IB 

Union Calendar No. 108 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2188 

[Report No. 111–201] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2009 

Mr. KRATOVIL (for himself, Mr. KIND, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, and 

Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

JULY 10, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 30, 2009] 

A BILL 

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 Bird 

5 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 biologi10 cal diversity, advancing the well-being of human com11 munities through pollination, seed dispersal, and 

12 other ecosystem services, and bringing tremendous en13 joyment 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, and 

18 other aquatic habitats throughout their ranges in the 

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

20 the Caribbean, and Central and South America; 

21 (3) birds are good indicators of environmental 

22 health and provide early warning of the impacts of 

23 environmental change, helping to yield the most out 

24 of every dollar invested in conservation; 


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1 (4) human and environmental stressors are caus2 ing the decline of populations of many migratory bird 

3 species, many of them once common, and climate 

4 change will exacerbate the impacts of these stressors 

5 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 include 

9 a diversity of nongovernmental conservation organi10 zations, private landowners, and other relevant stake11 holders is necessary to accomplish the conservation of 

12 migratory bird populations, their habitats, and the 

13 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 migra17 tory birds and their habitats in the United States 

18 through the various State and Federal programs that 

19 are supported by the fees charged for such purchases; 

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

21 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, is authorized 

22 under a number of broad statutes to undertake many 

23 activities with partners to conserve natural resources, 

24 including migratory birds and their habitat; 


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1 (8) through these authorities, the Service has cre2 ated and supported a number of joint ventures with 

3 diverse partners to help protect, manage, enhance, 

4 and restore migratory bird habitat throughout much 

5 of the United States and to conserve migratory bird 

6 species; 

7 (9) the North American Waterfowl Management 

8 Plan, adopted by the United States and Canada in 

9 1986, with Mexico joining as a signatory in 1994, 

10 was the first truly landscape-level approach to con11 serving migratory game birds and the wetland habi12 tats on which they depend, and became the foundation 

13 for the voluntary formation of Joint Ventures; 

14 (10) since the adoption of the North American 

15 Waterfowl Management Plan, joint ventures have ex16 panded their application to all native birds and other 

17 wildlife species that depend on wetlands and associ18 ated upland habitats, resulting in significant con19 servation benefits over the last twenty years; 

20 (11) States possess broad trustee and manage21 ment authority over fish and wildlife resources within 

22 their borders, and have utilized their authorities to 

23 undertake conservation programs to conserve resident 

24 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 Migra8 tory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.) 

9 and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act 

10 (16 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.), and additional bird con11 servation projects authorized under other Federal au12 thorities, can expand and increase the effectiveness of 

13 the joint ventures in protecting and enhancing migra14 tory bird habitats throughout the different ranges of 

15 species native to the United States; and 

16 (14) the voluntary partnerships fostered by these 

17 joint ventures have served as innovative models for co18 operative and effective landscape conservation, with 

19 far-reaching benefits to other fish and wildlife popu20 lations, and similar joint ventures should be author21 ized specifically to reinforce the importance and mul22 tiple benefits of these models to encourage adaptive re23 source management and the implementation of flexi24 ble conservation strategies in the 21st century. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to establish 

2 a program administered by the Director, in coordination 

3 with other Federal agencies with management authority 

4 over fish and wildlife resources and the States, to develop, 

5 implement, and support innovative, voluntary, cooperative, 

6 and effective conservation strategies and conservation ac7 tions to— 

8 (1) promote, primarily, sustainable populations 

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

10 wildlife species associated with their habitats; 

11 (2) encourage stakeholder and government part12 nerships consistent with the goals of protecting, im13 proving, and restoring habitat; 

14 (3) establish, implement, and improve science15 based migratory bird conservation plans and promote 

16 and facilitate broader landscape-level conservation of 

17 fish and wildlife habitat; and 

18 (4) coordinate related conservation activities of 

19 the Service and other Federal agencies to maximize 

20 the efficient and effective use of funds appropriated or 

21 otherwise made available to support projects and ac22 tivities to enhance bird populations and other popu23 lations of fish and wildlife and their habitats. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CONSERVATION ACTION.—The term ‘‘con2 servation action’’ means activities that— 

3 (A) support the protection, restoration, 

4 adaptive management, conservation, or enhance5 ment of migratory bird populations, their terres6 trial, wetland, marine, or other habitats, and 

7 other wildlife species supported by those habitats, 

8 including— 

9 (i) biological and geospatial planning; 

10 (ii) landscape and conservation design; 

11 (iii) habitat protection, enhancement, 

12 and restoration; 

13 (iv) monitoring and tracking; 

14 (v) applied research; and 

15 (vi) public outreach and education; 

16 (B) are conducted on lands or waters that— 

17 (i) are administered for the long-term 

18 conservation of such lands or waters and 

19 the migratory birds thereon, including the 

20 marine environment; or 

21 (ii) are not primarily held or managed 

22 for conservation but provide habitat value 

23 for migratory birds; and 

24 (C) incorporate adaptive management and 

25 science-based monitoring, where applicable, to 


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1 improve outcomes and ensure efficient and effec2 tive use of Federal funds. 

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

4 Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv5 ice. 

6 (3) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Imple7 mentation Plan’’ means an Implementation Plan ap8 proved by the Director under section 5. 

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

10 the meaning given that term in section 4 of the In11 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

13 (5) JOINT VENTURE.—The term ‘‘Joint Venture’’ 

14 means a self-directed, voluntary partnership, estab15 lished and conducted in accordance with section 5. 

16 (6) MANAGEMENT BOARD.—The term ‘‘Manage17 ment Board’’ means a Joint Venture Management 

18 Board established in accordance with section 5. 

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

20 birds’’ means those species included in the list of mi21 gratory birds that appears in section 10.13 of title 50, 

22 Code of Federal Regulations, under the authority of 

23 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 


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

2 Joint Ventures Program conducted in accordance 

3 with this Act. 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

7 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

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

9 (A) any State of the United States, the Dis10 trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

11 Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American 

12 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

13 Mariana Islands; and 

14 (B) one or more agencies of a State govern15 ment responsible under State law for managing 

16 fish or wildlife resources. 

17 SEC. 4. JOINT VENTURES PROGRAM. 

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

19 through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a 

20 Joint Ventures Program administered by the Director. The 

21 Director, through the Program, shall develop an adminis22 trative framework for the approval and establishment and 

23 implementation of Joint Ventures, that— 


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1 (1) provides financial and technical assistance to 

2 support regional migratory bird conservation part3 nerships; 

4 (2) develops and implements plans to protect 

5 and enhance migratory bird populations throughout 

6 their range, that are focused on regional landscapes 

7 and habitats that support those populations; 

8 (3) complements and supports activities by the 

9 Secretary and the Director to fulfill obligations 

10 under— 

11 (A) the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 

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

13 (B) the Migratory Bird Conservation Act 

14 (16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.); 

15 (C) the Neotropical Migratory Bird Con16 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.); 

17 (D) the North American Wetlands Con18 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.); 

19 (E) the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act 

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

21 (F) the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act 

22 (16 U.S.C. 3771 et seq.); and 

23 (4) support the goals and objectives of— 

24 (A) the North American Waterfowl Manage25 ment Plan; 


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1 (B) the United States Shorebird Conserva2 tion Plan; 

3 (C) the North American Waterbird Con4 servation Plan; 

5 (D) the Partners in Flight North American 

6 Landbird Conservation Plan; and 

7 (E) other treaties, conventions, agreements, 

8 or strategies entered into by the United States 

9 and implemented by the Secretary that promote 

10 the conservation of migratory bird populations 

11 and their habitats. 

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

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

14 shall publish in the Federal Register guidelines for the im15 plementation of this Act, including regarding requirements 

16 for approval of proposed Joint Ventures and administra17 tion, oversight, coordination among, and evaluation of ap18 proved Joint Ventures. 

19 (c) COORDINATION WITH STATES.—In the adminis20 tration of the program authorized under this section, the 

21 Director shall coordinate and cooperate with the States to 

22 fulfill the purposes of this Act. 

23 SEC. 5. JOINT VENTURE ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINIS24 TRATION. 

25 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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

2 Program, may enter into an agreement with eligible 

3 partners described in paragraph (2) to establish a 

4 Joint Venture to fulfill one or more of the purposes 

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

6 2(b). 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE PARTNERS.—The eligible partners 

8 referred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 

9 (A) Federal and State agencies with juris10 diction over migratory bird resources, their habi11 tats, or that implement program activities that 

12 affect migratory bird habitats or the ecosystems 

13 they rely on. 

14 (B) Affected regional, local, and tribal gov15 ernments, private landowners, land managers, 

16 and other private stakeholders. 

17 (C) Nongovernmental organizations with ex18 pertise in bird conservation or fish and wildlife 

19 conservation or natural resource and landscape 

20 management generally. 

21 (D) Other relevant stakeholders. 

22 (b) MANAGEMENT BOARD.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement under this sec24 tion for a Joint Venture shall establish a Management 

25 Board in accordance with this subsection. 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Management Board 

2 shall include a diversity of members representing 

3 stakeholder interests from the appropriate geographic 

4 region, including, as appropriate, representatives 

5 from the Service and other Federal agencies that have 

6 management authority over fish and wildlife re7 sources on public lands or in the marine environ8 ment, or that implement programs that affect migra9 tory bird habitats, and representatives from the 

10 States, and may include— 

11 (A) regional governments and Indian tribes; 

12 (B) academia or the scientific community; 

13 (C) nongovernmental landowners or land 

14 managers; 

15 (D) nonprofit conservation or other relevant 

16 organizations with expertise in migratory bird 

17 conservation, or in fish and wildlife conservation 

18 generally; and 

19 (E) private organizations with a dedicated 

20 interest in conserving migratory birds and their 

21 habitats. 

22 (3) FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

23 (A) ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS

24 PLAN.—A Management Board, in accordance 

25 with the guidelines published by the Director 


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1 under section 4 and in coordination with the Di2 rector, shall develop, publish, and comply with a 

3 plan that specifies the organizational structure of 

4 the Joint Venture and prescribes its operational 

5 practices and procedures. 

6 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to applica7 ble Federal and State law, the Management 

8 Board shall manage the personnel and oper9 ations of the Joint Venture, including— 

10 (i) by appointing a coordinator for the 

11 Joint Venture in consultation with the Di12 rector, to manage the daily and long-term 

13 operations of the Joint Venture; 

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

15 administrative and technical non-Federal 

16 employees as the Management Board deter17 mines necessary to perform the functions of 

18 the Joint Venture, meet objectives specified 

19 in the Implementation Plan, and fulfill the 

20 purpose of this Act; and 

21 (iii) establishment of committees, steer22 ing groups, focus groups, geographic or tax23 onomic groups, or other organizational enti24 ties to assist in implementing the relevant 

25 Implementation Plan. 


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1 (4) USE OF SERVICE AND FEDERAL AGENCY EM2 PLOYEES.—Subject to the availability of appropria3 tions and upon the request from a Management 

4 Board, and after consultation with and approval of 

5 the Director, the head of any Federal agency may de6 tail to the Management Board, on a reimbursable or 

7 nonreimbursable basis, any agency personnel to assist 

8 the Joint Venture in performing its functions under 

9 this Act. 

10 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

11 (1) SUBMISSION OF PLAN TO DIRECTOR.—Before 

12 the Director enters into an agreement to establish a 

13 Joint Venture under subsection (a), the Management 

14 Board for the Joint Venture shall submit to the Direc15 tor a proposed Implementation Plan that shall con16 tain, at a minimum, the following elements: 

17 (A) A strategic framework for migratory 

18 bird conservation that includes biological plan19 ning; conservation design; habitat restoration, 

20 protection, and enhancement; applied research; 

21 and monitoring and evaluation activities. 

22 (B) Provisions for effective communication 

23 among member participants within the Joint 

24 Venture. 


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

2 outreach and education regarding the purposes 

3 and activities of the Joint Venture and activities 

4 to regularly communicate to the general public 

5 information generated by the Joint Venture. 

6 (D) Coordination with laws and conserva7 tion plans referred to in section 4(a)(3) and (4) 

8 that are relevant to migratory birds, and other 

9 relevant regional, national, or international ini10 tiatives identified by the Director to conserve mi11 gratory birds, their habitats, ecological functions, 

12 and associated populations of fish and wildlife. 

13 (E) An organizational plan that— 

14 (i) identifies the initial membership of 

15 the Management Board and establishes pro16 cedures for updating the membership of the 

17 Management Board as appropriate; 

18 (ii) describes the organizational struc19 ture of the Joint Venture, including pro20 posed committees and subcommittees, and 

21 procedures for revising and updating the 

22 structure, as necessary; and 

23 (iii) provides a strategy to increase 

24 stakeholder participation or membership in 

25 the Joint Venture. 


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1 (F) Procedures to coordinate the develop2 ment, implementation, oversight, monitoring, 

3 tracking, and reporting of conservation actions 

4 approved by the Management Board and an 

5 evaluation process to determine overall effective6 ness of activities undertaken by the Joint Ven7 ture. 

8 (G) A strategy to encourage the contribution 

9 of non-Federal financial resources, donations, 

10 gifts and in-kind contributions to support the ob11 jectives of the Joint Venture and fulfillment of 

12 the Implementation Plan. 

13 (2) REVIEW.—The Director shall— 

14 (A) coordinate the review of a proposed Im15 plementation Plan submitted under this section; 

16 and 

17 (B) ensure that such plan is circulated for 

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

19 (i) bureaus within the Service and 

20 other appropriate bureaus or agencies with21 in the Department of the Interior; 

22 (ii) appropriate regional migratory 

23 bird Flyway Councils; 


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1 (iii) national and international boards 

2 that oversee bird conservation initiatives 

3 under the plans specified in section 4(a)(4); 

4 (iv) relevant State agencies, regional 

5 governmental entities, and Indian tribes; 

6 (v) nongovernmental conservation or7 ganizations, academic institutions, or other 

8 stakeholders engaged in existing Joint Ven9 tures that have knowledge or expertise of the 

10 geographic or ecological scope of the Joint 

11 Venture; and 

12 (vi) other relevant stakeholders consid13 ered necessary by the Director to ensure a 

14 comprehensive review of the proposed Imple15 mentation Plan. 

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

17 Implementation Plan submitted by the Management 

18 Board for a Joint Venture if the Director finds that— 

19 (A) the plan provides for implementation of 

20 conservation actions to conserve waterfowl and 

21 other native migratory birds and their habitats 

22 and ecosystems either— 

23 (i) in a specific geographic area of the 

24 United States; or 


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1 (ii) across the range of a specific spe2 cies or similar group of like species; 

3 (B) the members of the Joint Venture— 

4 (i) accept the responsibility for imple5 mentation of national or international bird 

6 conservation plans in the region of the 

7 United States to which the plan applies; 

8 and 

9 (ii) have demonstrated to the satisfac10 tion of the Director the capacity to imple11 ment conservation actions identified in the 

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

13 monitoring, and tracking of conservation 

14 projects that advance the objectives of the 

15 Joint Venture; and (II) reporting and con16 duct of public outreach regarding such 

17 projects; and 

18 (C) the plan maximizes, to the extent prac19 ticable, coordination with other relevant and ac20 tive conservation plans or programs within the 

21 geographic scope of the Joint Venture to conserve, 

22 protect, recover, or restore migratory bird habi23 tats and other fish and wildlife habitat within 

24 the operating region of the Joint Venture. 


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1 SEC. 6. GRANTS AND OTHER ASSISTANCE. 

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

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

4 Director may award grants of financial assistance to imple5 ment a Joint Venture through— 

6 (1) support of the activities of the Management 

7 Board of the Joint Venture and to pay for necessary 

8 administrative costs and services, personnel, and 

9 meetings, travel, and other business activities; and 

10 (2) support for specific conservation actions and 

11 other activities necessary to carry out the Implemen12 tation Plan. 

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

14 assistance or support authorized in this section unless the 

15 Joint Venture is operating under an Implementation Plan 

16 approved by the Director under section 5. 

17 (c) CONSERVATION ACTION GRANT CRITERIA.—The 

18 Secretary, through the Director, within 180 days after date 

19 of enactment of this Act and after consultation with rep20 resentatives from Management Boards and equivalent enti21 ties of joint ventures referred to in section 8, shall publish 

22 guidelines for determining funding allocations among joint 

23 ventures and priorities for funding among conservation ac24 tion proposals to meet the purpose of this Act and respective 

25 Implementation Plans. 


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1 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—If a Management 

2 Board determines that two or more proposed conservation 

3 actions are of equal value toward fulfillment of the relevant 

4 Implementation Plan, priority shall be given to the action 

5 or actions for which there exist non-Federal matching con6 tributions that are equal to or exceed the amount of Federal 

7 funds available for such action or actions. 

8 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, through 

9 the Director, may provide technical and administrative as10 sistance for implementation of Joint Ventures and the ex11 penditure of financial assistance under this subsection. 

12 (f) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The Sec13 retary, through the Director, may accept and use donations 

14 of funds, gifts, and in-kind contributions to provide assist15 ance under this section. 

16 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

17 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS BY MANAGEMENT BOARDS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

19 the Director, shall— 

20 (A) require each Management Board to sub21 mit annual reports for all approved Joint Ven22 tures of the Management Board; and 

23 (B) publish within 180 days after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act guidelines to implement 

25 this subsection. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—Each annual report shall in2 clude— 

3 (A) a description and justification of all 

4 conservation actions approved and implemented 

5 by the Management Board during the period cov6 ered by the report; 

7 (B) when appropriate based upon the goals 

8 and objectives of an Implementation Plan, an es9 timate of the total number of acres of migratory 

10 bird habitat either restored, protected, or en11 hanced as a result of such conservation actions; 

12 (C) the amounts and sources of Federal and 

13 non-Federal funding for such conservation ac14 tions; 

15 (D) the amounts and sources of funds ex16 pended for administrative and other expenses of 

17 the Joint Venture of the Management Board, in18 cluding all donations, gifts, and in-kind con19 tributions provided for the Joint Venture; 

20 (E) the status of progress made in achieving 

21 the strategic framework of the Implementation 

22 Plan of such Joint Venture and fulfillment of the 

23 purpose of this Act; and 

24 (F) other elements considered necessary by 

25 the Director to insure transparency and accountVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:34 Jul 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2188.RH H2188

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1 ability by Management Boards in the implemen2 tation of its responsibilities under this Act. 

3 (b) JOINT VENTURE PROGRAM FIVE-YEAR RE4 VIEWS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

6 the Director, shall at five years after the date of en7 actment of this Act and at five-year intervals there8 after, complete an objective and comprehensive review 

9 and evaluation of the Program. 

10 (2) REVIEW CONTENTS.—Each review under this 

11 subsection shall include— 

12 (A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

13 Program in meeting the purpose of this Act spec14 ified in section 2(b); 

15 (B) an evaluation of all approved Imple16 mentation Plans, especially the effectiveness of 

17 existing conservation strategies, priorities, and 

18 methods to meet the objectives of such plans and 

19 fulfill the purpose of this Act; and 

20 (C) recommendations to revise the Program 

21 or to amend or otherwise revise Implementation 

22 Plans to ensure that activities undertaken pursu23 ant to this Act address the effects of climate 

24 change on migratory bird populations and their 


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1 habitats, and fish and wildlife habitats, in gen2 eral. 

3 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, acting 

4 through the Director, in the implementation of this 

5 subsection— 

6 (A) shall consult with other appropriate 

7 Federal agencies with responsibility for the con8 servation or management of fish and wildlife 

9 habitat and appropriate State agencies; and 

10 (B) may consult with appropriate, Indian 

11 tribes, Flyway Councils, or regional conservation 

12 organizations, public and private landowners, 

13 members of academia and the scientific commu14 nity, and other nonprofit conservation or private 

15 stakeholders. 

16 (4) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary, through 

17 the Director, shall provide for adequate opportunities 

18 for general public review and comment of the Pro19 gram as part of the five-year evaluations conducted 

20 pursuant to this subsection. 

21 SEC. 8. TREATMENT OF EXISTING JOINT VENTURES. 

22 For purposes of this Act, the Director— 

23 (1) shall treat as a Joint Venture any joint ven24 ture recognized by the Director before the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act in accordance with the United 


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1 States Fish and Wildlife Services manual (721FW6); 

2 and 

3 (2) shall treat as an Implementation Plan an 

4 implementation plan adopted by the management 

5 board for such joint venture. 

6 SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITIES. 

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

8 this Act affects authorities, responsibilities, obligations, or 

9 powers of the Secretary under any other Act. 

10 (b) STATE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act preempts 

11 any provision or enforcement of a State statute or regula12 tion relating to the management of fish and wildlife re13 sources within such State. 

14 SEC. 10. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT. 

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

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

17 established under this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 108 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2188 

[Report No. 111–201] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through 

private lands, and for other purposes. rely on, through voluntary actions on public and lations, their habitats, and the ecosystems they store, enhance, and manage migratory bird popuconduct a Joint Venture Program to protect, rethe United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to 

JULY 10, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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