I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2939
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a pilot test of the
Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Agreement.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 1, 1996
Mr. GUNDERSON (for himself and Mr. BEREUTER) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a pilot
test of the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource
Agreement.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mississippi Interstate
Cooperative Resource Agreement Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) several rivers flow between, or are common
to, two or more State boundaries;
(2) in many cases, there is not a single entity
which has complete jurisdictional responsibility for
the fishery resources in these rivers;
(3) a strong partnership between Federal and
State governmental authorities and citizen groups is
vital in coordinating and facilitating cooperative re-
search and in resolving problems associated with
large river ecosystems;
(4) many fishery management problems are
caused by federally regulated activities (including ac-
tivities resulting in point and nonpoint pollution)
and federally constructed projects (including dams
and navigation facilities);
(5) in some rivers, the once rich assemblages of
fish fauna and diverse habitats have been lost and
formerly abundant native fish now exist only as en-
dangered or depleted populations;
(6) without positive management actions, native
species in some rivers will continue to decline, foster-
ing even greater conflicts among water users;
(7) construction of waterway developments (in-
cluding navigation, flood control, water level fluctua-
tion, power generation, irrigation, and general water
depletion projects) is accelerating and increasingly
degrading large river ecosystems nationwide;
(8) the United States public will face reduced
opportunities for recreational, commercial, subsist-
ence, and aesthetic uses of river systems without de-
monstrable change in management strategies in the
near future;
(9) several programs have been proposed or are
underway to resolve conflicts in these management
strategies;
(10) in one of these programs, Federal, State,
and local fishery resource managers in the Mis-
sissippi River drainage basin have entered into the
Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Agree-
ment under which the managers share information,
resources, facilities, and funding for preparation, de-
velopment, and implementation of long-range strate-
gic plans for management of the drainage basin’s
interjurisdictional fishery resources;
(11) the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Re-
source Agreement merits detailed evaluation as a
model for the development of long-range strategic
plans for the management of interjurisdictional riv-
ers fishery resources; and
(12) to ensure that these programs are appro-
priately coordinated and to conserve the fishery re-
sources in interjurisdictional rivers, there is a need
for strategies to improve coordination, cooperation,
research, and information sharing.
SEC. 
3. 
MISSISSIPPI 
INTERSTATE 
COOPERATIVE 
RE-
SOURCE AGREEMENT.
(a) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation
with the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Asso-
ciation, shall conduct a pilot test of the Mississippi Inter-
state Cooperative Resource Agreement.
(b) CONTENTS.—A pilot test conducted under this
section may include, among other matters, the following:
(1) Identification and description of each of the
river ecosystems of the Mississippi River drainage
system and the associated fishery resources and fish
habitats of such river ecosystems.
(2) Identification and description of—
(A) the known impacts, on fishery re-
sources of the Mississippi River drainage basin,
of agriculture, navigation, flood control, power
generation, irrigation, and municipal water sup-
ply projects, including the impacts of nonpoint
source pollution, dredging, channel mainte-
nance, water level management, sediment and
contaminant transport, vessel traffic, water
withdrawal, and changes in salinity and various
hydrologic conditions; and
(B) techniques for mitigating those im-
pacts.
(3) Analysis of existing resource data with re-
gard to regional depletion of important fish stocks
(including paddlefish, lake sturgeon, walleye, and
other high priority nonanadromous species) and the
potential for restoration of such fish stocks.
(4) Identification of major information gaps
and technological needs to improve the cooperative
management of interjurisdictional fishery resources.
(5) A comprehensive study of the status, and
the management, research, and restoration needs, of
the interjurisdictional fishery resources of the Mis-
sissippi River drainage system.
(6) Development of recommendations regarding
the scope, schedule, regional priorities, and roles of
participants in the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative
Resource Agreement for undertaking cooperative
management and research projects.
(7) Development of plans and testing projects
for the restoration and enhancement of depleted fish
stocks (including lake sturgeon, paddlefish, walleye,
and other high priority nonanadromous species) and
associated habitats of such fish stocks.
(8) Evaluation of the feasibility and expected
success of the program under the Mississippi Inter-
state Cooperative Resource Agreement and the mer-
its of extending such program of cooperative man-
agement strategy to other interjurisdictional river
basins in the United States.
(9) Estimates of funds required to implement
recommendations and plans developed under para-
graphs (6), (7), and (8).
(c) REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 36
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a report contain-
ing the evaluation of the pilot test to be conducted under
this section.
SEC. 4. PAYMENT OF ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary may use amounts available to carry
out this Act to pay assistance to the Mississippi Interstate
Cooperative Resource Association, for costs it incurs in
participating in the pilot test under section 3.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions
apply:
(1) 
INTERJURISDICTIONAL
FISHERY
RE-
SOURCES.—The term ‘‘interjurisdictional fishery re-
sources’’ means fishery resources and associated
aquatic habitats that depend on interjurisdictional
rivers and are under the management of two or
more governmental entities.
(2) INTERJURISDICTIONAL
RIVER.—The term
‘‘interjurisdictional river’’ means a river that flows
along the boundary of, or is common to, two or more
States.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-
rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-
ice.
(4) STATE FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCY.—The
term ‘‘State Fish and Wildlife Agency’’ includes any
State department or agency, or a part thereof, that
is empowered under the laws of the State to exercise
the functions ordinarily exercised by a State fish and
wildlife agency.
(5) THE
MISSISSIPPI
INTERSTATE
COOPERA-
TIVE
RESOURCE
ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘Mis-
sissippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Associa-
tion’’ means the association comprised of the States
and entities that are signatories to the Mississippi
Interstate Cooperative Resource Agreement.
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