I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2935 

To establish more efficient and effective policies and processes for departments 

and agencies engaged in or providing support to, international conservation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish more efficient and effective policies and processes for departments and agencies engaged in or providing support to, international conservation. 

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 ‘‘Conservation Reform 

5 Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

2 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 Senate; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

6 of Representatives. 

7 (2) DEVELOPING COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘devel8 oping country’’ means a country or area that is on 

9 the List of Official Development Assistance Recipi10 ents of the Development Assistance Committee of 

11 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and De12 velopment. 

13 (3) HOTSPOT REGIONS.—The term ‘‘hotspot re14 gions’’ means regions of the developing world that 

15 contain an unusually high concentration of species 

16 found nowhere else and that have lost at least 70 

17 percent of their original extent. 

18 (4) NATURAL RESOURCES OR RENEWABLE NAT19 URAL RESOURCES.—The terms ‘‘natural resources’’ 

20 and ‘‘renewable natural resources’’ mean natural re21 sources, including soils, forests, animal and plant 

22 populations and products, coral reefs, and water, but 

23 do not include nonrenewable natural resources such 

24 as minerals, oil, and other fossil fuels. 


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1 TITLE I—ASSESSING EXISTING 

2 POLICIES AND PROGRAMS 

3 SEC. 101. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY AND 

4 GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 

5 AUDIT AND REPORT. 

6 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

8 State and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies 

9 shall enter into an arrangement with the National Acad10 emy of Sciences to conduct a study of existing United 

11 States international conservation programs to determine 

12 the extent to which such programs are achieving the fol13 lowing objectives: 

14 (1) Advancing conservation in the world’s most 

15 ecologically and economically important terrestrial 

16 and marine ecosystems and protecting distinct 

17 hotspot regions that provide a high level of economic 

18 benefit to human communities as well as a high con19 centration of genetic and other natural resources. 

20 (2) Enhancing and expanding partnerships 

21 throughout the international community to address 

22 natural resource challenges to ensure healthy and 

23 sustainable supplies of water, wildlife habitat and 

24 populations, fish stocks and habitat, forests, plants, 

25 and other critical resources. 


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1 (3) Integrating international conservation 

2 projects and activities to advance United States for3 eign policy priorities in areas such as security, de4 mocratization, sustainable food production, and 

5 clean water. 

6 (4) Expanding and enhancing the economic and 

7 wildlife conservation benefits that derive from prop8 erly managed international hunting and angling 

9 tourism. 

10 (5) Addressing poaching, illegal logging, fishing, 

11 and wildlife trafficking and the flow of funds to 

12 criminal gangs and terrorists. 

13 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 years 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National 

15 Academy of Sciences shall submit to the appropriate con16 gressional committees a report containing the findings of 

17 the study conducted pursuant to subsection (a). 

18 (c) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

20 of the United States shall issue a report that includes— 

21 (1) a detailed description of key federally spon22 sored multilateral international conservation pro23 grams, including— 

24 (A) the agencies associated with each pro25 gram; 


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1 (B) the primary goals of each program; 

2 (C) the extent to which executive branch 

3 agencies have established measures of perform4 ance and effectiveness for each program; and 

5 (D) the funds made available to each pro6 gram in the previous fiscal year; 

7 (2) an assessment on how well executive branch 

8 agencies are collaborating and coordinating on inter9 national conservation efforts; 

10 (3) an assessment on the extent to which execu11 tive branch agencies have established strategic goals 

12 and performance measures; 

13 (4) an assessment of agency processes to ensure 

14 conservation programs are administered effectively, 

15 efficiently, and with minimal expenditures for pro16 gram administration; 

17 (5) identification of conservation programs and 

18 policies currently being utilized abroad and evalua19 tion of the potential for similar approaches to be 

20 adopted by the United States to further the pur21 poses of this Act; 

22 (6) any recommendations that the Comptroller 

23 General considers appropriate and useful to improve 

24 collaboration and coordination between executive 


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1 branch agencies on international conservation ef2 forts; and 

3 (7) any other analyses the Comptroller General 

4 considers necessary or appropriate. 

5 TITLE II—POLICY PLANNING 

6 AND IMPLEMENTATION 

7 SEC. 201. UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION 

8 STRATEGY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 

11 through the Interagency Working Group on International 

12 Conservation designated pursuant to section 202(a), shall 

13 establish and submit to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees a comprehensive strategy (hereafter referred 

15 to as the ‘‘International Conservation Strategy’’) to 

16 strengthen the capacity of the United States to collaborate 

17 with other countries, international organizations, the pri18 vate sector, and private voluntary organizations on a sus19 tained international effort to conserve natural resources 

20 and enhance biodiversity in a manner beneficial to the eco21 nomic well-being and security of the United States and 

22 other participating countries. 

23 (b) GOALS AND BENCHMARKS.—The International 

24 Conservation Strategy established pursuant to subsection 


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1 (a) shall provide a plan of action that identifies specific 

2 and measurable goals, benchmarks, and time frames for— 

3 (1) advancing conservation in the world’s most 

4 ecologically and economically important terrestrial 

5 and marine ecosystems; 

6 (2) supporting distinct hotspot regions that pro7 vide a high level of economic benefit to human com8 munities as well as a high concentration of genetic 

9 and other natural resources; 

10 (3) helping developing countries address illegal, 

11 unreported, and unregulated industrial fishing where 

12 economies are negatively impacted by depleted fish 

13 stocks; 

14 (4) safeguarding natural areas that provide 

15 fresh water to developing countries; 

16 (5) supporting enforcement efforts against ille17 gal logging in centers of the illegal logging trade; 

18 (6) supporting enforcement efforts against 

19 poaching and unlawful wildlife trafficking oper20 ations; 

21 (7) facilitating and leveraging the economic and 

22 conservation benefits that derive from properly man23 aged international hunting, angling, and wildlife ob24 servation tourism; 


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1 (8) stabilizing or reversing renewable natural 

2 resource scarcity and degradation trends in regions 

3 that are vulnerable to conflict, instability, or mass 

4 migration from natural resource depletion and wild5 life trafficking; 

6 (9) expanding substantially the amount of eco7 nomically and ecologically significant forest in devel8 oping countries; and 

9 (10) reducing the rate of erosion and 

10 desertification in developing countries where soil loss 

11 is resulting in severe impacts to the economy, food 

12 security, or stability. 

13 (c) COORDINATION AND LEVERAGE.—The Inter14 national Conservation Strategy shall coordinate and lever15 age the participation of relevant executive branch agen16 cies, other countries, the private sector, and private vol17 untary organizations in ways that— 

18 (1) reflect Government-wide policy that encom19 passes the programs of, and reduces duplication 

20 among, executive branch agencies that influence, en21 gage in, or support international conservation; 

22 (2) provide a plan to identify and improve 

23 United States policies that could be undermining the 

24 conservation of critical natural resources and bio25 diversity abroad; and 


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1 (3) seek to encourage and leverage participation 

2 from governments of developing countries and other 

3 governments, the private sector, private voluntary 

4 organizations, and international organizations to im5 plement the Strategy. 

6 (d) ASSESSING AND IMPROVING EFFECTIVENESS.— 

7 The International Conservation Strategy shall include a 

8 description of the performance and efficiency measures de9 veloped pursuant to section 202(a)(2)(C) and a process 

10 for their utilization. 

11 (e) COUNTRY OWNERSHIP.—In preparing the Inter12 national Conservation Strategy, the Interagency Working 

13 Group on International Conservation shall ensure that the 

14 Strategy is appropriate to local needs and conditions and 

15 incorporates the views of partner countries, and describes 

16 a means for local citizens to participate in the implementa17 tion and the setting of priorities of such programs in the 

18 field. The International Conservation Strategy should 

19 build upon partner country development plans and re20 gional strategies. 

21 (f) REVISION.—Not later than 4 years after the 

22 International Conservation Strategy is established, and 

23 every 4 years thereafter, the Strategy shall be revised to 

24 reflect— 


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1 (1) new information collected pursuant to the 

2 implementation of the Strategy; and 

3 (2) advances in the understanding of biological 

4 diversity and the economic and security impacts of 

5 renewable natural resource degradation. 

6 SEC. 202. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION. 

7 (a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON INTER8 NATIONAL CONSERVATION.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

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

11 President shall establish the Interagency Working 

12 Group on International Conservation (hereafter re13 ferred to as the ‘‘working group’’), which shall in14 clude the participation of the executive branch agen15 cies that affect, oversee, or implement programs that 

16 conduct or support international conservation activi17 ties or affect the ability of the United States to 

18 achieve the goals of the International Conservation 

19 Strategy. 

20 (2) DUTIES.—The working group shall— 

21 (A) develop, through utilization of the re22 port completed pursuant to section 101(b) and 

23 appropriate public and agency input, the Inter24 national Conservation Strategy established pur25 suant to section 201(a); 


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1 (B) identify measures to enhance program 

2 and policy coordination among the relevant ex3 ecutive branch agencies in implementing the 

4 Strategy by ensuring that each relevant execu5 tive branch agency undertakes programs pri6 marily in those areas where each such agency 

7 has the greatest expertise, technical capabilities, 

8 and potential for success, and ensuring that 

9 agencies avoid duplication of effort; 

10 (C) work with the Office of Management 

11 and Budget to evaluate the effectiveness of the 

12 international conservation programs of the rel13 evant executive branch agencies in meeting the 

14 goals of the Strategy by developing and apply15 ing specific performance measurements, includ16 ing assessments of— 

17 (i) program effectiveness; 

18 (ii) program efficiency and cost-effec19 tiveness; 

20 (iii) program accessibility and trans21 parency; and 

22 (iv) agency overhead or project admin23 istration costs for programs operating in 

24 the field; 


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1 (D) submit to the heads of the United 

2 States Government departments and agencies 

3 represented on the working group pro4 grammatic recommendations that are consistent 

5 with the priorities of the Strategy and policy 

6 recommendations to ensure that the polices of 

7 such departments and agencies advance the in8 terests of the United States in conserving crit9 ical natural resources and biodiversity; 

10 (E) submit to such heads recommendations 

11 for facilitating coordination and continuity 

12 across the departments and agencies in the im13 plementation of international conservation poli14 cies subject to interagency or multi-agency ju15 risdiction; 

16 (F) identify innovative conservation 

17 projects, policies, and initiatives that contribute 

18 to achieving multiple foreign policy goals simul19 taneously, including— 

20 (i) reducing poverty; 

21 (ii) expanding access to food and 

22 water; 

23 (iii) addressing health threats through 

24 natural resources conservation; 


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1 (iv) expanding the access of women to 

2 sustainably managed natural resources and 

3 to techniques for improved natural re4 source management; 

5 (v) addressing poaching, unlawful 

6 fishing, illegal logging, and wildlife traf7 ficking; 

8 (vi) reducing natural resource scar9 cities or degradation that could increase 

10 inter- and intra-state tensions; and 

11 (vii) conserving biological diversity; 

12 (G) identify measures to address obstacles 

13 to achieving the goals of the Strategy, including 

14 policies that might limit the conservation bene15 fits from properly managed international hunt16 ing and angling tourism; 

17 (H) develop recommendations for expand18 ing the role of the private sector in United 

19 States international conservation programs by 

20 expanding and leveraging private sector con21 tributions; 

22 (I) identify measures that further the goals 

23 of the Strategy, including regulatory actions 

24 that facilitate the importation process for wild25 life species with a legitimate scientific purpose 


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1 or to directly or indirectly benefit the recovery 

2 of the species or its habitat through the support 

3 of conservation programs in foreign countries; 

4 (J) recommend diplomatic mechanisms, 

5 relevant international institutions and agree6 ments, and other appropriate mechanisms to 

7 engage other countries to work jointly with the 

8 United States to achieve the goals and actions 

9 of the International Conservation Strategy; 

10 (K) identify successful conservation pro11 grams and policies currently being utilized 

12 abroad and evaluate the potential for similar 

13 approaches to be adopted or expanded by the 

14 United States to further the goals of the Strat15 egy; 

16 (L) identify underperforming and unsuc17 cessful projects and programs and make rec18 ommendations to improve performance and ter19 minate programs and projects in a manner con20 sistent with furthering the goals of the Strat21 egy; 

22 (M) identify natural resource conservation 

23 needs not currently being met by existing poli24 cies and programs and make recommendations 

25 for addressing such needs; 


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1 (N) recommend mechanisms to facilitate 

2 mutually beneficial international conservation 

3 partnerships between such departments and 

4 agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and 

5 the private sector; and 

6 (O) meet regularly to review progress on 

7 the objectives described in subparagraphs (A) 

8 through (N). 

9 (3) WORKING GROUP LEADERSHIP.—The Presi10 dent shall designate an individual in the executive 

11 branch to serve as the chair of the working group 

12 (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘chair’’), the duties of 

13 whom shall include— 

14 (A) convening and leading meetings of the 

15 working group; 

16 (B) taking steps to ensure the development 

17 and implementation of the International Con18 servation Strategy; 

19 (C) ensuring the goals and purposes of the 

20 working group are met in accordance with para21 graph (2); and 

22 (D) ensuring public input into the develop23 ment and implementation of the International 

24 Conservation Strategy by convening the InterVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:37 Aug 06, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2935.IH H2935

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1 national Conservation Public Advisory Board 

2 established under subsection (b). 

3 (b) INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION PUBLIC ADVI4 SORY BOARD.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby estab6 lished a International Conservation Public Advisory 

7 Board (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Advisory 

8 Board’’), whose purpose shall be to advise the work9 ing group on matters related to the international 

10 conservation policies and programs of the United 

11 States and the development and implementation of 

12 the International Conservation Strategy, and to en13 sure that the best scientific, policy, economic secu14 rity, and business expertise are reflected in the 

15 international conservation strategies and policies of 

16 the United States. 

17 (2) DUTIES.—It shall be the duty of the Advi18 sory Board to advise the working group on matters 

19 related to carrying out the duties described in sub20 section (a)(2), including on matters submitted to it 

21 for consideration by the working group, as well as 

22 matters identified by the Advisory Board. 

23 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Board shall be 

24 comprised of not more than 15 persons appointed from 

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1 able-use conservation, and shall have outstanding exper2 tise in one or more of the following fields: 

3 (1) International conservation. 

4 (2) International diplomacy. 

5 (3) International business. 

6 (4) Economic development and poverty allevi7 ation. 

8 (5) Food security and water access. 

9 (6) Natural resource scarcity and degradation 

10 and related conflict and security issues. 

11 (7) The economic and conservation benefits of 

12 international hunting and angling tourism. 

13 (8) International laws concerning illegal wildlife 

14 trafficking and illegal fishing. 

15 (9) Wildlife biology and zoology. 

16 (d) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Advisory Board 

17 shall be appointed by the President with the advice of the 

18 Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on For19 eign Relations of the Senate and the Chairman and Rank20 ing Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

21 House of Representatives, on a staggered basis for a term 

22 not to exceed 4 years, except that with respect to the initial members of the Advisory Board, 1 23 ⁄3 shall be appointed 

for a term of 2 years, 1 24 ⁄3 shall be appointed for a term 

of 3 years, and 1 25 ⁄3 shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. 


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1 (e) CHAIRMAN.—A member of the Advisory Board 

2 shall be elected by a vote of the majority of the Board 

3 to serve as Chairman for a 2-year term. 

4 (f) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Board shall convene at 

5 the call of the Chairman to consider a specific agenda of 

6 issues, as determined by the Chairman in consultation 

7 with the working group and other members of the Advi8 sory Board. 

9 (g) REPORTING.—The Advisory Board shall report to 

10 the working group chair designated in accordance with 

11 subsection (a)(3) on its deliberations, conclusions, and rec12 ommendations. 

13 (h) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM14 MITTEE ACT.—The Advisory Board shall be exempt from 

15 the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

16 U.S.C. App.). 

17 SEC. 203. REPORTING. 

18 (a) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE19 PORT.—Not later than 4 years after the International 

20 Conservation Strategy is established under section 201, 

21 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con22 duct an audit to consider the progress made to achieve 

23 the objectives, goals, and benchmarks described in section 

24 201(b), and submit to the appropriate congressional com25 mittees a report on the development and implementation 


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1 of the International Conservation Strategy. The report 

2 shall— 

3 (1) assess progress made in accomplishing the 

4 goals and benchmarks described in section 201(b); 

5 (2) assess the extent to which the executive 

6 branch agencies have identified conservation pro7 grams and projects that have the potential for rep8 lication or adaptation, particularly at low cost, in 

9 other United States international conservation ef10 forts; 

11 (3) assess the extent to which agencies have in12 creased the efficiency and effectiveness of United 

13 States international conservation programs and re14 ducing executive branch agency overhead or project 

15 administration costs for conservation programs im16 plemented abroad; 

17 (4) assess the extent to which agencies have 

18 identified unsuccessful projects and programs and 

19 the actions taken to improve performance or termi20 nate such projects and programs; 

21 (5) assess the extent to which agencies have 

22 quantified the economic benefits that resulted from 

23 investments in international conservation programs 

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1 counting of the measures utilized to calculate such 

2 benefits; 

3 (6) assess the security benefits to the United 

4 States and friends and allies from better manage5 ment of natural resources and reduction of poaching 

6 and wildlife trafficking; 

7 (7) include policy analyses and outline options 

8 for congressional consideration; and 

9 (8) include any other analyses the Comptroller 

10 General considers necessary or appropriate. 

11 SEC. 204. WILDLIFE DEPENDENT RECREATION AND USES 

12 OF WILDLIFE. 

13 (a) WILDLIFE DEPENDENT RECREATION.—No pro14 vision in this Act shall be construed as restricting, lim15 iting, or otherwise impairing properly managed rec16 reational hunting and angling. 

17 (b) REGULATED USES OF WILDLIFE.—No provision 

18 in this Act shall be construed as restricting, limiting, or 

19 otherwise impairing the ability of any foreign jurisdiction 

20 or authority to authorize regulated programs supporting 

21 wildlife for local consumption and commercialization. 


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1 TITLE III—SUPPORT AND RE2 SOURCES FROM OTHER 

3 COUNTRIES 

4 SEC. 301. DIPLOMATIC GOALS AND VENUES. 

5 (a) GOALS.—Congress urges the President to work 

6 with the world’s major foreign assistance donor countries 

7 to— 

8 (1) develop a comprehensive and coordinated 

9 international conservation assistance strategy con10 sistent with the priorities identified in the United 

11 States’ International Conservation Strategy estab12 lished pursuant to section 201(a); 

13 (2) identify innovative and efficient multilateral 

14 mechanisms that can be used to coordinate inter15 national action by all participating donor countries, 

16 identify and reduce duplication of efforts among 

17 such donors, achieve the most cost effective invest18 ments, and leverage international foreign assistance 

19 with meaningful financial and other commitments in 

20 recipient countries; and 

21 (3) agree on a timetable for achieving the goals 

22 of the United States’ International Conservation 

23 Strategy. 

24 (b) VENUES.—Congress urges the President to ex25 plore opportunities for achieving the goals identified in 


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1 this section within the context of United States bilateral 

2 diplomacy with other important international donor coun3 tries, bilateral diplomacy with newly emerging donor coun4 tries, and all appropriate multilateral venues. 

Æ 


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