I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2105 

To establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture on wildlife 

and habitat conservation, hunting, recreational shooting, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mr. COLE, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. JOHNSON

of Ohio, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT

of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation 

Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture on wildlife and habitat conservation, 

hunting, recreational shooting, 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 ‘‘Wildlife and Hunting 

5 Heritage Conservation Advisory Committee Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WILDLIFE AND HUNTING HERITAGE CONSERVA2 TION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fish and Wildlife Coordina4 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 10. WILDLIFE AND HUNTING HERITAGE CONSERVA7 TION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

9 the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Advisory 

10 Committee (in this section referred to as the ‘Advisory 

11 Committee’) to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and 

12 Agriculture (in this section referred to as ‘the Secretaries’) 

13 on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and rec14 reational shooting. 

15 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 

16 Advisory Committee shall advise the Secretaries with re17 gard to— 

18 ‘‘(1) implementation of Executive Order 13443, 

19 entitled ‘Facilitation of Hunting Heritage and Wild20 life Conservation’, signed on January 1, 2008, which 

21 directs Federal agencies ‘to facilitate the expansion 

22 and enhancement of hunting opportunities and the 

23 management of game species and their habitat’; 

24 ‘‘(2) policies or programs to conserve and re25 store wetlands, agricultural lands, grasslands, forest, 

26 and rangeland habitats; 


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1 ‘‘(3) policies or programs to promote opportuni2 ties and access to hunting and shooting sports on 

3 Federal lands; 

4 ‘‘(4) policies or programs to recruit and retain 

5 new hunters and shooters; 

6 ‘‘(5) policies or programs that increase public 

7 awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation 

8 and the social and economic benefits of recreational 

9 hunting and shooting; and 

10 ‘‘(6) policies or programs that encourage co11 ordination among the public, the hunting and shoot12 ing sports community, wildlife conservation groups, 

13 and States, Tribes, and the Federal Government. 

14 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

15 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com17 mittee shall consist of 7 ex officio members and 

18 no more than 16 discretionary members. 

19 ‘‘(B) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex offi20 cio members are— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Director of the United States 

22 Fish and Wildlife Service or an individual 

23 designated by the Director; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Director of the Bureau of 

2 Land Management or an individual des3 ignated by the Director; 

4 ‘‘(iii) the Director of the National 

5 Park Service or an individual designated 

6 by the Director; 

7 ‘‘(iv) the Chief of the Forest Service 

8 or an individual designated by the Chief; 

9 ‘‘(v) the Chief of the Natural Re10 sources Conservation Service or an indi11 vidual designated by the Chief; 

12 ‘‘(vi) the Administrator of the Farm 

13 Service Agency or an individual designated 

14 by the Administrator; and 

15 ‘‘(vii) the Executive Director of the 

16 Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 

17 ‘‘(C) DISCRETIONARY MEMBERS.—The 

18 Secretaries shall jointly appoint at least one dis19 cretionary member from each of the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) State fish and wildlife agencies. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Game bird hunting organiza22 tions. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Wildlife conservation organiza24 tions. 

25 ‘‘(iv) Big game hunting organizations. 


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1 ‘‘(v) The tourism, outfitter, or guiding 

2 industry. 

3 ‘‘(vi) The firearms or ammunition 

4 manufacturing industry. 

5 ‘‘(vii) The hunting or shooting equip6 ment retail industry. 

7 ‘‘(viii) Tribal resource management 

8 organizations. 

9 ‘‘(ix) The agriculture industry. 

10 ‘‘(x) The ranching industry. 

11 ‘‘(xi) Waterfowl hunting organiza12 tions. 

13 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretaries may 

14 not appoint an individual as a member of the 

15 Advisory Committee unless the Secretaries de16 termine that such individual, and the organiza17 tion such individual represents, actively sup18 ports and promotes sustainable-use hunting, 

19 wildlife conservation, and recreational shooting. 

20 ‘‘(2) TERMS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), members of the Advisory 

23 Committee shall be appointed for a term of 4 

24 years. Members shall not be appointed for more 

25 than 3 terms. 


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1 ‘‘(B) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As 

2 designated by the Secretary at the time of ap3 pointment, of the members first appointed— 

4 ‘‘(i) 6 members shall be appointed for 

5 a term of 4 years; 

6 ‘‘(ii) 5 members shall be appointed for 

7 a term of 3 years; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) 5 members shall be appointed 

9 for a term of 2 years. 

10 ‘‘(3) PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC ADVISORY STA11 TUS.—No individual may be appointed as a discre12 tionary member of the Advisory Committee while 

13 serving as an officer or employee of the Federal 

14 Government. 

15 ‘‘(4) VACANCY AND REMOVAL.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any vacancy on the 

17 Advisory Committee shall be filled in the man18 ner in which the original appointment was 

19 made. 

20 ‘‘(B) REMOVAL.—Discretionary members 

21 of the Advisory Committee shall serve at the 

22 pleasure of the Secretaries. The Secretaries 

23 may jointly remove such members at any time 

24 for good cause. 


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1 ‘‘(5) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.—Each dis2 cretionary member may continue to serve after the 

3 expiration of the term of office to which such mem4 ber was appointed until a successor has been ap5 pointed. 

6 ‘‘(6) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

7 Advisory Committee shall be appointed for a 3-year 

8 term by the Secretaries, jointly, from among the 

9 members of the Advisory Committee. An individual 

10 may not be appointed as Chairperson for more than 

11 2 terms. 

12 ‘‘(7) PAY AND EXPENSES.—Members of the Ad13 visory Committee shall serve without pay for such 

14 service, but each member of the Advisory Committee 

15 may be reimbursed for travel and lodging incurred 

16 through attending any meeting of the Advisory Com17 mittee or any other meeting of members approved 

18 for reimbursement by the Advisory Committee in the 

19 same amounts and under the same conditions as 

20 Federal employees (in accordance with section 5703 

21 of title 5, United States Code). 

22 ‘‘(8) MEETINGS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com24 mittee shall meet at the call of the Secretaries, 


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1 the chairperson, or a majority of the members, 

2 but not less frequently than twice annually. 

3 ‘‘(B) OPEN MEETINGS.—Each meeting of 

4 the Advisory Committee shall be open to the 

5 public. 

6 ‘‘(C) PRIOR NOTICE OF MEETINGS.—Time7 ly notice of each meeting of the Advisory Com8 mittee shall be published in the Federal Reg9 ister and be submitted to trade publications and 

10 publications of general circulation. 

11 ‘‘(D) WORKGROUPS AND SUBGROUPS.— 

12 The Advisory Committee may establish such 

13 workgroups or subgroups as it considers nec14 essary for the purpose of compiling information 

15 or conducting research. However, such 

16 workgroups may not conduct business without 

17 the direction of the Advisory Committee and 

18 must report in full to the Advisory Committee. 

19 ‘‘(9) QUORUM.—Nine members of the Advisory 

20 Committee shall constitute a quorum. 

21 ‘‘(d) EXPENSES.—The expenses of the Advisory 

22 Committee that the Secretaries determine to be reasonable 

23 and appropriate shall be paid by the Secretaries. 

24 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, TECHNICAL SERV25 ICES, AND ADVICE.—The Secretaries shall jointly appoint 


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1 a Federal officer to provide to the Advisory Committee 

2 the administrative support, technical services, and advice 

3 that the Secretaries determine to be reasonable and appro4 priate to carry out this Act. 

5 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED.—Not later than September 30 

7 of each year, the Advisory Committee shall submit 

8 a report to the Secretaries, the Committee on Nat9 ural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of 

10 the House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

11 Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee 

12 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen13 ate. If circumstances arise in which the Advisory 

14 Committee cannot meet the September 30 deadline 

15 in any year, the Secretaries shall advise the Chair of 

16 each such Committee of the reasons for such delay 

17 and the date on which the submission of the report 

18 is anticipated. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para20 graph (1) shall describe— 

21 ‘‘(A) the activities of the Advisory Com22 mittee during the preceding year; 

23 ‘‘(B) the reports and recommendations 

24 made by the Advisory Committee to the Secre25 taries during the preceding year; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) an accounting of actions taken by the 

2 Secretaries as a result of the recommendations. 

3 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 

4 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) does not 

5 apply with respect to the Advisory Committee.’’. 

6 (b) CONTINUANCE AND ABOLISHMENT OF EXISTING

7 WILDLIFE AND HUNTING HERITAGE CONSERVATION

8 COUNCIL.—The Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conserva9 tion Council established pursuant to section 441 of the 

10 Revised Statutes (43 U.S.C. 1457), section 2 of the Fish 

11 and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a), and other Acts 

12 applicable to specific bureaus of the Department of the 

13 Interior— 

14 (1) shall continue until the date of the first 

15 meeting of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Con16 servation Advisory Committee established by the 

17 amendment made by subsection (a); and 

18 (2) is hereby abolished effective on that date. 

Æ 


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