II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1502 

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 access by the public under programs administered 

by States and tribal governments. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. THUNE, Mr. 

SALAZAR, Mr. ENZI, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. KERRY, and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

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 

access by the public under programs administered by 

States and tribal governments. 

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 2007’’. 


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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 48,000,000 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— 

13 (A) an estimated $56,000,000,000 on 

14 hunting and fishing equipment and supplies; 

15 and 

16 (B) more than $28,000,000,000 on food, 

17 lodging, and transportation; 

18 (3) purchases of hunting and fishing licenses, 

19 permits, and stamps and excise taxes on goods used 

20 by hunters and fishers have generated billions of dol21 lars for wildlife conservation, research, and manage22 ment; 

23 (4) the growing public demand for hunting and 

24 fishing opportunities accessible to the public is in25 creasingly constrained by the limits on both public 

26 and private land resources; 


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1 (5) recreational hunting and fishing— 

2 (A) provide essential funding sources for— 

3 (i) wildlife habitat development; 

4 (ii) the conservation of wildlife; 

5 (iii) the preservation of ecosystems; 

6 and 

7 (iv) effective wildlife management; 

8 and 

9 (B) contribute to the reduction of conflicts 

10 between people and wildlife; 

11 (6) limited public access on private land has 

12 often frustrated and disappointed hunters, fishers, 

13 and other naturalists and undermined the relation14 ship between land owners and the general public; 

15 (7) 21 States and several tribal governments 

16 have established successful but modest walk-in pro17 grams to encourage public hunting on private farm, 

18 ranch, and forest land, yet the demand for such vol19 untary access programs remains largely unfulfilled; 

20 (8) traditional agricultural production methods 

21 and markets have in recent years offered limited in22 come opportunities for farm, ranch and forest land 

23 owners and operators; and 

24 (9) current proposals to reform world agricul25 tural trade favor the development of new methods to 


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1 support the income of agricultural producers that 

2 have minimal impact on agricultural production and 

3 prices. 

4 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT INCEN5 TIVE PROGRAM. 

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

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

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

9 ‘‘SEC. 1240Q. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT IN10 CENTIVE PROGRAM. 

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

12 voluntary public access program under which States and 

13 tribal governments may apply for grants to encourage 

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

15 forest land to voluntarily make that land available for ac16 cess by the public for wildlife-dependent recreation, includ17 ing hunting or fishing under programs administered by 

18 the States and tribal governments. 

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

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

21 shall describe— 

22 ‘‘(1) the benefits that the State or tribal gov23 ernment intends to achieve by encouraging public ac24 cess to private farm and ranch land for— 

25 ‘‘(A) hunting and fishing; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

2 other recreational purposes; and 

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

4 those benefits. 

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

6 awarding grants under the program, the Secretary shall 

7 give priority to States and tribal governments that pro8 pose— 

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

10 program the terms of which are likely to meet with 

11 widespread acceptance among landowners; 

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

13 State or tribal government program has appropriate 

14 wildlife habitat; 

15 ‘‘(3) to strengthen wildlife habitat improvement 

16 efforts on land enrolled in a special conservation re17 serve enhancement program described in section 

18 1234(f)(4) by providing incentives to increase public 

19 hunting and other recreational access on that land; 

20 and 

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

22 government, or private resources in carrying out the 

23 program. 


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

2 this section preempts a State or tribal government law (in3 cluding any State or tribal government liability law). 

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

5 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this sec6 tion.’’. 

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

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

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(8) The voluntary public access program 

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

12 practicable, $20,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2008 

13 through 2012.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF EXCESS BASE ACRES. 

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

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

17 by striking subparagraph (C). 

Æ 


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