I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4959 

To recognize the heritage of hunting and provide opportunities for continued 

hunting on Federal public land, to protect the public’s ability to fish 

for sport, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2004 

Mr. JOHN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources 

A BILL 

To recognize the heritage of hunting and provide opportunities for continued hunting on Federal public land, to 

protect the public’s ability to fish for sport, 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 ‘‘Hunting Heritage and 

5 Fishing Preservation Act of 2004’’. 
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1 TITLE I—HUNTING HERITAGE 

2 PROTECTION 

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Hunting Heritage 

5 Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 102. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Recreational hunting is an important and 

9 traditional recreational activity in which 13,000,000 

10 people in the United States 16 years of age and 

11 older participate. 

12 (2) Hunters have been and continue to be 

13 among the foremost supporters of sound wildlife 

14 management and conservation practices in the 

15 United States. 

16 (3) Persons who hunt and organizations relat17 ing to hunting provide direct assistance to wildlife 

18 managers and enforcement officers of the Federal 

19 Government and State and local governments. 

20 (4) Purchases of hunting licenses, permits, and 

21 stamps and excise taxes on goods used by hunters 

22 have generated billions of dollars for wildlife con23 servation, research, and management. 

24 (5) Recreational hunting is an essential compo25 nent of effective wildlife management by— 
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1 (A) reducing conflicts between people and 

2 wildlife; and 

3 (B) providing incentives for the conserva4 tion of— 

5 (i) wildlife; and 

6 (ii) habitats and ecosystems on which 

7 wildlife depend. 

8 (6) Each State has established at least 1 agen9 cy staffed by professionally trained wildlife manage10 ment personnel that has legal authority to manage 

11 the wildlife in the State. 

12 (7) Recreational hunting is an environmentally 

13 acceptable activity that occurs and can be provided 

14 for on Federal public land without adverse effects on 

15 other uses of the land. 

16 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this title: 

18 (1) AGENCY HEAD.—The term ‘‘agency head’’ 

19 means the head of any Federal agency that has au20 thority to manage a natural resource or Federal 

21 public land on which a natural resource depends. 

22 (2) FEDERAL PUBLIC LAND.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal 

24 public land’’ means any land or water that is— 

25 (i) publicly accessible; 
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1 (ii) owned by the United States; and 

2 (iii) managed by an executive agency 

3 for purposes that include the conservation 

4 of natural resources. 

5 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Federal pub6 lic land’’ does not include any land held in trust 

7 for the benefit of an Indian tribe or member of 

8 an Indian tribe. 

9 (3) HUNTING.—The term ‘‘hunting’’ means the 

10 lawful— 

11 (A) pursuit, trapping, shooting, capture, 

12 collection, or killing of wildlife; or 

13 (B) attempt to pursue, trap, shoot, cap14 ture, collect, or kill wildlife. 

15 SEC. 104. RECREATIONAL HUNTING. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

17 Federal public land shall be open to access and use for 

18 recreational hunting except as limited by— 

19 (1) the agency head with jurisdiction over the 

20 Federal public land— 

21 (A) for reasons of national security; 

22 (B) for reasons of public safety; or 

23 (C) for any other reasons for closure au24 thorized by applicable Federal law; and 
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1 (2) any law (including regulations) of the State 

2 in which the Federal public land is located that is 

3 applicable to recreational hunting. 

4 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Consistent with subsection (a), 

5 each agency head shall manage Federal public land under 

6 the jurisdiction of the agency head— 

7 (1) in a manner that supports, promotes, and 

8 enhances recreational hunting opportunities; 

9 (2) to the extent authorized under State law 

10 (including regulations); and 

11 (3) in accordance with applicable Federal law 

12 (including regulations). 

13 (c) NO NET LOSS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal public land manage15 ment decisions and actions should, to the maximum 

16 extent practicable, result in no net loss of land area 

17 available for hunting opportunities on Federal public 

18 land. 

19 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than October 

20 1 of each year, each agency head with authority to 

21 manage Federal public land on which recreational 

22 hunting occurs shall submit to the Committee on 

23 Resources of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

25 Senate a report that describes— 
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1 (A)(i) any Federal public land adminis2 tered by the agency head that was closed to rec3 reational hunting at any time during the pre4 ceding year; and 

5 (ii) the reason for the closure; and 

6 (B) areas administered by the agency head 

7 that were opened to recreational hunting to 

8 compensate for the closure of the areas de9 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i). 

10 (3) CLOSURES OF 5,000 OR MORE ACRES.—The 

11 withdrawal, change of classification, or change of 

12 management status that effectively closes 5,000 or 

13 more acres of Federal public land to access or use 

14 for recreational hunting shall take effect only if, be15 fore the date of withdrawal or change, the agency 

16 head that has jurisdiction over the Federal public 

17 land submits to the Committee on Resources of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on En19 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate written 

20 notice of the withdrawal or change. 

21 (d) AREAS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this title 

22 compels the opening to recreational hunting of national 

23 parks or national monuments under the jurisdiction of the 

24 Secretary of the Interior. 
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1 (e) NO PRIORITY.—Nothing in this title requires a 

2 Federal agency to give preference to hunting over other 

3 uses of Federal public land or over land or water manage4 ment priorities established by Federal law. 

5 (f) AUTHORITY OF THE STATES.— 

6 (1) SAVINGS.—Nothing in this title affects the 

7 authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of a State to 

8 manage, control, or regulate fish and wildlife under 

9 State law (including regulations) on land or water in 

10 the State, including Federal public land. 

11 (2) FEDERAL LICENSES.—Nothing in this title 

12 authorizes an agency head to require a license or 

13 permit to hunt, fish, or trap on land or water in a 

14 State, including on Federal public land in the State. 

15 (3) STATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any State aggrieved by 

17 the failure of an agency head or employee to 

18 comply with this title may bring a civil action 

19 in the United States District Court for the dis20 trict in which the failure occurs for a perma21 nent injunction. 

22 (B) PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—If the 

23 district court determines, based on the facts, 

24 that a preliminary injunction is appropriate, the 
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1 district court may grant a preliminary injunc2 tion. 

3 (C) COURT COSTS.—If the district court 

4 issues an injunction under this paragraph or 

5 otherwise finds in favor of the State, the dis6 trict court shall award to the State any reason7 able costs of bringing the civil action (including 

8 an attorney’s fee). 

9 TITLE II—FREEDOM TO FISH 

10 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom to Fish Act’’. 

12 SEC. 202. FINDINGS. 

13 The Congress finds the following: 

14 (1) Recreational fishing is traditionally the 

15 most popular outdoor sport with more than 

16 50,000,000 participants of all ages, in all regions of 

17 the country. 

18 (2) Recreational anglers makes a substantial 

19 contribution to local, State, and national economies 

20 and infuse $116,000,000,000 annually into the na21 tional economy. 

22 (3) In the United States, more than 1,200,000 

23 jobs are related to recreational fishing, a number 

24 that is approximately 1 percent of the entire civilian 

25 workforce in the United States. In communities that 
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1 rely on seasonal tourism, the expenditures of rec2 reational anglers result in substantial benefits to the 

3 local economies and small businesses in those com4 munities. 

5 (4) Recreational anglers have long dem6 onstrated a conservation ethic. In addition to pay7 ment of Federal excise taxes on fishing equipment, 

8 motorboats and fuel, as well as license fees, rec9 reational anglers contribute more than $500,000,000 

10 annually to State fisheries conservation management 

11 programs and projects. 

12 (5) It is a long-standing policy of the Federal 

13 Government to allow public access to public lands 

14 and waters for recreational purposes in a manner 

15 that is consistent with principles of sound conserva16 tion. This policy is reflected in the National Forest 

17 Management Act of 1976, the Wilderness Act, the 

18 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the National Parks 

19 and Recreation Act of 1978. 

20 (6) In most instances, recreational fishery re21 sources can be maintained without restricting public 

22 access to fishing areas through a variety of manage23 ment measures including take limits, minimum size 

24 requirements, catch and release requirements, gear 

25 adaptations, and closed seasons. 
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1 (7) A clear policy is required to demonstrate to 

2 recreational anglers that recreational fishing can be 

3 managed without unnecessarily prohibiting such 

4 fishing. 

5 (8) A comprehensive policy on the implementa6 tion, use, and monitoring of marine protected areas 

7 is required to maintain the optimum balance be8 tween recreational fishing and sustaining rec9 reational fishery resources. 

10 SEC. 203. POLICY. 

11 It is the policy of the United States to promote sound 

12 conservation of fishery resources by ensuring that— 

13 (1) Federal regulations promote access to fish14 ing areas by recreational anglers to the maximum 

15 extent practicable; 

16 (2) recreational anglers are actively involved in 

17 the formulation of any regulatory procedure that 

18 contemplates imposing restrictions on access to a 

19 fishing area; and 

20 (3) limitations on access to fishing areas by rec21 reational anglers are not imposed unless such limita22 tions are scientifically necessary to provide for the 

23 conservation of a fishery resource. 
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1 SEC. 204. LIMITATION ON CLOSURES UNDER MAGNUSON2 STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MAN3 AGEMENT ACT. 

4 Section 303(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

5 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 

7 end of paragraph (13), by striking the period at the end 

8 of paragraph (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(15) not establish geographic areas where rec11 reational fishing is prohibited unless— 

12 ‘‘(A) clear indication exists that rec13 reational fishing in such area is the cause of a 

14 specific conservation problem in the fishery; 

15 ‘‘(B) no alternative conservation measures 

16 related to recreational fishing, such as gear re17 strictions, quotas, or closed seasons will ade18 quately provide for conservation and manage19 ment of the fishery; 

20 ‘‘(C) the management plan— 

21 ‘‘(i) provides for specific measurable 

22 criteria to assess whether the prohibition 

23 provides conservation benefits to the fish24 ery; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) requires a periodic review to as2 sess the continued need for the prohibition 

3 not less than once every 3 years; 

4 ‘‘(D) the best available scientific informa5 tion supports the need to close the area to rec6 reational fishing; and 

7 ‘‘(E) the prohibition is terminated as soon 

8 as the condition in subparagraph (A) that was 

9 the basis of the prohibition no longer exists.’’. 

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