IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2188 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

AN ACT 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the 

United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to conduct a 

Joint Venture Program to protect, restore, enhance, and 

manage migratory bird populations, their habitats, and 

the ecosystems they rely on, through voluntary actions 

on public and private lands, and for other purposes. 


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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 TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Joint Ventures for 

5 Bird Habitat Conservation Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) migratory birds are of great ecological and 

9 economic value to the Nation, contributing to bio10 logical diversity, advancing the well-being of human 

11 communities through pollination, seed dispersal, and 

12 other ecosystem services, and bringing tremendous 

13 enjoyment to the tens of millions of Americans who 

14 study, watch, feed, or hunt these birds; 

15 (2) sustainable populations of migratory birds 

16 depend on the conservation, protection, restoration, 

17 and enhancement of terrestrial, wetland, marine, 

18 and other aquatic habitats throughout their ranges 

19 in the United States, as well as the rest of North 

20 America, the Caribbean, and Central and South 

21 America; 

22 (3) birds are good indicators of environmental 

23 health and provide early warning of the impacts of 

24 environmental change, helping to yield the most out 

25 of every dollar invested in conservation; 


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1 (4) human and environmental stressors are 

2 causing the decline of populations of many migra3 tory bird species, many of them once common, and 

4 climate change will exacerbate the impacts of these 

5 stressors on migratory bird populations; 

6 (5) the coordination of Federal, State, tribal, 

7 and local government natural resource conservation 

8 efforts and the formation of partnerships that in9 clude a diversity of nongovernmental conservation 

10 organizations, private landowners, and other relevant 

11 stakeholders is necessary to accomplish the conserva12 tion of migratory bird populations, their habitats, 

13 and the ecosystem functions they rely on; 

14 (6) hunters, through their purchase of Federal 

15 migratory bird hunting stamps and State hunting li16 censes, have long supported the conservation of mi17 gratory birds and their habitats in the United States 

18 through the various State and Federal programs 

19 that are supported by the fees charged for such pur20 chases; 

21 (7) the Department of the Interior, through the 

22 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, is author23 ized under a number of broad statutes to undertake 

24 many activities with partners to conserve natural re25 sources, including migratory birds and their habitat; 


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1 (8) through these authorities, the Service has 

2 created and supported a number of joint ventures 

3 with diverse partners to help protect, manage, en4 hance, and restore migratory bird habitat through5 out much of the United States and to conserve mi6 gratory bird species; 

7 (9) the North American Waterfowl Manage8 ment Plan, adopted by the United States and Can9 ada in 1986, with Mexico joining as a signatory in 

10 1994, was the first truly landscape-level approach to 

11 conserving migratory game birds and the wetland 

12 habitats on which they depend, and became the 

13 foundation for the voluntary formation of Joint Ven14 tures; 

15 (10) since the adoption of the North American 

16 Waterfowl Management Plan, joint ventures have ex17 panded their application to all native birds and other 

18 wildlife species that depend on wetlands and associ19 ated upland habitats, resulting in significant con20 servation benefits over the last 20 years; 

21 (11) States possess broad trustee and manage22 ment authority over fish and wildlife resources with23 in their borders, and have utilized their authorities 

24 to undertake conservation programs to conserve resi25 dent and migratory birds and their habitats; 


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1 (12) consistent with applicable Federal and 

2 State laws, the Federal Government and the States 

3 each have management responsibilities affecting fish 

4 and wildlife resources, and should work cooperatively 

5 in fulfilling these responsibilities; 

6 (13) other domestic and international conserva7 tion projects authorized under the Neotropical Mi8 gratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6101 et 

9 seq.) and the North American Wetlands Conserva10 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.), and additional 

11 bird conservation projects authorized under other 

12 Federal authorities, can expand and increase the ef13 fectiveness of the joint ventures in protecting and 

14 enhancing migratory bird habitats throughout the 

15 different ranges of species native to the United 

16 States; and 

17 (14) the voluntary partnerships fostered by 

18 these joint ventures have served as innovative models 

19 for cooperative and effective landscape conservation, 

20 with far-reaching benefits to other fish and wildlife 

21 populations, and similar joint ventures should be au22 thorized specifically to reinforce the importance and 

23 multiple benefits of these models to encourage 

24 adaptive resource management and the implementaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:10 Jul 21, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2188.RFS H2188

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1 tion of flexible conservation strategies in the 21st 

2 century. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab4 lish a program administered by the Director, in coordina5 tion with other Federal agencies with management author6 ity over fish and wildlife resources and the States, to de7 velop, implement, and support innovative, voluntary, coop8 erative, and effective conservation strategies and conserva9 tion actions to— 

10 (1) promote, primarily, sustainable populations 

11 of migratory birds, and, secondarily, the fish and 

12 wildlife species associated with their habitats; 

13 (2) encourage stakeholder and government 

14 partnerships consistent with the goals of protecting, 

15 improving, and restoring habitat; 

16 (3) establish, implement, and improve science17 based migratory bird conservation plans and pro18 mote and facilitate broader landscape-level conserva19 tion of fish and wildlife habitat; and 

20 (4) coordinate related conservation activities of 

21 the Service and other Federal agencies to maximize 

22 the efficient and effective use of funds appropriated 

23 or otherwise made available to support projects and 

24 activities to enhance bird populations and other pop25 ulations of fish and wildlife and their habitats. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CONSERVATION ACTION.—The term ‘‘con4 servation action’’ means activities that— 

5 (A) support the protection, restoration, 

6 adaptive management, conservation, or en7 hancement of migratory bird populations, their 

8 terrestrial, wetland, marine, or other habitats, 

9 and other wildlife species supported by those 

10 habitats, including— 

11 (i) biological and geospatial planning; 

12 (ii) landscape and conservation de13 sign; 

14 (iii) habitat protection, enhancement, 

15 and restoration; 

16 (iv) monitoring and tracking; 

17 (v) applied research; and 

18 (vi) public outreach and education; 

19 (B) are conducted on lands or waters 

20 that— 

21 (i) are administered for the long-term 

22 conservation of such lands or waters and 

23 the migratory birds thereon, including the 

24 marine environment; or 


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1 (ii) are not primarily held or managed 

2 for conservation but provide habitat value 

3 for migratory birds; and 

4 (C) incorporate adaptive management and 

5 science-based monitoring, where applicable, to 

6 improve outcomes and ensure efficient and ef7 fective use of Federal funds. 

8 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

10 Service. 

11 (3) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im12 plementation Plan’’ means an Implementation Plan 

13 approved by the Director under section 5. 

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

15 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

16 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

17 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

18 (5) JOINT VENTURE.—The term ‘‘Joint Ven19 ture’’ means a self-directed, voluntary partnership, 

20 established and conducted in accordance with section 

21 5. 

22 (6) MANAGEMENT BOARD.—The term ‘‘Man23 agement Board’’ means a Joint Venture Manage24 ment Board established in accordance with section 

25 5. 


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1 (7) MIGRATORY BIRDS.—The term ‘‘migratory 

2 birds’’ means those species included in the list of mi3 gratory birds that appears in section 10.13 of title 

4 50, Code of Federal Regulations, under the author5 ity of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 

6 (8) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

7 the Joint Ventures Program conducted in accord8 ance with this Act. 

9 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of the Interior. 

11 (10) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 

12 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

13 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

14 (A) any State of the United States, the 

15 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

16 Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Amer17 ican Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 

18 Northern Mariana Islands; and 

19 (B) one or more agencies of a State gov20 ernment responsible under State law for man21 aging fish or wildlife resources. 

22 SEC. 4. JOINT VENTURES PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct, 

24 through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a 

25 Joint Ventures Program administered by the Director. 


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1 The Director, through the Program, shall develop an ad2 ministrative framework for the approval and establish3 ment and implementation of Joint Ventures, that— 

4 (1) provides financial and technical assistance 

5 to support regional migratory bird conservation part6 nerships; 

7 (2) develops and implements plans to protect 

8 and enhance migratory bird populations throughout 

9 their range, that are focused on regional landscapes 

10 and habitats that support those populations; 

11 (3) complements and supports activities by the 

12 Secretary and the Director to fulfill obligations 

13 under— 

14 (A) the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 

15 U.S.C. 701 et seq.); 

16 (B) the Migratory Bird Conservation Act 

17 (16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.); 

18 (C) the Neotropical Migratory Bird Con19 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.); 

20 (D) the North American Wetlands Con21 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.); 

22 (E) the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act 

23 of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); and 

24 (F) the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act 

25 (16 U.S.C. 3771 et seq.); and 


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1 (4) support the goals and objectives of— 

2 (A) the North American Waterfowl Man3 agement Plan; 

4 (B) the United States Shorebird Conserva5 tion Plan; 

6 (C) the North American Waterbird Con7 servation Plan; 

8 (D) the Partners in Flight North Amer9 ican Landbird Conservation Plan; and 

10 (E) other treaties, conventions, agree11 ments, or strategies entered into by the United 

12 States and implemented by the Secretary that 

13 promote the conservation of migratory bird pop14 ulations and their habitats. 

15 (b) GUIDELINES.—Within 180 days after the date of 

16 enactment of this Act the Secretary, through the Director, 

17 shall publish in the Federal Register guidelines for the im18 plementation of this Act, including regarding requirements 

19 for approval of proposed Joint Ventures and administra20 tion, oversight, coordination among, and evaluation of ap21 proved Joint Ventures. 

22 (c) COORDINATION WITH STATES.—In the adminis23 tration of the program authorized under this section, the 

24 Director shall coordinate and cooperate with the States 

25 to fulfill the purposes of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. JOINT VENTURE ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINIS2 TRATION. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, through the 

5 Program, may enter into an agreement with eligible 

6 partners described in paragraph (2) to establish a 

7 Joint Venture to fulfill one or more of the purposes 

8 set forth in paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 

9 2(b). 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE PARTNERS.—The eligible part11 ners referred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 

12 (A) Federal and State agencies with juris13 diction over migratory bird resources, their 

14 habitats, or that implement program activities 

15 that affect migratory bird habitats or the eco16 systems they rely on. 

17 (B) Affected regional, local, and tribal gov18 ernments, private landowners, land managers, 

19 and other private stakeholders. 

20 (C) Nongovernmental organizations with 

21 expertise in bird conservation or fish and wild22 life conservation or natural resource and land23 scape management generally. 

24 (D) Other relevant stakeholders. 

25 (b) MANAGEMENT BOARD.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement under this 

2 section for a Joint Venture shall establish a Manage3 ment Board in accordance with this subsection. 

4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Management Board 

5 shall include a diversity of members representing 

6 stakeholder interests from the appropriate geo7 graphic region, including, as appropriate, representa8 tives from the Service and other Federal agencies 

9 that have management authority over fish and wild10 life resources on public lands or in the marine envi11 ronment, or that implement programs that affect 

12 migratory bird habitats, and representatives from 

13 the States, and may include— 

14 (A) regional governments and Indian 

15 tribes; 

16 (B) academia or the scientific community; 

17 (C) nongovernmental landowners or land 

18 managers; 

19 (D) nonprofit conservation or other rel20 evant organizations with expertise in migratory 

21 bird conservation, or in fish and wildlife con22 servation generally; and 

23 (E) private organizations with a dedicated 

24 interest in conserving migratory birds and their 

25 habitats. 


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1 (3) FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

2 (A) ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS

3 PLAN.—A Management Board, in accordance 

4 with the guidelines published by the Director 

5 under section 4 and in coordination with the 

6 Director, shall develop, publish, and comply 

7 with a plan that specifies the organizational 

8 structure of the Joint Venture and prescribes 

9 its operational practices and procedures. 

10 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to applica11 ble Federal and State law, the Management 

12 Board shall manage the personnel and oper13 ations of the Joint Venture, including— 

14 (i) by appointing a coordinator for the 

15 Joint Venture in consultation with the Di16 rector, to manage the daily and long-term 

17 operations of the Joint Venture; 

18 (ii) approval of other full- or part-time 

19 administrative and technical non-Federal 

20 employees as the Management Board de21 termines necessary to perform the func22 tions of the Joint Venture, meet objectives 

23 specified in the Implementation Plan, and 

24 fulfill the purpose of this Act; and 


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1 (iii) establishment of committees, 

2 steering groups, focus groups, geographic 

3 or taxonomic groups, or other organiza4 tional entities to assist in implementing the 

5 relevant Implementation Plan. 

6 (4) USE OF SERVICE AND FEDERAL AGENCY

7 EMPLOYEES.—Subject to the availability of appro8 priations and upon the request from a Management 

9 Board, and after consultation with and approval of 

10 the Director, the head of any Federal agency may 

11 detail to the Management Board, on a reimbursable 

12 or nonreimbursable basis, any agency personnel to 

13 assist the Joint Venture in performing its functions 

14 under this Act. 

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

16 (1) SUBMISSION OF PLAN TO DIRECTOR.—Be17 fore the Director enters into an agreement to estab18 lish a Joint Venture under subsection (a), the Man19 agement Board for the Joint Venture shall submit 

20 to the Director a proposed Implementation Plan that 

21 shall contain, at a minimum, the following elements: 

22 (A) A strategic framework for migratory 

23 bird conservation that includes biological plan24 ning; conservation design; habitat restoration, 


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1 protection, and enhancement; applied research; 

2 and monitoring and evaluation activities. 

3 (B) Provisions for effective communication 

4 among member participants within the Joint 

5 Venture. 

6 (C) A long-term strategy to conduct public 

7 outreach and education regarding the purposes 

8 and activities of the Joint Venture and activi9 ties to regularly communicate to the general 

10 public information generated by the Joint Ven11 ture. 

12 (D) Coordination with laws and conserva13 tion plans referred to in section 4(a)(3) and (4) 

14 that are relevant to migratory birds, and other 

15 relevant regional, national, or international ini16 tiatives identified by the Director to conserve 

17 migratory birds, their habitats, ecological func18 tions, and associated populations of fish and 

19 wildlife. 

20 (E) An organizational plan that— 

21 (i) identifies the initial membership of 

22 the Management Board and establishes 

23 procedures for updating the membership of 

24 the Management Board as appropriate; 


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1 (ii) describes the organizational struc2 ture of the Joint Venture, including pro3 posed committees and subcommittees, and 

4 procedures for revising and updating the 

5 structure, as necessary; and 

6 (iii) provides a strategy to increase 

7 stakeholder participation or membership in 

8 the Joint Venture. 

9 (F) Procedures to coordinate the develop10 ment, implementation, oversight, monitoring, 

11 tracking, and reporting of conservation actions 

12 approved by the Management Board and an 

13 evaluation process to determine overall effec14 tiveness of activities undertaken by the Joint 

15 Venture. 

16 (G) A strategy to encourage the contribu17 tion of non-Federal financial resources, dona18 tions, gifts and in-kind contributions to support 

19 the objectives of the Joint Venture and fulfill20 ment of the Implementation Plan. 

21 (2) REVIEW.—The Director shall— 

22 (A) coordinate the review of a proposed 

23 Implementation Plan submitted under this sec24 tion; and 


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1 (B) ensure that such plan is circulated for 

2 review for a period not to exceed 90 days, to— 

3 (i) bureaus within the Service and 

4 other appropriate bureaus or agencies 

5 within the Department of the Interior; 

6 (ii) appropriate regional migratory 

7 bird Flyway Councils; 

8 (iii) national and international boards 

9 that oversee bird conservation initiatives 

10 under the plans specified in section 

11 4(a)(4); 

12 (iv) relevant State agencies, regional 

13 governmental entities, and Indian tribes; 

14 (v) nongovernmental conservation or15 ganizations, academic institutions, or other 

16 stakeholders engaged in existing Joint 

17 Ventures that have knowledge or expertise 

18 of the geographic or ecological scope of the 

19 Joint Venture; and 

20 (vi) other relevant stakeholders con21 sidered necessary by the Director to ensure 

22 a comprehensive review of the proposed 

23 Implementation Plan. 

24 (3) APPROVAL.—The Director shall approve an 

25 Implementation Plan submitted by the Management 


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1 Board for a Joint Venture if the Director finds 

2 that— 

3 (A) the plan provides for implementation 

4 of conservation actions to conserve waterfowl 

5 and other native migratory birds and their 

6 habitats and ecosystems either— 

7 (i) in a specific geographic area of the 

8 United States; or 

9 (ii) across the range of a specific spe10 cies or similar group of like species; 

11 (B) the members of the Joint Venture— 

12 (i) accept the responsibility for imple13 mentation of national or international bird 

14 conservation plans in the region of the 

15 United States to which the plan applies; 

16 and 

17 (ii) have demonstrated to the satisfac18 tion of the Director the capacity to imple19 ment conservation actions identified in the 

20 plan, including (I) the design, funding, 

21 monitoring, and tracking of conservation 

22 projects that advance the objectives of the 

23 Joint Venture; and (II) reporting and con24 duct of public outreach regarding such 

25 projects; and 


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1 (C) the plan maximizes, to the extent prac2 ticable, coordination with other relevant and ac3 tive conservation plans or programs within the 

4 geographic scope of the Joint Venture to con5 serve, protect, recover, or restore migratory bird 

6 habitats and other fish and wildlife habitat 

7 within the operating region of the Joint Ven8 ture. 

9 SEC. 6. GRANTS AND OTHER ASSISTANCE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

11 (b), and subject to the availability of appropriations, the 

12 Director may award grants of financial assistance to im13 plement a Joint Venture through— 

14 (1) support of the activities of the Management 

15 Board of the Joint Venture and to pay for necessary 

16 administrative costs and services, personnel, and 

17 meetings, travel, and other business activities; and 

18 (2) support for specific conservation actions and 

19 other activities necessary to carry out the Implemen20 tation Plan. 

21 (b) LIMITATION.—A Joint Venture is not eligible for 

22 assistance or support authorized in this section unless the 

23 Joint Venture is operating under an Implementation Plan 

24 approved by the Director under section 5. 


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1 (c) CONSERVATION ACTION GRANT CRITERIA.—The 

2 Secretary, through the Director, within 180 days after 

3 date of enactment of this Act and after consultation with 

4 representatives from Management Boards and equivalent 

5 entities of joint ventures referred to in section 8, shall 

6 publish guidelines for determining funding allocations 

7 among joint ventures and priorities for funding among 

8 conservation action proposals to meet the purpose of this 

9 Act and respective Implementation Plans. 

10 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—If a Management 

11 Board determines that two or more proposed conservation 

12 actions are of equal value toward fulfillment of the rel13 evant Implementation Plan, priority shall be given to the 

14 action or actions for which there exist non-Federal match15 ing contributions that are equal to or exceed the amount 

16 of Federal funds available for such action or actions. 

17 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 

18 through the Director, may provide technical and adminis19 trative assistance for implementation of Joint Ventures 

20 and the expenditure of financial assistance under this sub21 section. 

22 (f) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The 

23 Secretary, through the Director, may accept and use dona24 tions of funds, gifts, and in-kind contributions to provide 

25 assistance under this section. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS BY MANAGEMENT BOARDS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

4 through the Director, shall— 

5 (A) require each Management Board to 

6 submit annual reports for all approved Joint 

7 Ventures of the Management Board; and 

8 (B) publish within 180 days after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act guidelines to imple10 ment this subsection. 

11 (2) CONTENTS.—Each annual report shall in12 clude— 

13 (A) a description and justification of all 

14 conservation actions approved and implemented 

15 by the Management Board during the period 

16 covered by the report; 

17 (B) when appropriate based upon the goals 

18 and objectives of an Implementation Plan, an 

19 estimate of the total number of acres of migra20 tory bird habitat either restored, protected, or 

21 enhanced as a result of such conservation ac22 tions; 

23 (C) the amounts and sources of Federal 

24 and non-Federal funding for such conservation 

25 actions; 


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1 (D) the amounts and sources of funds ex2 pended for administrative and other expenses of 

3 the Joint Venture of the Management Board, 

4 including all donations, gifts, and in-kind con5 tributions provided for the Joint Venture; 

6 (E) the status of progress made in achiev7 ing the strategic framework of the Implementa8 tion Plan of such Joint Venture and fulfillment 

9 of the purpose of this Act; and 

10 (F) other elements considered necessary by 

11 the Director to insure transparency and ac12 countability by Management Boards in the im13 plementation of its responsibilities under this 

14 Act. 

15 (b) JOINT VENTURE PROGRAM 5-YEAR REVIEWS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

17 through the Director, shall at 5 years after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act and at 5-year intervals 

19 thereafter, complete an objective and comprehensive 

20 review and evaluation of the Program. 

21 (2) REVIEW CONTENTS.—Each review under 

22 this subsection shall include— 

23 (A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

24 the Program in meeting the purpose of this Act 

25 specified in section 2(b); 


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1 (B) an evaluation of all approved Imple2 mentation Plans, especially the effectiveness of 

3 existing conservation strategies, priorities, and 

4 methods to meet the objectives of such plans 

5 and fulfill the purpose of this Act; and 

6 (C) recommendations to revise the Pro7 gram or to amend or otherwise revise Imple8 mentation Plans to ensure that activities under9 taken pursuant to this Act address the effects 

10 of climate change on migratory bird populations 

11 and their habitats, and fish and wildlife habi12 tats, in general. 

13 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Director, in the implementation of this 

15 subsection— 

16 (A) shall consult with other appropriate 

17 Federal agencies with responsibility for the con18 servation or management of fish and wildlife 

19 habitat and appropriate State agencies; and 

20 (B) may consult with appropriate, Indian 

21 tribes, Flyway Councils, or regional conserva22 tion organizations, public and private land23 owners, members of academia and the scientific 

24 community, and other nonprofit conservation or 

25 private stakeholders. 


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1 (4) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary, 

2 through the Director, shall provide for adequate op3 portunities for general public review and comment of 

4 the Program as part of the 5-year evaluations con5 ducted pursuant to this subsection. 

6 SEC. 8. TREATMENT OF EXISTING JOINT VENTURES. 

7 For purposes of this Act, the Director— 

8 (1) shall treat as a Joint Venture any joint ven9 ture recognized by the Director before the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act in accordance with the 

11 United States Fish and Wildlife Services manual 

12 (721FW6); and 

13 (2) shall treat as an Implementation Plan an 

14 implementation plan adopted by the management 

15 board for such joint venture. 

16 SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITIES. 

17 (a) AUTHORITIES, ETC. OF SECRETARY.—Nothing in 

18 this Act affects authorities, responsibilities, obligations, or 

19 powers of the Secretary under any other Act. 

20 (b) STATE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act pre21 empts any provision or enforcement of a State statute or 

22 regulation relating to the management of fish and wildlife 

23 resources within such State. 


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1 SEC. 10. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT. 

2 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

3 shall not apply to any boards, committees, or other groups 

4 established under this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 16, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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