I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3198 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide international wildlife 

management and conservation programs through the Wildlife Without 

Borders Program in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 14, 2009 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide international wildlife management and conservation programs 

through the Wildlife Without Borders Program in the 

United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 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 ‘‘Wildlife Without Bor5 ders Authorization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) our Nation has a long-standing commitment 

2 to assisting other countries with the conservation of 

3 wildlife species and limited wildlife conservation re4 sources, including trained wildlife professionals, are 

5 often unavailable in many foreign countries con6 taining globally important biological resources; 

7 (2) conservation activities, both overseas and in 

8 neighboring countries, are required to meet the Fed9 eral Government’s obligations under numerous inter10 national treaties, laws, agreements, and cooperative 

11 programs; 

12 (3) since 1983, the Wildlife Without Borders 

13 Program, an administratively created program with14 in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, has 

15 provided wildlife conservation assistance throughout 

16 the world by developing locally adapted wildlife man17 agement and conservation programs, in coordination 

18 with non-governmental organizations, governments, 

19 private businesses, and community leaders, in an ef20 fort to maintain global species diversity; 

21 (4) activities under the Wildlife Without Bor22 ders Program is responsible for implementation of 

23 over 950 conservation projects around the world that 

24 address grass-roots threats to numerous endangered 

25 species, habitats, and ecosystems and that comVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:23 Jul 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198

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1 plement the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv2 ice’s existing programs for African elephants, rhinoc3 eros and tigers, Asian elephants, great apes, 

4 neotropical migratory birds, and marine turtles; 

5 (5) activities under the Wildlife Without Bor6 ders Program provide education, training, and out7 reach to strengthen capacity for habitat and wildlife 

8 conservation throughout the world and serve a key 

9 role in facilitating international dialogue; and 

10 (6) although the Secretary of the Interior is 

11 generally authorized to undertake partnering and ca12 pacity building activities, a specific authorization will 

13 reinforce our Nation’s long-term commitment to the 

14 Wildlife Without Borders Program. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

16 capacity building, outreach, education, and training assist17 ance in endangered species and strategic habitat conserva18 tion to other nations by providing international wildlife 

19 management and conservation programs through the 

20 Wildlife Without Borders Program. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) CONSERVATION.—The term ‘‘conservation’’ 

24 includes— 


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1 (A) the methods and procedures necessary 

2 to bring a species to the point at which there 

3 are sufficient populations in the wild to ensure 

4 that the species does not become extinct; and 

5 (B) all activities associated with protection 

6 and management of a species, including— 

7 (i) maintenance, management, protec8 tion, and restoration of species habitat; 

9 (ii) research and monitoring; 

10 (iii) law enforcement; 

11 (iv) community outreach and edu12 cation; 

13 (v) conflict resolution initiatives; and 

14 (vi) strengthening the capacity of local 

15 communities, government agencies, non16 governmental organizations, and other in17 stitutions to implement conservation pro18 grams. 

19 (2) FISH OR WILDLIFE.—The term ‘‘fish or 

20 wildlife’’ means any member of the animal kingdom, 

21 including any mammal, fish, bird, amphibian, rep22 tile, mollusk, crustacean, or arthropod. 

23 (3) PLANT.—The term ‘‘plant’’ mean any mem24 ber of the plant kingdom, including seeds, roots, and 

25 other parts thereof. 


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1 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (5) SPECIES.—The term ‘‘species’’ includes any 

4 subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any dis5 tinct population segment of any species of vertebrate 

6 fish or wildlife. 

7 SEC. 4. WILDLIFE WITHOUT BORDERS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

9 Wildlife Without Borders Program within the United 

10 States Fish and Wildlife Service to provide international 

11 wildlife conservation assistance through the initiation, fa12 cilitation, and promotion of locally adapted wildlife man13 agement and conservation programs in coordination with 

14 non-governmental organizations, governments, private 

15 businesses, and community leaders. Such program shall 

16 include, but shall not be limited to, partnership programs 

17 for grass roots capacity building, applied scientific con18 servation research, and wildlife management training. 

19 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The program author20 ized under this section shall include the following: 

21 (1) SPECIES PROGRAM.—A species program, 

22 which shall comprise administration of the programs 

23 and funds authorized by— 

24 (A) the African Elephant Conservation Act 

25 of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.); 


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1 (B) the Asian Elephant Conservation Act 

2 of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 4261 et seq.); 

3 (C) the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation 

4 Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 

5 (D) the Great Ape Conservation Act of 

6 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6301); 

7 (E) the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 

8 2004 (16 U.S.C. 6601); and 

9 (F) any similar, future authority provided 

10 to the Secretary and implemented by the Fish 

11 and Wildlife Service. 

12 (2) REGIONAL PROGRAM.—A regional program, 

13 which shall— 

14 (A) address grass-roots conservation prob15 lems through a regional grants program focused 

16 on building in-country human and institutional 

17 capacity to achieve comprehensive conservation 

18 in a manner adapted to the particular needs of 

19 a partner country; 

20 (B) facilitate and guide delivery of other 

21 international United States Fish and Wildlife 

22 Service programs; and 

23 (C) coordinate, develop, and implement re24 gional treaties, conventions, and accords, in25 cluding regional coordination mechanisms, on 


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1 behalf of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

2 Service. 

3 (3) GLOBAL PROGRAM.—A global program, 

4 which shall, through programs under the jurisdiction 

5 of the secretary and that are implemented through 

6 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service— 

7 (A) implement global habitat and conserva8 tion initiatives; and 

9 (B) address the international aspects of 

10 global conservation threats, such as invasive 

11 species and wildlife disease. 

12 (c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall operate the 

13 program components authorized under this section in a 

14 coordinated fashion to ensure efficient and cost-effective 

15 implementation. 

16 (d) ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS.—The Secretary may 

17 include such additional components in the program au18 thorized under this section as the Secretary considers ap19 propriate. 

20 SEC. 5. ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS. 

21 In administering the Wildlife Without Borders Pro22 gram, the Secretary may accept donations of funds and 

23 to use such funds for capacity building, grants, and other 

24 on-the-ground uses carried out by the program compoVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:23 Jul 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198

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1 nents authorized under paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 

2 4. 

3 SEC. 6. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT. 

4 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

5 shall not apply to any advisory committees established 

6 under this Act. 

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 To carry out this Act there is authorized to be appro9 priated to the Secretary $15,000,000 for each of fiscal 

10 years 2010 through 2015. 

Æ 


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