I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2773 
To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to make supple-
mental funds available for management of fish and wildlife species of 
greatest conservation need as determined by State fish and wildlife agen-
cies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2021 
Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. HILL, Miss 
GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act 
to make supplemental funds available for management 
of fish and wildlife species of greatest conservation need 
as determined by State fish and wildlife agencies, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recovering America’s 
Wildlife Act of 2021’’. 
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TITLE I—WILDLIFE CONSERVA-
TION AND RESTORATION 
SEC. 101. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION 
SUBACCOUNT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Pittman-Robert-
son Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669b) is amended 
in subsection (c)— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
paragraphs (9) and (10); and 
(2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SUBACCOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is established in 
the fund a subaccount to be known as the 
‘Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Sub-
account’ (referred to in this section as the ‘Sub-
account’). 
‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Sub-
account shall be available without further ap-
propriation, for each fiscal year, for apportion-
ment in accordance with this Act. 
‘‘(C) DEPOSITS INTO SUBACCOUNT.—Be-
ginning in fiscal year 2022, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall transfer $1,300,000,000 from 
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the general fund of the treasury each fiscal year 
to the fund for deposit in the Subaccount. 
‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 
transferred to the Subaccount shall supplement, but 
not replace, existing funds available to the States 
from— 
‘‘(A) the funds distributed pursuant to the 
Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act 
(16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.); and 
‘‘(B) the fund. 
‘‘(3) INNOVATION GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
distribute 10 percent of funds apportioned from 
the Subaccount through a competitive grant 
program to State fish and wildlife departments, 
the District of Columbia fish and wildlife de-
partment, fish and wildlife departments of terri-
tories, or to regional associations of fish and 
wildlife departments (or any group composed of 
more than 1 such entity). 
‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—Such grants shall be pro-
vided for the purpose of catalyzing innovation 
of techniques, tools, strategies, or collaborative 
partnerships that accelerate, expand, or rep-
licate effective and measurable recovery efforts 
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for species of greatest conservation need and 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973 (15 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the habi-
tats of such species. 
‘‘(C) REVIEW COMMITTEE.—The Secretary 
shall appoint a review committee comprised 
of— 
‘‘(i) a State Director from each re-
gional association of State fish and wildlife 
departments; 
‘‘(ii) the head of a department respon-
sible for fish and wildlife management in a 
territory; and 
‘‘(iii) four individuals representing 
four different nonprofit organizations each 
of which is actively participating in car-
rying out wildlife conservation restoration 
activities using funds apportioned from the 
Subaccount. 
‘‘(D) SUPPORT FROM UNITED STATES FISH 
AND
WILDLIFE
SERVICE.—The United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service shall provide any per-
sonnel or administrative support services nec-
essary for such Committee to carry out its re-
sponsibilities under this Act. 
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‘‘(E) EVALUATION.—Such committee shall 
evaluate each proposal submitted under this 
paragraph and recommend projects for funding, 
giving preference to solutions that accelerate 
the recovery of species identified as priorities 
through regional scientific assessments of spe-
cies of greatest conservation need. 
‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds apportioned from 
the Subaccount— 
‘‘(A) shall be used to implement the Wild-
life Conservation Strategy of a State, territory, 
or the District of Columbia, as required under 
section 4(d), by carrying out, revising, or en-
hancing existing wildlife and habitat conserva-
tion and restoration programs and developing 
and implementing new wildlife conservation and 
restoration programs to recover and manage 
species of greatest conservation need and the 
key habitats and plant community types essen-
tial to the conservation of those species as de-
termined by the appropriate State fish and 
wildlife department; 
‘‘(B) shall be used to develop, revise, and 
enhance the Wildlife Conservation Strategy of a 
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State, territory, or the District of Columbia, as 
may be required by this Act; 
‘‘(C) shall be used to assist in the recovery 
of species found in the State, territory, or the 
District of Columbia that are listed as endan-
gered species, threatened species, candidate spe-
cies or species proposed for listing, or species 
petitioned for listing under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 
or under State law; 
‘‘(D) may be used for wildlife conservation 
education and wildlife-associated recreation 
projects, especially in historically underserved 
communities; 
‘‘(E) may be used to manage a species of 
greatest conservation need whose range is 
shared with another State, territory, Indian 
Tribe, or foreign government and for the con-
servation of the habitat of such species; 
‘‘(F) may be used to manage, control, and 
prevent invasive species, disease, and other 
risks to species of greatest conservation need; 
and 
‘‘(G) may be used for law enforcement ac-
tivities that are directly related to the protec-
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tion and conservation of a species of greatest 
conservation need and the habitat of such spe-
cies. 
‘‘(5) MINIMUM REQUIRED SPENDING FOR EN-
DANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY.—Not less than an 
average of 15 percent over a 5-year period of 
amounts apportioned to a State, territory, or the 
District of Columbia from the Subaccount shall be 
used for purposes described in paragraph (4)(C). 
The Secretary may reduce the minimum requirement 
of a State, territory, or the District of Columbia on 
an annual basis if the Secretary determines that the 
State, territory, or the District of Columbia is meet-
ing the conservation and recovery needs of all spe-
cies described in paragraph (4)(C). 
‘‘(6) PUBLIC ACCESS TO PRIVATE LANDS NOT 
REQUIRED.—Funds apportioned from the Sub-
account shall not be conditioned upon the provision 
of public access to private lands, waters, or holdings. 
‘‘(7) REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) For the purposes of the non-Federal 
fund matching requirement for a wildlife con-
servation or restoration program or project 
funded by the Subaccount, a State, territory, or 
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the District of Columbia may use as matching 
non-Federal funds— 
‘‘(i) funds from Federal agencies 
other than the Department of the Interior 
and the Department of Agriculture; 
‘‘(ii) 
donated 
private 
lands 
and 
waters, including privately owned ease-
ments; 
‘‘(iii) in circumstances described in 
subparagraph 
(B), 
revenue 
generated 
through the sale of State hunting and fish-
ing licenses; and 
‘‘(iv) other sources consistent with 
part 80 of title 50, Code of Federal Regu-
lations, in effect on the date of enactment 
of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 
2021. 
‘‘(B) Revenue described in subparagraph 
(A)(iii) may only be used to fulfill the require-
ments of such non-Federal fund matching re-
quirement if— 
‘‘(i) no Federal funds apportioned to 
the State fish and wildlife department of 
such State from the Wildlife Restoration 
Program or the Sport Fish Restoration 
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Program have been reverted because of a 
failure to fulfill such non-Federal fund 
matching requirement by such State dur-
ing the previous 2 years; and 
‘‘(ii) the project or program being 
funded benefits the habitat of a hunted or 
fished species and a species of greatest 
conservation need. 
‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol-
lowing definitions apply: 
‘‘(A) PARTNERSHIPS.—The term ‘partner-
ships’ may include collaborative efforts with 
Federal agencies, State agencies, local agencies, 
Indian Tribes, nonprofit organizations, aca-
demic institutions, industry groups, and private 
individuals to implement a State’s Wildlife Con-
servation Strategy. 
‘‘(B) SPECIES
OF
GREATEST
CONSERVA-
TION NEED.—The term ‘species of greatest con-
servation need’ may be fauna or flora, and may 
include terrestrial, aquatic, marine, and inverte-
brate species that are of low population, declin-
ing, rare, or facing threats and in need of con-
servation attention, as determined by each 
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State fish and wildlife department, with respect 
to funds apportioned to such State. 
‘‘(C) TERRITORY AND TERRITORIES.—The 
terms ‘territory’ and ‘territories’ mean the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, Amer-
ican Samoa, the Commonwealth of the North-
ern Mariana Islands, and the United States 
Virgin Islands. 
‘‘(D) 
WILDLIFE.—The 
term 
‘wildlife’ 
means any species of wild, freeranging fauna, 
including fish, and also fauna in captive breed-
ing programs the object of which is to reintro-
duce individuals of a depleted indigenous spe-
cies into previously occupied range.’’. 
(b) ALLOCATION AND APPORTIONMENT OF AVAIL-
ABLE AMOUNTS.—Section 4 of the Pittman-Robertson 
Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘to the District of Columbia and to the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, each’’ and 
inserting ‘‘To the District of Columbia’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B)— 
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State, territory, or the District of Columbia under 
this section for a wildlife conservation and restora-
tion program may be used for wildlife conservation 
education and wildlife-associated recreation.’’; and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B), 
as so amended, the following: 
‘‘(C) $55 million shall be reserved for 
states and territories that include plants among 
their species of greatest conservation need and 
in the conservation planning and habitat 
prioritization efforts of their Wildlife Conserva-
tion Strategy. Each eligible State, territory, or 
the District of Columbia shall receive an addi-
tional 5 percent of their apportioned amount. 
Any unallocated resources shall be allocated 
proportionally among all states and territories 
under the formulas of this section.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end following: 
‘‘(f) MINIMIZATION
OF PLANNING
AND REPORT-
ING.—Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to require 
a State to create a comprehensive strategy related to con-
servation education or outdoor recreation. 
‘‘(g) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Not more than one year 
after the date of enactment of the Recovering America’s 
Wildlife Act of 2021 and every 3 years thereafter, each 
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State fish and wildlife department shall submit a 3-year 
work plan and budget for implementing its Wildlife Con-
servation Strategy and a report describing the results de-
rived from activities accomplished under subsection (c)(4) 
during the previous 3 years to— 
‘‘(1) the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works of the Senate; 
‘‘(2) the Committee on Natural Resources of 
the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(3) the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-
ice.’’. 
SEC. 102. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Pittman-Robert-
son Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘including 
fish,’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 
(9) as paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively; and 
(3) in paragraph (6), as redesignated by para-
graph (2), by inserting ‘‘Indian Tribes, academic in-
stitutions,’’ before ‘‘wildlife conservation organiza-
tions’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Pittman-Rob-
ertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) in section 3— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘(1) An amount equal 
to’’ and inserting ‘‘An amount equal to’’; 
and 
(ii) by striking paragraph (2); 
(B) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in paragraph (9), as redesignated 
by section 101(a)(1), by striking ‘‘or an 
Indian tribe’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (10), as redesignated 
by section 101(a)(1), by striking ‘‘Wildlife 
Conservation and Restoration Account’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; and 
(C) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Wildlife 
Conservation and Restoration Account’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Subaccount’’; 
(2) in section 4 (16 U.S.C. 669c)— 
(A) in subsection (d), as redesignated— 
(i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AC-
COUNT’’ and inserting ‘‘SUBACCOUNT’’; 
and 
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(ii) by striking ‘‘Account’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘Subaccount’’; 
and 
(B) in subsection (e)(1), as redesignated, 
by striking ‘‘Account’’ and inserting ‘‘Sub-
account’’; and 
(3) in section 8 (16 U.S.C. 669g), in subsection 
(a), by striking ‘‘Account’’ and inserting ‘‘Sub-
account’’. 
SEC. 103. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 
The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 
U.S.C. 669 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 13 as section 15; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 12 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 13. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 
‘‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed to enlarge 
or diminish the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of 
a State to manage, control, or regulate fish and wildlife 
under the law and regulations of the State on lands and 
waters within the State, including on Federal lands and 
waters. 
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‘‘SEC. 14. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO 
ALASKA. 
‘‘If any conflict arises between any provision of this 
Act and any provision of the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 46–487, 16 U.S.C. 
3101 et seq.), then the provision in the Alaska National 
Interest Lands Conservation Act shall prevail.’’. 
TITLE 
II—TRIBAL 
WILDLIFE 
CONSERVATION 
AND 
RES-
TORATION 
SEC. 201. INDIAN TRIBES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Account’’ means the 
Tribal Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Ac-
count established by subsection (b)(1). 
(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(4) TRIBAL SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVA-
TION NEED.—The term ‘‘Tribal species of greatest 
conservation need’’ means any species identified by 
an Indian Tribe as requiring conservation manage-
ment because of declining population, habitat loss, 
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