I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1351 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to encourage owners and operators 

of privately-held farm, ranch, and forest land to voluntarily make their 

land available for public access under programs administered by States 

and tribal governments, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2005 

Mr. POMEROY (for himself, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. BOSWELL, Ms. HERSETH, 

Mr. MOORE of Kansas, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to encourage 

owners and operators of privately-held farm, ranch, and 

forest land to voluntarily make their land available for 

public access under programs administered by States 

and tribal governments, 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 ‘‘Voluntary Public Ac5 cess and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program Act of 

6 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) according to the United States Fish and 

4 Wildlife Service, in 2001, 82,000,000 individuals in 

5 the United States aged 16 years and older partici6 pated in wildlife-related recreation, including 

7 34,000,000 individuals who hunted, and more than 

8 66,000,000 who engaged in wildlife-related recre9 ation such as observing, feeding, or photographing 

10 wildlife, in the United States; 

11 (2) individuals who participated in wildlife-re12 lated activities in 2001 spent an estimated 

13 $108,000,000,000, including— 

14 (A) more than $35,000,000,000 on fishing; 

15 (B) nearly $21,000,000,000 on hunting; 

16 and 

17 (C) more than $28,000,000,000 on food, 

18 lodging, and transportation; 

19 (3) the growing public demand for outdoor rec20 reational opportunities is increasingly constrained by 

21 the limits on both public and private land resources; 

22 (4) limited public access on private land has 

23 often frustrated and disappointed hunters and other 

24 naturalists, and undermined the relationship be25 tween land owners and the general public; 
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1 (5) several States and tribal governments have 

2 established successful but modest walk-in programs 

3 to encourage public access on private farm, ranch, 

4 and forest land, yet the demand for such voluntary 

5 access programs remains largely unfulfilled; 

6 (6) traditional agricultural markets have in re7 cent years offered limited income opportunities for 

8 farm, ranch, and forest land owners and operators; 

9 and 

10 (7) current proposals to reform world agricul11 tural trade favor the development of new methods to 

12 support the income of agricultural producers that 

13 have minimal impact on agricultural production and 

14 prices. 

15 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT INCEN16 TIVE PROGRAM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title 

18 XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb 

19 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

20 new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 1240Q. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT IN22 CENTIVE PROGRAM. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

24 voluntary public access program under which States and 

25 tribal governments may apply for grants to encourage 
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1 owners and operators of privately-held farm, ranch, and 

2 forest land to voluntarily make that land available for pub3 lic access under programs administered by the States and 

4 tribal governments. 

5 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—In submitting applications for 

6 a grant under the program, a State or tribal government 

7 shall describe— 

8 ‘‘(1) the benefits that the State or tribal gov9 ernment intends to achieve by encouraging public ac10 cess on private farm, ranch, and forest land, through 

11 such activities as hunting, fishing, bird watching, 

12 and related outdoor activities; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the methods that will be used to achieve 

14 those benefits. 

15 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In approving applications and 

16 awarding grants under the program, the Secretary shall 

17 give priority to States and tribal governments that pro18 pose— 

19 ‘‘(1) to maximize participation by offering a 

20 program the terms of which are likely to meet with 

21 widespread acceptance among landowners; 

22 ‘‘(2) to ensure that land enrolled under the 

23 State or tribal government program has appropriate 

24 wildlife habitat; 
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1 ‘‘(3) to strengthen wildlife habitat improvement 

2 efforts on land enrolled in a special conservation re3 serve enhancement program described in section 

4 1234(f)(4) by providing incentives to increase public 

5 access on that land; and 

6 ‘‘(4) to use additional Federal, State, tribal 

7 government, or private resources in carrying out the 

8 program. 

9 ‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

10 this section preempts a State or tribal government law (in11 cluding any State or tribal government liability law). 

12 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

13 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this sec14 tion.’’. 

15 (b) FUNDING.—Section 1241(a) of the Food Security 

16 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(a)) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(8) The voluntary public access program 

19 under section 1240Q, using, to the maximum extent 

20 practicable, $20,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2005 

21 through 2009.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF EXCESS BASE ACRES. 

2 Section 1101(g)(2) of the Farm Security and Rural 

3 Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7911(g)(2)) is amended 

4 by striking subparagraph (C). 

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