I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3381 

To amend the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 to establish additional 

prohibitions on shooting wildlife from aircraft, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2009 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, 

Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of 

Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DICKS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. 

ELLISON, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL

of New York, Mr. HARE, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. 

HEINRICH, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 

INSLEE, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, 

Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. 

MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. MASSA, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. 

MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OBEY, Mr. 

OLVER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of 

California, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. 

SCHWARTZ, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SESTAK, Ms. 

SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. STARK, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, 

Mr. WU, and Mr. LANCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 


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•HR 3381 IH

A BILL 

To amend the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 to establish 

additional prohibitions on shooting wildlife from aircraft, 

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 ‘‘Protect America’s 

5 Wildlife Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PROHIBITIONS. 

7 Section 13(a) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 

8 (16 U.S.C. 742j–1(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

10 semicolon; 

11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

12 semicolon; 

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by adding ‘‘or’’ after the 

14 semicolon; 

15 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) knowingly violates any regulation promul18 gated under this Act;’’; and 

19 (5) in the matter following paragraph (4) (as 

20 inserted by this section), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘$50,000’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EXCEPTIONS TO PROHIBITIONS. 

2 Section 13(b) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 

3 (16 U.S.C. 742j–1(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘This section’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (3), this sec6 tion’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

9 (A), by striking ‘‘issues a permit referred to in’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘authorizes an employee, agent, 

11 or person operating under a license or permit to 

12 take an action under’’; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘to 

14 whom a permit was issued’’ and inserting ‘‘so 

15 authorized’’; 

16 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

17 ‘‘thereunder’’; 

18 (D) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘to 

19 whom a permit was issued’’; and 

20 (E) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

21 ‘‘issuing the permit’’ and inserting ‘‘authorizing 

22 the action, including, for actions intended to 

23 protect land, water, or wildlife, the scientific 

24 basis for the actions so authorized’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) ENHANCING THE PROPAGATION AND SUR2 VIVAL OF WILDLIFE.—No person exempted under 

3 paragraph (1) may shoot, attempt to shoot, or har4 ass any wolf, bear, or wolverine for the purpose of 

5 enhancing the propagation and survival of wildlife, 

6 including game populations, unless— 

7 ‘‘(A) the head of the fish and wildlife agen8 cy of the State and, for game populations on 

9 land under the jurisdiction of the Department 

10 of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior, or 

11 for game populations on land under the juris12 diction of the Department of Agriculture, the 

13 Secretary of Agriculture, determines, based on 

14 the best scientific data available, that— 

15 ‘‘(i) a biological emergency is immi16 nent; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) all other practicable means to 

18 prevent the biological emergency, including 

19 stopping regulated takes of the declining 

20 population, have been implemented; 

21 ‘‘(B) the action is carried out— 

22 ‘‘(i) by an officer or employee of— 

23 ‘‘(I) the fish and wildlife agency 

24 of the State; or 


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1 ‘‘(II)(aa) for game populations 

2 on land under the jurisdiction of the 

3 Department of the Interior, the De4 partment of the Interior; or 

5 ‘‘(bb) for game populations on 

6 land under the jurisdiction of the De7 partment of Agriculture, the Depart8 ment of Agriculture; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) only in the specific geographical 

10 area in which the imminent biological 

11 emergency is located; and 

12 ‘‘(C) the action results in the removal of 

13 not more than the minimum number of preda14 tors necessary to prevent the biological emer15 gency. 

16 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION RELATING TO ACTIONS AU17 THORIZED BY SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—The 

18 Secretary of the Interior may authorize any action 

19 described in subsection (a)— 

20 ‘‘(A) to prevent the extinction of a species 

21 that is listed as a threatened species or endan22 gered species under section 4(c)(1) of the En23 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

24 1533(c)(1)); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary of the Interior deter2 mines that there is no other means available to 

3 address the threat of extinction of the species 

4 described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

6 Section 13 of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 

7 U.S.C. 742j–1) is amended by striking subsection (c) and 

8 inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘aircraft’ means 

11 any contrivance used for flight in the air. 

12 ‘‘(2) BIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY.—The term ‘bio13 logical emergency’ means the likely extirpation or a 

14 significant and imminent threat to the sustainability 

15 of a wildlife population due to predation by wolves, 

16 bears, or wolverines (or any combination thereof). 

17 ‘‘(3) HARASS.—The term ‘harass’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) chasing or exhausting an animal; and 

19 ‘‘(B) such other activities as are deter20 mined by the Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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