II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2705 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife Corridors, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 10, 2021 

Mr. LUJA ́N (for himself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal 

Wildlife Corridors, 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 ‘‘Tribal Wildlife Cor5 ridors Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di5 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv6 ice, in consultation with the Director of the Bureau 

7 of Indian Affairs. 

8 SEC. 3. TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

11 (A) NOMINATIONS.—An Indian Tribe may 

12 nominate a corridor within the boundaries of 

13 the land of the Indian Tribe as a Tribal Wild14 life Corridor by submitting to the Secretary an 

15 application at such time, in such manner, and 

16 containing such information as the Secretary 

17 may require. 

18 (B) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date on which the Secretary re20 ceives an application under subparagraph (A), 

21 the Secretary shall determine whether the nomi22 nated Tribal Wildlife Corridor described in the 

23 application meets the criteria established under 

24 paragraph (2). 


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1 (C) PUBLICATION.—On approval of an ap2 plication under subparagraph (B), the Sec3 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a 

4 notice of the establishment of the Tribal Wild5 life Corridor, which shall include a map and 

6 legal description of the land designated as a 

7 Tribal Wildlife Corridor. 

8 (2) CRITERIA.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

10 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

11 the Secretary shall establish criteria for deter12 mining whether a corridor nominated by an In13 dian Tribe under paragraph (1)(A) qualifies as 

14 a Tribal Wildlife Corridor. 

15 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The criteria established 

16 under subparagraph (A) shall include, at a min17 imum, the following: 

18 (i) The restoration of historical habi19 tat for the purposes of facilitating 

20 connectivity. 

21 (ii) The management of land for the 

22 purposes of facilitating connectivity. 

23 (iii) The management of land to pre24 vent the imposition of barriers that may 

25 hinder current or future connectivity. 


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1 (3) REMOVAL.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—An Indian Tribe may 

3 elect to remove the designation of a Tribal 

4 Wildlife Corridor on the land of the Indian 

5 Tribe by notifying the Secretary. 

6 (B) EFFECT OF REMOVAL.—An Indian 

7 Tribe that elects to remove a designation under 

8 subparagraph (A) may not receive assistance 

9 under subsection (c) or (d). 

10 (b) COORDINATION OF LAND USE PLANS.—Section 

11 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

12 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘Indian tribes by’’ and in15 serting the following: ‘‘Indian Tribes— 

16 ‘‘(1) by’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 

18 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

19 and’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(2) for the purposes of determining whether 

22 the land use plans for land in the National Forest 

23 System would provide additional connectivity to ben24 efit the purposes of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Aug 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2705.IS S2705

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1 lished under section 3(a)(1) of the Tribal Wildlife 

2 Corridors Act of 2021.’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(g) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS.—On the estab5 lishment of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor under section 

6 3(a)(1) of the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2021, the 

7 Secretary shall conduct a meaningful consultation with the 

8 Indian Tribe that administers the Tribal Wildlife Corridor 

9 to determine whether, through the revision of 1 or more 

10 existing land use plans, the Tribal Wildlife Corridor can— 

11 ‘‘(1) be expanded into public lands; or 

12 ‘‘(2) otherwise benefit connectivity between pub13 lic lands and the Tribal Wildlife Corridor.’’. 

14 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

15 provide to Indian Tribes technical assistance relating to 

16 the establishment, management, and expansion of a Tribal 

17 Wildlife Corridor, including assistance with accessing wild18 life data and working with voluntary private landowners 

19 to access Federal and State programs to improve wildlife 

20 habitat and connectivity on non-Federal land. 

21 (d) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.— 

22 (1) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS GRANT PRO23 GRAM.— 

24 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

25 shall establish a Tribal Wildlife Corridors grant 


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1 program (referred to in this subsection as the 

2 ‘‘program’’) to encourage wildlife movement in 

3 accordance with this section. 

4 (B) GRANTS.—Beginning not later than 3 

5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

6 the Secretary shall make grants under the pro7 gram to 1 or more Indian Tribes to increase 

8 connectivity through Tribal Wildlife Corridors. 

9 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec11 retary to carry out the program $50,000,000 for fis12 cal year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

13 (e) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section au14 thorizes or affects the use of private property or Indian 

15 land. 

16 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF INDIAN TRIBES. 

17 (a) FEDERAL TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.—Nothing in 

18 this Act or an amendment made by this Act amends, al19 ters, or waives the Federal trust responsibility to Indian 

20 Tribes. 

21 (b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.— 

22 (1) EXEMPTION.—Information described in 

23 paragraph (2) shall not be subject to disclosure 

24 under section 552 of title 5, United States Code 

25 (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information 


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1 Act’’), if the head of the agency that receives the in2 formation, in consultation with the Secretary and 

3 the affected Indian Tribe, determines that disclosure 

4 may— 

5 (A) cause a significant invasion of privacy; 

6 (B) risk harm to human remains or re7 sources, cultural items, uses, or activities; or 

8 (C) impede the use of a traditional reli9 gious site by practitioners. 

10 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Information 

11 referred to in paragraph (1) is information received 

12 by a Federal agency— 

13 (A) pursuant to this Act or an amendment 

14 made by this Act relating to— 

15 (i) the location, character, or owner16 ship of human remains of a person of In17 dian ancestry; or 

18 (ii) resources, cultural items, uses, or 

19 activities identified by an Indian Tribe as 

20 traditional or cultural because of the long21 established significance or ceremonial na22 ture to the Indian Tribe; or 


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1 (B) pursuant to the Native American 

2 Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 

3 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.). 

Æ 


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