I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4647 

To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to make supplemental funds available for management of fish and wildlife species of 

greatest conservation need as determined by State fish and wildlife agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2017 

Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act 

to make supplemental funds available for management 

of fish and wildlife species of greatest conservation need 

as determined by State fish and wildlife agencies, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Recovering America’s 

5 Wildlife Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) A diverse array of species of fish and wild2 life is of significant value to the United States for 

3 aesthetic, ecological, educational, cultural, rec4 reational, economic, and scientific reasons. 

5 (2) More than 100 million citizens of the 

6 United States participate in outdoor recreation 

7 through hunting, fishing, birding, and other wildlife8 dependent recreation, all of which have significant 

9 value to the citizens who engage in those activities 

10 and provide economic benefits to local communities. 

11 (3) It is in the interest of the United States— 

12 (A) to retain for present and future gen13 erations the opportunity to hunt, fish, observe, 

14 understand, and appreciate a wide variety of 

15 fish and wildlife; 

16 (B) to recover species of fish and wildlife 

17 listed as threatened species or endangered spe18 cies under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

19 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and to prevent fish 

20 and wildlife species from declining to the point 

21 of requiring Federal protection under such Act; 

22 and 

23 (C) to support collaborative and proactive 

24 conservation that will sustain the diverse fish 

25 and wildlife populations of the United States. 


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1 (4) The first nongovernmental conservation or2 ganizations to instill fish and wildlife conservation 

3 values in hunters, anglers, bird watchers, and all 

4 citizens were founded during the 1880s to 1890s at 

5 the behest of hunters and anglers, including Theo6 dore Roosevelt and naturalist George Bird Grinnell, 

7 who were alarmed that game and sportfish could not 

8 sustain unregulated harvest and that avifauna need9 ed protection from commercial take. 

10 (5) At the turn of the 20th century, the 

11 States— 

12 (A) realized the need to regulate the har13 vest of game and sportfish for sustainable use; 

14 (B) required hunters and anglers to obtain 

15 licenses and established regulations for game 

16 seasons, bag and creel limits, and legal means 

17 of take for game and sportfish; and 

18 (C) used the funds received for such li19 censes largely for enforcement of such regula20 tions. 

21 (6) In 1937, an alliance between hunters and 

22 conservation organizations, States, the Federal Gov23 ernment, and the shooting sports industry convinced 

24 Congress to transfer to the States receipts from an 

25 existing Federal excise tax on sporting arms and 


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1 ammunition, matched by State hunting license dol2 lars, for the management of wildlife and conserva3 tion of habitat under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife 

4 Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.), which 

5 greatly enhanced the States’ ability to move from 

6 primarily enforcing game seasons and bag limits to 

7 science-based research and management of wildlife. 

8 (7) In 1951, an alliance between anglers and 

9 conservation organizations, States, the Federal Gov10 ernment, and the sportfishing industry convinced 

11 Congress to impose a Federal excise tax on fishing 

12 equipment under the Dingell-Johnson Sportfish Res13 toration Act (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.) and to transfer 

14 to the States such receipts, matched by State fishing 

15 license revenues, to manage sportfish and conserve 

16 aquatic habitats, enhancing the State fish and wild17 life agency’s ability to use science-based research 

18 and management of fish species. 

19 (8) Such user-pay, public-benefits means of 

20 funding fish and wildlife conservation is unique in 

21 the world, having been started in the United States 

22 by sportsmen and sportswomen who were willing to 

23 pay these fees to ensure dedicated funds went to fish 

24 and wildlife conservation delivered by the States. 


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1 (9) Such user-pay funds (licenses and excise 

2 taxes)— 

3 (A) have benefitted not only hunters and 

4 anglers, but all citizens of the United States by 

5 providing abundant fish and wildlife (including 

6 both game and nongame species), clean water, 

7 outdoor recreation, healthy activities, and qual8 ity of life; and 

9 (B) provide, and will continue to provide, 

10 a majority of the funds that are available to 

11 State fish and wildlife agencies for science12 based research and management of fish and 

13 wildlife. 

14 (10) State fish and wildlife agencies are respon15 sible for the conservation and management of all 

16 fish and wildlife in the State, but are grossly under17 funded because there are few funds available at the 

18 State level for fish and wildlife conservation, except 

19 those driven by hunting and fishing license revenues 

20 and Federal excise tax revenues. 

21 (11) Congress created a subaccount known as 

22 the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Sub23 account under section 3(a)(2) of the Pittman-Rob24 ertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 

25 669b(a)(2)) to support the full array of fish and 


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1 wildlife conservation needs identified by State fish 

2 and wildlife agencies, including for species that are 

3 not hunted or fished, but only authorized appropria4 tions for the Subaccount for one year. 

5 (12) While appropriated funds have been made 

6 available through the State and Tribal Wildlife 

7 Grants program of the United States Fish and Wild8 life Service, the lack of assured and sufficient dedi9 cated funding for the Wildlife Conservation and Res10 toration Subaccount has left unrealized the goals of 

11 the Subaccount, thereby allowing fish and wildlife 

12 populations to continue to decline across the United 

13 States and resulting in hundreds of species being 

14 listed as threatened species or endangered species 

15 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

17 (13) Under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife 

18 Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.), each State 

19 and territory is required to seek public input and 

20 produce a comprehensive fish and wildlife conserva21 tion strategy, otherwise known as a State Wildlife 

22 Action Plan, to guide the State-led conservation of 

23 the full array of fish, wildlife, and their habitats. 

24 (14) Providing assured and sufficient dedicated 

25 funding to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration 


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1 Subaccount will advance the national interest by as2 suring sustainable populations of fish and wildlife 

3 species are available for the use and enjoyment of 

4 citizens of the United States through implementing 

5 the comprehensive fish and wildlife conservation 

6 strategy of each State and territory. 

7 (15) As funds become available for the purposes 

8 of this Act, sportsmen and sportswomen expect 

9 States to secure the needed non-Federal match from 

10 sources other than revenue generated by sportsmen 

11 and sportswomen through the sale of State hunting 

12 and fishing licenses (except when projects or pro13 grams benefit habitat for species that are hunted or 

14 fished and other associated wildlife). 

15 SEC. 3. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION SUB16 ACCOUNT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Pittman-Robert18 son Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669b) is amend19 ed— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘(1) An amount equal to’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘An amount equal to’’; and 

23 (B) by striking paragraph (2); and 

24 (2) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(c)(1) Amounts trans2 ferred to the Wildlife Conservation and Res3 toration Account’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION

5 SUBACCOUNT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SUBACCOUNT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is established in 

8 the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund a 

9 subaccount to be known as the ‘Wildlife Con10 servation and Restoration Subaccount’ (referred 

11 to in this subsection as the ‘Subaccount’). 

12 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Sub13 account shall be available without further ap14 propriation, for each fiscal year, for apportion15 ment in accordance with this Act. 

16 ‘‘(C) DEPOSITS INTO SUBACCOUNT.—Be17 ginning in fiscal year 2018, the Secretary of the 

18 Treasury shall transfer to the fund for deposit 

19 in the Subaccount the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

21 REVENUES.—From amounts deposited in 

22 the Treasury under section 9 of the Outer 

23 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

24 1338), $650,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) MINING REVENUES.—From 

2 amounts deposited in the Treasury under 

3 section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

4 U.S.C. 191), after the withdrawal of funds 

5 to the States under subsection (a) of that 

6 section, $650,000,000. 

7 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 

8 transferred to the Wildlife Conservation and Res9 toration Subaccount’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2), as added by sub11 paragraph (A)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘wildlife restoration ac13 count and’’ and inserting ‘‘wildlife restora14 tion account.’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘shall be used for the 

16 development,’’ and all that follows through 

17 ‘‘existing programs and projects.’’ and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds appropriated 

20 from the Subaccount— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall be used to carry out, revise, or 

22 enhance existing wildlife conservation and res23 toration programs and to develop and imple24 ment new wildlife conservation and restoration 

25 programs to manage wildlife species of greatest 


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1 conservation need, including species that are 

2 not hunted or fished, and their habitats as de3 termined by the appropriate State fish and 

4 wildlife department; 

5 ‘‘(B) shall be used to develop, revise and 

6 implement a wildlife conservation strategy of 

7 the State as may be required by this Act; 

8 ‘‘(C) shall be used for wildlife conservation 

9 education and wildlife-associated recreation 

10 projects; 

11 ‘‘(D) may be used to assist in the recovery 

12 of a species listed as an endangered species or 

13 threatened species under the Endangered Spe14 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(E) may be used to manage a species of 

16 greatest conservation need whose range is 

17 shared with a foreign government and the habi18 tat of such species; 

19 ‘‘(F) may be used to manage, control, and 

20 prevent invasive and nuisance species and other 

21 risks to species of greatest conservation need; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(G) may be used for law enforcement ac24 tivities that are directly related to the protec25 tion and conservation of a species of greatest 


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1 conservation need and the habitat of such spe2 cies.’’; 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC ACCESS NOT REQUIRED.—Funds 

5 apportioned from the Wildlife Conservation and Res6 toration Subaccount shall not be conditioned upon 

7 the provision of public access to private lands, 

8 waters, or holdings. 

9 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING FUNDS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

11 the non-Federal fund matching requirement for 

12 a wildlife conservation or restoration program 

13 or project funded by the Wildlife Conservation 

14 Restoration Subaccount, a State— 

15 ‘‘(i) may use as matching non-Federal 

16 funds— 

17 ‘‘(I) funds from Federal agencies 

18 other than the Department of the In19 terior and the Department of Agri20 culture; and 

21 ‘‘(II) donated private lands and 

22 waters, including privately-owned 

23 easements; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) may not use as matching non25 Federal funds— 


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1 ‘‘(I) revenue from the sale of 

2 State hunting and fishing licenses, ex3 cept if all available Federal funds ap4 portioned to a State fish and wildlife 

5 agency from the Wildlife Restoration 

6 Program or the Sport Fish Restora7 tion Program have been obligated by 

8 the State, then revenue generated 

9 through the sale of State hunting and 

10 fishing licenses may be used as non11 Federal match for projects and pro12 grams that benefit the habitat of spe13 cies that are hunted or fished and 

14 other species that have greatest con15 servation need. 

16 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

17 subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) WILDLIFE.—The term ‘wildlife’ 

19 means any species of wild, freeranging fauna, 

20 including fish, and also fauna in captive breed21 ing programs the object of which is to reintro22 duce individuals of a depleted indigenous spe23 cies into previously occupied range.’’; 

24 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

25 (3) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and 


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1 (E) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by 

2 subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or an Indian 

3 tribe’’. 

4 (b) ALLOCATION AND APPORTIONMENT OF AVAIL5 ABLE AMOUNTS.—Section 4 of the Pittman-Robertson 

6 Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c)(2)(A)— 

8 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘one-third’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘one-half’’; and 

10 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘two-thirds’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘one-half’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end following: 

13 ‘‘(e) MINIMIZATION OF PLANNING AND REPORT14 ING.—Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to require 

15 a State to create a comprehensive strategy related to con16 servation education or outdoor recreation.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Pittman-Robert19 son Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) by striking paragraph (4); 

22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through 

23 (8) as paragraphs (4) through (7), respectively; and 

24 (3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated by 

25 paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘Indian Tribes, acaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Dec 16, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4647.IH H4647

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1 demic institutions,’’ before ‘‘wildlife conservation or2 ganizations’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Pittman-Rob4 ertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a et seq.) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in section 3 (16 U.S.C. 669b)— 

7 (A) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘Ac8 count’’ and inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; and 

9 (B) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Ac10 count’’ and inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; 

11 (2) in section 4 (16 U.S.C. 669c)— 

12 (A) in subsection (c)— 

13 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik14 ing ‘‘ACCOUNT’’ and inserting ‘‘SUB15 ACCOUNT’’; 

16 (ii) in the matter preceding subpara17 graph (A), by striking ‘‘Account’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Subaccount’’; 

19 (iii) in the matter preceding para20 graph (2)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘Account’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; and 

22 (iv) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Ac23 count’’ and inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; and 

24 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘Ac25 count’’ and inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; and 


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1 (3) in section 8 (16 U.S.C. 669g), in subsection 

2 (a), by striking ‘‘Account’’ and inserting ‘‘Sub3 account’’. 

4 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 4 of the 

5 Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 669c) is amended— 

7 (1) in the second subsection (c), by striking 

8 ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)’’; and 

9 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub10 section (e). 

11 SEC. 5. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

12 The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 

13 U.S.C. 669 et seq.) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating section 13 as section 14; 

15 and 

16 (2) by inserting after section 12 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 13. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

18 ‘‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the 

19 authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of a State to man20 age, control, or regulate fish and wildlife under the law 

21 and regulations of the State on lands and waters within 

22 the State, including on Federal lands and waters. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 14. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO 

2 ALASKA. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con4 strued to affect— 

5 ‘‘(1) the provisions for subsistence uses in Alas6 ka set forth in the Alaska National Interest Lands 

7 Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), including 

8 the such provisions in titles III and VIII of that Act; 

9 ‘‘(2) the provisions of section 102 of the Alaska 

10 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 

11 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), the jurisdiction over subsist12 ence uses in Alaska, or any assertion of subsistence 

13 uses in Alaska in the Federal courts; or 

14 ‘‘(3) the manner in which section 810 of the 

15 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 

16 (16 U.S.C. 3120) is implemented on Federal lands 

17 and waters in Alaska. 

18 ‘‘(b) CONFLICTS OF LAWS.—If any conflict arises be19 tween any provision of this Act and any provision of the 

20 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 

21 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), then the provision in the Alaska Na22 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act shall prevail.’’. 

Æ 


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