II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2066 

To recognize the heritage of recreational fishing, hunting, and shooting on 

Federal public land and ensure continued opportunities for those activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2012 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To recognize the heritage of recreational fishing, hunting, 

and shooting on Federal public land and ensure continued opportunities for those activities. 

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 ‘‘Recreational Fishing 

5 and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) recreational fishing and hunting are impor2 tant and traditional activities in which millions of 

3 people in the United States participate; 

4 (2) recreational anglers and hunters have been 

5 and continue to be among the foremost supporters 

6 of sound fish and wildlife management and conserva7 tion in the United States; 

8 (3) recreational fishing and hunting are envi9 ronmentally acceptable and beneficial activities that 

10 occur and can be provided on Federal public land 

11 and water without adverse effects on other uses or 

12 users; 

13 (4) recreational anglers, hunters, and sporting 

14 organizations provide direct assistance to fish and 

15 wildlife managers and enforcement officers of the 

16 Federal Government as well as State and local gov17 ernments by investing volunteer time and effort to 

18 fish and wildlife conservation; 

19 (5) recreational anglers, hunters, and associated 

20 industries have generated billions of dollars of crit21 ical funding for fish and wildlife conservation, re22 search, and management by providing revenues from 

23 purchases of fishing and hunting licenses, permits, 

24 and stamps, as well as excise taxes on fishing, hunt25 ing, and shooting equipment that have generated bilVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:06 Feb 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2066.IS S2066

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1 lions of dollars of critical funding for fish and wild2 life conservation, research, and management; 

3 (6) recreational shooting is— 

4 (A) an important and traditional activity 

5 in which millions of people in the United States 

6 participate; and 

7 (B) a valid use of Federal public land, in8 cluding the establishment of safe and conven9 ient shooting ranges on Federal land; 

10 (7) participation in recreational shooting helps 

11 recruit and retain hunters and contributes to wildlife 

12 conservation; 

13 (8)(A) opportunities for recreational fishing, 

14 hunting, and shooting are declining, which depresses 

15 participation in those traditional activities; and 

16 (B) depressed participation adversely impacts 

17 fish and wildlife conservation and funding for impor18 tant conservation efforts; and 

19 (9) the public interest would be served, and the 

20 fish and wildlife resources of citizens of the United 

21 States benefitted, by action to ensure that opportu22 nities are facilitated to engage in fishing and hunt23 ing on Federal public land as recognized by Execu24 tive Order 12962 (16 U.S.C. 1801 note; relating to 

25 recreational fisheries) and Executive Order 13443 


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1 (16 U.S.C. 661 note; relating to facilitation of hunt2 ing heritage and wildlife conservation). 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) FEDERAL PUBLIC LAND.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘Federal public 

8 land’’ means any land or water that is— 

9 (i) owned by the United States; and 

10 (ii) managed by a Federal agency (in11 cluding the Department of the Interior and 

12 the Forest Service) for purposes that in13 clude the conservation of natural resources. 

14 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Federal pub15 lic land’’ does not include any land or water 

16 held in trust for the benefit of Indians or other 

17 Native Americans. 

18 (2) HUNTING.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘hunting’’ means 

21 use of a firearm, bow, or other authorized 

22 means in the lawful— 

23 (i) pursuit, shooting, capture, collec24 tion, trapping, or killing of wildlife; 


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1 (ii) attempt to pursue, shoot, capture, 

2 collect, trap, or kill wildlife; or 

3 (iii) the training of hunting dogs (in4 cluding field trials for hunting dogs). 

5 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘hunting’’ 

6 does not include the use of skilled volunteers to 

7 cull excess animals (as defined by other Federal 

8 law, including laws applicable to the National 

9 Park System). 

10 (3) RECREATIONAL FISHING.—The term ‘‘rec11 reational fishing’’ means the lawful— 

12 (A) pursuit, capture, collection, or killing 

13 of fish; or 

14 (B) attempt to capture, collect, or kill fish. 

15 (4) RECREATIONAL SHOOTING.—The term 

16 ‘‘recreational shooting’’ means any form of sport, 

17 training, competition, or pastime, whether formal or 

18 informal, that involves the discharge of a rifle, hand19 gun, or shotgun, or the use of a bow and arrow. 

20 SEC. 4. HUNTING, RECREATIONAL FISHING, AND REC21 REATIONAL SHOOTING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights 

23 and subsection (g), and cooperation with the respective 

24 State and fish and wildlife agency, a Federal public land 

25 management official shall exercise the authority of the ofVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:06 Feb 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2066.IS S2066

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1 ficial under law, including provisions regarding land use 

2 planning, to facilitate use of and access to Federal public 

3 land for hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational 

4 shooting except as limited by— 

5 (1) any law that authorizes action or with6 holding action for reasons of national security, pub7 lic safety, or resource conservation; 

8 (2) any other Federal law that specifically pre9 cludes hunting, recreational fishing, or shooting on 

10 specific Federal public land or water or units of 

11 Federal public land; and 

12 (3) discretionary limitations on hunting, rec13 reational fishing, or recreational shooting determined 

14 to be necessary and reasonable as supported by the 

15 best scientific evidence and advanced through a 

16 transparent public process. 

17 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Consistent with subsection (a), 

18 the head of each Federal public land management agency 

19 shall exercise the land management discretion of the 

20 head— 

21 (1) in a manner that supports and facilitates 

22 hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shoot23 ing opportunities; 

24 (2) to the extent authorized under applicable 

25 State law; and 


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1 (3) in accordance with applicable Federal law. 

2 (c) PLANNING.— 

3 (1) EFFECTS OF PLANS AND ACTIVITIES.— 

4 (A) PROVISION OF OPPORTUNITIES IN

5 LAND PLANNING DOCUMENTS.—Federal public 

6 land planning documents (including land re7 sources management plans, travel management 

8 plans, resource management plans, and general 

9 management plans) shall provide for opportuni10 ties to engage in hunting, recreational fishing, 

11 and recreational shooting, except as determined 

12 to be clearly inconsistent with or incompatible 

13 with the purposes for which the applicable unit 

14 of Federal public land is to be managed. 

15 (B) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—No action taken 

17 under this section (other than an action 

18 under subsection (d)(2) or (g)) or under 

19 section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge 

20 System Administration Act of 1966 (16 

21 U.S.C. 668dd), either individually or cu22 mulatively with other actions involving 

23 Federal public land, shall be considered to 

24 be a major Federal action significantly afVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:06 Feb 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2066.IS S2066

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1 fecting the quality of the human environ2 ment. 

3 (ii) LIMITATION.—No additional iden4 tification, analysis, or consideration of en5 vironmental effects (including cumulative 

6 effects) shall be necessary or required with 

7 respect to an action described in clause (i). 

8 (C) OTHER ACTIVITY NOT CONSIDERED.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

10 in clause (ii), Federal public land manage11 ment officials shall not be required to con12 sider the existence or availability of hunt13 ing, recreational fishing, or recreational 

14 shooting opportunities on adjacent or near15 by public land or private land for purposes 

16 of— 

17 (I) determining which units of 

18 Federal public land are open for, 

19 hunting, recreational fishing, or rec20 reational shooting; or 

21 (II) setting levels of use for hunt22 ing, recreational fishing, or rec23 reational shooting on Federal public 

24 land. 


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1 (ii) ENHANCED OPPORTUNITIES.— 

2 Federal public land management officials 

3 may consider the opportunities described in 

4 clause (i) if the coordination of those op5 portunities would enhance the hunting, 

6 recreational fishing, or recreational shoot7 ing opportunities available to the public. 

8 (2) USE OF VOLUNTEERS.—If hunting is pro9 hibited by law, a Federal public land planning docu10 ment described in paragraph (1)(A) of an agency 

11 shall, after appropriate coordination with the appro12 priate State fish and wildlife agency, allow the par13 ticipation of skilled volunteers in the culling and 

14 other management of wildlife populations on Federal 

15 public land unless the head of the agency dem16 onstrates, based on the best scientific data available 

17 or applicable Federal law, why skilled volunteers 

18 should not be used to control overpopulation of wild19 life on the land that is the subject of the planning 

20 document. 

21 (d) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND FOREST

22 SERVICE LAND.— 

23 (1) LAND OPEN.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Land under the juris25 diction of the Bureau of Land Management or 


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1 the Forest Service (including land designated as 

2 wilderness or administratively classified as wil3 derness eligible or suitable and primitive or 

4 semiprimitive areas, but excluding land on the 

5 outer Continental Shelf) shall be open to hunt6 ing, recreational fishing, or recreational shoot7 ing unless the managing Federal agency acts to 

8 close land to such activity. 

9 (B) CLOSURE OR RESTRICTIONS.—Land 

10 described in subparagraph (A) may be subject 

11 to closures or restrictions if determined by the 

12 head of the agency to be necessary and reason13 able and supported by facts and evidence for 

14 purposes such as resource conservation, public 

15 safety, energy or mineral production, energy 

16 generation or transmission infrastructure, water 

17 supply facilities, protection of other permittees, 

18 protection of private property rights or inter19 ests, national security, or compliance with other 

20 law. 

21 (2) RECREATIONAL SHOOTING RANGES.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Fed23 eral agency shall use the authorities of the 

24 head, in a manner consistent with this Act and 

25 other applicable law— 


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1 (i) to lease or permit use of Federal 

2 public land for recreational shooting 

3 ranges; and 

4 (ii) to designate specific Federal pub5 lic land for recreational shooting activities. 

6 (B) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Any des7 ignation under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not 

8 subject the United States to any civil action or 

9 claim for monetary damages for injury or loss 

10 of property or personal injury or death caused 

11 by any recreational shooting activity occurring 

12 at or on the designated Federal public land. 

13 (e) NECESSITY IN WILDERNESS AREAS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The provision of opportuni15 ties for hunting, recreational fishing, and rec16 reational shooting, and the conservation of fish and 

17 wildlife to provide sustainable use recreational op18 portunities on designated wilderness areas on Fed19 eral public land shall constitute measures necessary 

20 to meet the minimum requirements for the adminis21 tration of a wilderness area. 

22 (2) AMENDMENT TO WILDERNESS ACT.—Sec23 tion 4 of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) WILDERNESS PURPOSES.—In subsection (a), 

2 the term ‘within and supplemental to’— 

3 ‘‘(1) means that any requirements under this 

4 Act shall be implemented only to the extent that the 

5 activities do not prevent Federal public land man6 agement officials and State fish and wildlife officials 

7 from carrying out and facilitating the original or pri8 mary purpose or purposes for which the unit was es9 tablished; and 

10 ‘‘(2) does not authorize or facilitate commodity 

11 development, use, or extraction, motorized recreation 

12 access, or comparable non-hunting, fishing and trap13 ping activities.’’. 

14 (f) REPORT.—Not later than October 1 of every other 

15 year, beginning with the second October 1 after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal agency 

17 who has authority to manage Federal public land on which 

18 hunting, recreational fishing, or recreational shooting oc19 curs shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources 

20 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

21 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that 

22 describes— 

23 (1) any Federal public land administered by the 

24 agency head that was closed to hunting, recreational 


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1 fishing, or recreational shooting at any time during 

2 the preceding year; and 

3 (2) the reason for the closure. 

4 (g) CLOSURES OR SIGNIFICANT RESTRICTIONS OF

5 640 OR MORE ACRES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Other than closures estab7 lished or prescribed by land planning actions re8 ferred to in subsection (d)(1)(B) or emergency clo9 sures described in paragraph (3), a permanent or 

10 temporary withdrawal, change of classification, or 

11 change of management status of Federal public land 

12 or water that effectively closes or significantly re13 stricts 640 or more contiguous acres of Federal pub14 lic land or water to access or use for hunting or rec15 reational fishing or activities related to hunting or 

16 recreational fishing shall take effect only after the 

17 head of the Federal agency that has jurisdiction over 

18 the Federal public land or water— 

19 (A) publishes appropriate notice of the 

20 withdrawal or change; 

21 (B) demonstrates that coordination has oc22 curred with a State fish and wildlife agency; 

23 and 

24 (C) submits to the Committee on Natural 

25 Resources of the House of Representatives and 


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1 the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate written notice of the with3 drawal or change. 

4 (2) AGGREGATE OR CUMULATIVE EFFECTS.—If 

5 the aggregate or cumulative effect of separate with6 drawals or changes effectively closes or significant 

7 restrictions affects 1,280 or more acres of land or 

8 water, the withdrawals and changes shall be treated 

9 as a single withdrawal or change for purposes of 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 (3) EMERGENCY CLOSURES.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 

13 prohibits a Federal land management agency 

14 from establishing or implementing emergency 

15 closures or restrictions of the smallest prac16 ticable area of Federal public land to provide 

17 for public safety, resource conservation, na18 tional security, or other purposes authorized by 

19 law. 

20 (B) TERMINATION.—An emergency closure 

21 under subparagraph (A) shall terminate after a 

22 reasonable period of time unless the temporary 

23 closure is converted to a permanent closure con24 sistent with this Act. 

25 (h) NO PRIORITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act requires 

2 a Federal agency to give preference to hunting, rec3 reational fishing, or recreational shooting over other 

4 uses of Federal public land or over land or water 

5 management priorities established by other Federal 

6 law. 

7 (2) NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM.— 

8 Nothing in this Act amends or modifies the provi9 sions of the National Wildlife Refuge System Admin10 istration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.), ex11 cept to the extent expressly provided in this Act. 

12 (i) CONSULTATION WITH COUNCILS.—In carrying 

13 out this Act, the head of a Federal agency shall consult 

14 with the appropriate Council established under Executive 

15 Order 12962 (16 U.S.C. 1801 note; relating to rec16 reational fisheries) and Executive Order 13443 (16 U.S.C. 

17 661 note; relating to facilitation of hunting heritage and 

18 wildlife conservation). 

19 (j) AUTHORITY OF STATES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act inter21 feres with, diminishes, or conflicts with the author22 ity, jurisdiction, or responsibility of any State to 

23 manage, control, or regulate fish and wildlife under 

24 State law (including regulations) on land or water 

25 within the State, including on Federal public land. 


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1 (2) FEDERAL LICENSES.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), nothing in this Act author4 izes the head of a Federal agency to require a 

5 license, fee, or permit to fish, hunt, or trap on 

6 land or water in a State, including on Federal 

7 public land in the States. 

8 (B) MIGRATORY BIRD STAMPS.—This 

9 paragraph does not apply to any requirement of 

10 the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation 

11 Stamp Act (16 U.S.C. 718a et seq.). 

Æ 


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