II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1840

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

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

available for access by the public under programs administered by States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2003

Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. 

DORGAN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. ENZI, Mr. KERRY, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. REID, and Mr. NELSON of Nebraska) 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 and ranch 

land to voluntarily make their land available for access 

by the public under programs administered by States.

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 2003’’. 
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•S 1840 IS 

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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•S 1840 IS 

1 (5) several States have established successful 

2 but modest walk-in programs to encourage public ac3 cess on private farm and ranch land, yet the demand 

4 for such voluntary access programs remains largely 

5 unfulfilled; 

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

8 farm and ranch land owners and operators; and 

9 (7) current proposals to reform world agricul10 tural trade favor the development of new methods to 

11 support the income of agricultural producers that 

12 have minimal impact on agricultural production and 

13 prices. 

14 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT INCEN15 TIVE PROGRAM. 

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

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

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

19 ‘‘SEC. 1240Q. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT IN20 CENTIVE PROGRAM. 

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

22 voluntary public access program under which States may 

23 apply for grants to encourage owners and operators of pri24 vately-held farm and ranch land to voluntarily make that 
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•S 1840 IS 

1 land available for access by the public under programs ad2 ministered by the States. 

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

4 a grant under the program, a State shall describe—

5 ‘‘(1) the benefits that the State intends to 

6 achieve by encouraging public access on private farm 

7 and ranch land, through such activities as hunting, 

8 fishing, bird watching, and related outdoor activities; 

9 and 

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

11 those benefits. 

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

13 awarding grants under the program, the Secretary shall 

14 give priority to States that propose—

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

16 program the terms of which are likely to meet with 

17 widespread acceptance among landowners; 

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

19 State program has appropriate wildlife habitat; 

20 ‘‘(3) to strengthen wildlife habitat improvement 

21 efforts on land enrolled in a special conservation re22 serve enhancement program described in 1234(f)(4) 

23 by providing incentives to increase public access on 

24 that land; and 
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1 ‘‘(4) to use additional Federal, State, or private 

2 resources in carrying out the program. 

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

4 this section preempts a State law (including any State li5 ability law). 

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

7 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this sec8 tion.’’. 

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

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

11 at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(8) The voluntary public access program 

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

14 practicable, $50,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2003 

15 through 2007.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF EXCESS BASE ACRES. 

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

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

19 by striking subparagraph (C).

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