II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 548 

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 

MARCH 8, 2005 

Mr. CONRAD (for himself and Mr. ROBERTS) 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 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 ‘‘SEC. 1240Q. VOLUNTARY PUBLIC ACCESS AND HABITAT IN21 CENTIVE PROGRAM. 

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

23 voluntary public access program under which States and 

24 tribal governments may apply for grants to encourage 

25 owners and operators of privately-held farm, ranch, and 
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1 forest land to voluntarily make that land available for ac2 cess by the public under programs administered by the 

3 States and tribal governments. 

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

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

6 shall describe— 

7 ‘‘(1) the benefits that the State or tribal gov8 ernment intends to achieve by encouraging public ac9 cess on private farm, ranch, and forest land, through 

10 such activities as hunting, fishing, bird watching, 

11 and related outdoor activities; and 

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

13 those benefits. 

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

15 awarding grants under the program, the Secretary shall 

16 give priority to States and tribal governments that pro17 pose— 

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

19 program the terms of which are likely to meet with 

20 widespread acceptance among landowners; 

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

22 State or tribal government program has appropriate 

23 wildlife habitat; 

24 ‘‘(3) to strengthen wildlife habitat improvement 

25 efforts on land enrolled in a special conservation re-
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1 serve enhancement program described in 1234(f)(4) 

2 by providing incentives to increase public access on 

3 that land; and 

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

5 government, or private resources in carrying out the 

6 program. 

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

8 this section preempts a State or tribal government law (in9 cluding any State or tribal government liability law). 

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

11 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this sec12 tion.’’. 

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

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

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(8) The voluntary public access program 

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

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

19 through 2009.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF EXCESS BASE ACRES. 

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

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

23 by striking subparagraph (C).

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