II
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1420
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JUNE 4, 1997
Received
AN ACT
To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administra-
tion Act of 1966 to improve the management of the
National Wildlife Refuge System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of
1997’’.
(b) REFERENCES.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or provision
of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration
Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.).
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The National Wildlife Refuge System is
comprised of over 92,000,000 acres of Federal lands
that have been incorporated within 509 individual
units located in all 50 States and the territories of
the United States.
(2) The System was created to conserve fish,
wildlife, and plants and their habitats and this con-
servation mission has been facilitated by providing
Americans opportunities to participate in compatible
wildlife-dependent recreation, including fishing and
hunting, on System lands and to better appreciate
the value of and need for fish and wildlife conserva-
tion.
(3) The System serves a pivotal role in the con-
servation of migratory birds, anadromous and inter-
jurisdictional fish, marine mammals, endangered and
threatened species, and the habitats on which these
species depend.
(4) The System assists in the fulfillment of im-
portant international treaty obligations of the Unit-
ed States with regard to fish, wildlife, and plants
and their habitats.
(5) The System includes lands purchased not
only through the use of tax dollars but also through
the proceeds from sales of Duck Stamps and na-
tional wildlife refuge entrance fees. It is a System
that is financially supported by those benefiting
from and utilizing it.
(6) When managed in accordance with prin-
ciples of sound fish and wildlife management and
administration, fishing, hunting, wildlife observation,
and environmental education in national wildlife ref-
uges have been and are expected to continue to be
generally compatible uses.
(7) On March 25, 1996, the President issued
Executive Order 12996, which recognized ‘‘compat-
ible wildlife-dependent recreational uses involving
hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photog-
raphy, and environmental education and interpreta-
tion as priority public uses of the Refuge System’’.
(8) Executive Order 12996 is a positive step
and serves as the foundation for the permanent stat-
utory changes made by this Act.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 (16 U.S.C. 668ee) is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘For purposes of this Act:
‘‘(1) The term ‘compatible use’ means a use of
a refuge that, in the sound professional judgment of
the Director, will not materially interfere with or de-
tract from the fulfillment of the mission of the Sys-
tem or the purposes of the refuge.
‘‘(2) The terms ‘wildlife-dependent recreation’
and ‘wildlife-dependent recreational use’ mean a use
of a refuge involving hunting, fishing, wildlife obser-
vation and photography, or environmental education
and interpretation.
‘‘(3) The term ‘sound professional judgment’
means a finding, determination, or decision that is
consistent with principles of sound fish and wildlife
management and administration, available science
and resources, and adherence to the requirements of
this Act and other applicable laws.
‘‘(4) The terms ‘conserving’, ‘conservation’,
‘manage’, ‘managing’, and ‘management’, mean to
sustain and, where appropriate, restore and enhance,
healthy populations of fish, wildlife, and plants uti-
lizing, in accordance with applicable Federal and
State laws, methods and procedures associated with
modern scientific resource programs. Such methods
and procedures include, consistent with the provi-
sions of this Act, protection, research, census, law
enforcement, habitat management, propagation, live
trapping and transplantation, and regulated taking.
‘‘(5) The term ‘Coordination Area’ means a
wildlife management area that is made available to
a State—
‘‘(A) by cooperative agreement between the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service and a
State agency having control over wildlife re-
sources pursuant to section 4 of the Fish and
Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 664); or
‘‘(B) by long-term leases or agreements
pursuant to title III of the Bankhead-Jones
Farm Tenant Act (50 Stat. 525; 7 U.S.C. 1010
et seq.).
‘‘(6) The term ‘Director’ means the Director of
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or a
designee of that Director.
‘‘(7) The terms ‘fish’, ‘wildlife’, and ‘fish and
wildlife’ mean any wild member of the animal king-
dom whether alive or dead, and regardless of wheth-
er the member was bred, hatched, or born in cap-
tivity, including a part, product, egg, or offspring of
the member.
‘‘(8) The term ‘person’ means any individual,
partnership, corporation, or association.
‘‘(9) The term ‘plant’ means any member of the
plant kingdom in a wild, unconfined state, including
any plant community, seed, root, or other part of a
plant.
‘‘(10) The terms ‘purposes of the refuge’ and
‘purposes of each refuge’ mean the purposes speci-
fied in or derived from the law, proclamation, execu-
tive order, agreement, public land order, donation
document, or administrative memorandum establish-
ing, authorizing, or expanding a refuge, refuge unit,
or refuge subunit.
‘‘(11) The term ‘refuge’ means a designated
area of land, water, or an interest in land or water