incentives for the con20 servation of wildlife and habitats and ecosystems on

21 which wildlife depends.

22 (6) Each State has established at least one

23 agency staffed by professionally trained wildlife

24 management personnel, that has legal authority to

25 manage the wildlife in the State.
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1 (7) Recreational hunting is an environmentally

2 acceptable activity that occurs and can be provided

3 for on Federal public land and water without ad4 verse effects on other uses of that land and water.

5 SEC. 3. RECREATIONAL HUNTING.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal public land and water

7 shall be open to access and use for recreational hunting

8 except—

9 (1) as limited by the Federal agency with re10 sponsibility for Federal public land or water—

11 (A) for reasons of national security;

12 (B) for reasons of public safety; or

13 (C) for reasons specifically authorized in

14 applicable Federal statutes as reasons for clo15 sure; and

16 (2) as recreational hunting is limited by the

17 State in which the Federal public land or water is

18 located.

19 (b) MANAGEMENT.—The head of each Federal agen20 cy with authority to manage a natural resource or public

21 land or water on which a natural resource depends shall

22 exercise that authority, consistent with subsection (a), in

23 a manner so as to support, promote, and enhance rec24 reational hunting opportunities, to the extent authorized
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1 under State law and regulation and in accordance with

2 applicable Federal law.

3 (c) NO NET LOSS.—Federal land management deci4 sions and actions should, to the greatest extent prac5 ticable, result in no net loss of hunting opportunities on

6 public lands.

7 (d) AREAS ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL PARK

8 SERVICE.—This Act shall not be construed to compel the

9 opening to recreational hunting of national parks or na10 tional monuments administered by the National Park

11 Service.

12 (e) NO PRIORITY.—This section does not require a

13 Federal agency to give preference to hunting over other

14 uses of Federal public land or water, or over land or water

15 management priorities established in Federal law.

16 (f) AUTHORITY OF THE STATES.—This Act shall not

17 be construed to impair the primacy of State authority in

18 regulating the taking of fish and wildlife on land or water

19 within the State, including Federal public land or water.

20 SEC. 4. NATIONAL RECREATIONAL HUNTING COORDINA21 TION COUNCIL.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

23 National Recreational Hunting Coordination Council (in

24 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Council’’).

25 (b) DUTIES.—The Council shall—
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1 (1) ensure that Federal agencies consider the

2 social and economic values of healthy wildlife habi3 tats that support recreational hunting;

4 (2) make available to the public the latest re5 source information and management technologies to

6 assist in the conservation and management of wild7 life and the provision of recreational hunting oppor8 tunities;

9 (3) assess the implementation of the plan re10 quired under subsection (e);

11 (4) prepare a biennial report of accomplish12 ments under such plan; and

13 (5) review and evaluate Federal policies and ac14 tivities that affect hunting opportunities.

15 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

16 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Council

17 shall consist of 11 members appointed as follows:

18 (A) 1 member appointed by the Secretary

19 of the Interior.

20 (B) 1 member appointed by the Secretary

21 of Agriculture.

22 (C) 1 member appointed by the Secretary

23 of Defense.

24 (D) 1 member appointed by the Speaker of

25 the House of Representatives.
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1 (E) 1 member appointed by the minority

2 leader of the House of Representatives.

3 (F) 1 member appointed by the majority

4 leader of the Senate.

5 (G) 1 member appointed by the minority

6 leader of the Senate.

7 (H) 2 members appointed by the President

8 from among the directors of State fish and

9 wildlife agencies.

10 (I) 2 members appointed by the President

11 to represent recreational hunters.

12 (2) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed

13 for a term of 2 years.

14 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Council

15 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

16 appointment was made. Any member appointed to

17 fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the

18 term for which the member’s predecessor was ap19 pointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of

20 that term.

21 (4) PAY.—Each member shall serve without

22 pay.

23 (5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall

24 receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
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1 subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 and

2 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

3 (6) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall des4 ignate the Chairperson of the Commission from

5 among its members.

6 (d) POWERS OF COUNCIL.—

7 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Council

8 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold

9 hearings, sit and act at times and places, take testi10 mony, and receive evidence as the Council considers

11 appropriate.

12 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any

13 member or agency of the Council may, if authorized

14 by the Council, take any action which the Council is

15 authorized to take by this subsection.

16 (e) RECREATIONAL HUNTING RESOURCES CON17 SERVATION PLAN.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

20 Council, in cooperation with Federal agencies,

21 States, and tribes, and after consulting the hunting

22 community, shall develop a Comprehensive Rec23 reational Hunting and Wildlife Resource Conserva24 tion Plan.
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1 (2) AGENDA.—Such plan shall recommend a 5-

2 year agenda for Federal agencies identified in the

3 plan and shall include—

4 (A) measurable objectives to conserve and

5 restore wildlife habitats that support viable and

6 healthy wildlife resources that may be hunted;

7 (B) actions to be taken by such agencies to

8 ensure and facilitate hunting access to appro9 priate public lands, including Department of

10 Defense lands where provision of hunting op11 portunities is consistent with national security;

12 and

13 (C) a comprehensive mechanism to evalu14 ate the achievements of the agenda.

15 (3) INTEGRATION.—To the extent practicable,

16 the Council in developing such plan shall integrate

17 it with existing plans and programs, reduce duplica18 tion, and include recommended actions for coopera19 tion with States, tribes, wildlife conservation groups,

20 and the hunting community.

21 (4) UPDATING.—The Council may update such

22 plan.

23 (f) TERMINATION.—The Council shall terminate 10

24 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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