I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6854 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish 2 grant programs to 

sustain populations of species of migratory waterfowl through the deployment of tools and practices that complement habitat conservation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2023 

Mrs. FISCHBACH (for herself, Mr. LAMALFA, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish 2 grant 

programs to sustain populations of species of migratory 

waterfowl through the deployment of tools and practices 

that complement habitat 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 ‘‘Habitat Enhancement 

5 Now Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAMS TO SUSTAIN POPULATIONS OF 

7 SPECIES OF MIGRATORY WATERFOWL. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the maintenance of healthy populations of 

2 migratory birds in North America is largely depend3 ent on the protection, restoration, and management 

4 of wetland ecosystems and other habitats in Canada, 

5 as well as in the United States and Mexico, as iden6 tified in the Implementation Plans of Joint Ventures 

7 authorized under the North American Waterfowl 

8 Management Plan; 

9 (2) duck populations in North America are 

10 being threatened by the loss in the quantity and 

11 quality of breeding habitat, which leads to declining 

12 nest success; 

13 (3) low nest success has been widely docu14 mented to be the key annual driver in duck popu15 lations; 

16 (4) additional tools can be employed to increase 

17 nest success to complement the private, State, and 

18 Federal habitat conservation programs and efforts in 

19 order to sustain healthy waterfowl populations; 

20 (5) relatively modest investments in manage21 ment can make meaningful impacts towards 

22 supplementing waterfowl production in areas where 

23 waterfowl production outcomes have not been fully 

24 met; 


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1 (6) numerous studies have made it clear that 

2 nesting structures, in particular ‘‘hen houses’’, are 

3 the most efficient and cost-effective tool for increas4 ing nest success; and 

5 (7) providing incentives to private landowners 

6 to establish nesting cover, create or restore brood 

7 ponds, and provide brood water is a priority to en8 hance production of mallards, gadwalls, and other 

9 breeding ducks in California. 

10 (b) GRANT PROGRAMS.— 

11 (1) HEN HOUSE GRANT PROGRAM.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es13 tablish a competitive grant program to award 

14 amounts to eligible entities to strategically 

15 place, build, and maintain hen houses in the 

16 prairie pothole region for the purpose of im17 proving the nesting success rates of populations 

18 of species of migratory waterfowl. 

19 (B) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a 

20 grant under this paragraph, an eligible entity 

21 shall submit to the Secretary an application in 

22 such form, at such time, and containing such 

23 information as the Secretary determines appro24 priate. 

25 (2) BREEDING HABITAT GRANT PROGRAM.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish a competitive grant program to award 

3 amounts to eligible entities to develop breeding 

4 habitat for species of migratory waterfowl with5 in California for the purpose of enhancing the 

6 breeding success rates of populations of species 

7 of migratory waterfowl, including by— 

8 (i) establishing nesting cover; 

9 (ii) creating brood ponds; and 

10 (iii) providing incentives to willing 

11 landowners to carry out the activities de12 scribed in this subparagraph on land under 

13 the control of such landowners within Cali14 fornia. 

15 (B) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a 

16 grant under this paragraph, an eligible entity 

17 shall submit to the Secretary an application in 

18 such form, at such time, and containing such 

19 information as the Secretary determines appro20 priate. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means— 

24 (A) a State, local, or Tribal government; 

25 (B) a nonprofit organization; and 


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1 (C) an individual. 

2 (2) HEN HOUSE.—The term ‘‘hen house’’ 

3 means a type of cylindrical nest structure installed 

4 on a post in a prairie pothole. 

5 (3) PRAIRIE POTHOLE.—The term ‘‘prairie pot6 hole’’ means a depressional wetland, including a 

7 freshwater marsh, that provides vital habitat to spe8 cies of nesting waterfowl and other species. 

9 (4) PRAIRIE POTHOLE REGION.—The term 

10 ‘‘prairie pothole region’’ means North Dakota, South 

11 Dakota, Montana, Iowa, and Minnesota. 

12 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (d) FUNDING.—For each of fiscal years 2024 

15 through 2028, of the amounts appropriated or otherwise 

16 made available to the ‘‘Department of the Interior—Office 

17 of the Secretary—Departmental Operations’’ account for 

18 each such fiscal year— 

19 (1) $1,500,000 shall be made available to carry 

20 out subsection (b)(1); and 

21 (2) $1,500,000 shall be made available to carry 

22 out subsection (b)(2). 

Æ 


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