Topic: Environment — Species & Forest
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

Sportsmen's Heritage And Recreational Enhancement Act or the SHARE Act - (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary of the Interior to report to Congress, not later than 12 months after enactment of this Act, an assessment of its expected economic impacts, including a review of expected increases in recreational hunting, fishing, shooting, and conservation activities.

 Title I: Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - (Sec. 102) Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to exclude from the definition of "chemical substance" for purposes of such Act: (1) any component of any pistol, revolver, firearm, shell, or cartridge the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax, including shot, bullets and other projectiles, propellants, and primers; and (2) any sport fishing equipment the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax and sport fishing equipment components.

Title II: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - (Sec. 204) Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to: (1) authorize a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorize a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for such costs; (3) limit the federal share of such costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) require amounts provided for such costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years.

(Sec. 205) Shields the United States from any civil action or claim for money damages for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is funded by the federal government pursuant to such Act or located on federal land, except to the extent provided under the Federal Tort Claims Act with respect to the exercise or performance of a discretionary function.

(Sec. 206) Urges the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of BLM to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training.

Title III: Public Lands Filming - (Sec. 302) Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), for any film crew of five persons or fewer, to require a permit and assess an annual fee of $200 for commercial filming activities or similar projects on federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary. Makes such a permit valid for such activities or projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on all federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary for a 12-month period.

Title IV: Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act - Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act - (Sec. 402) Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue a permit for the importation of any polar bear part (other than an internal organ) from a polar bear taken in a sport hunt in Canada to any person who submits proof that the polar bear was legally harvested before May 15, 2008 (currently by February 18, 1997), when polar bears were listed as a threatened species by the Department of the Interior.

Title V: Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act - Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act - (Sec. 503) Grants the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize any state to issue electronic duck stamps. (Sec. 504) Sets forth state electronic duck stamp application requirements.

Allows the Secretary to determine the number of new states permitted per year to participate in the electronic duck stamp program.

(Sec. 505) Instructs the Secretary to require electronic stamp revenue and customer information collected by each state to be transmitted in accordance with a written agreement between the Secretary and the state.

Title VI: Access to Water Resources Development Projects Act - Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act - (Sec. 602) Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located.

Title VII: Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee - (Sec. 701) Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture (USDA) on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and recreational shooting. (Abolishes the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.) Title VIII: Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - (Sec. 802) Declares that recreational fishing and hunting are environmentally acceptable and beneficial activities that occur and can be provided on public lands and waters without adverse effects on other uses or users.

(Sec. 804) Requires a federal public land management official, in cooperation with the respective state and fish and wildlife agency, to exercise the authority of the official under law, including regarding land use planning, to facilitate the use of, and access to, federal public land for fishing, sport hunting, and recreational shooting, except as described in this Act.

Requires the heads of federal public land management agencies to exercise their discretion in a manner that supports and facilitates hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shooting opportunities, to the extent authorized under applicable law.

Prohibits actions taken under this Act or actions concerning the National Wildlife Refuge System under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 from being considered to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.

Prohibits public land management officials from being required to consider the existence or availability of recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting opportunities on adjacent or nearby lands in the planning for or determination of which public lands are open for these activities or in the setting of levels of use for these activities on public lands, unless the combination or coordination of such opportunities would enhance the opportunities available to the public.

Requires that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service land, excluding land on the Outer Continental Shelf, be open to recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting unless the managing agency acts to close lands to such activity. Permits closures or restrictions on such land for purposes including resource conservation, public safety, energy or mineral production, energy generation or transmission infrastructure, water supply facilities, national security, protection of private property rights, or compliance with other law.

Requires agencies to: (1) lease or permit use of federal public land for shooting ranges, and (2) designate specific land for recreational shooting activities. Declares that the provision of opportunities for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and the conservation of fish and wildlife to provide sustainable use recreational opportunities on designated wilderness areas on federal public lands constitutes the measures necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of such areas. Provides that such declaration does not authorize or facilitate commodity development, use, or extraction, motorized recreational access or use that is not otherwise allowed under the Wilderness Act, or permanent road construction or maintenance within designated wilderness areas.

Reaffirms the provisions of the Wilderness Act that stipulate that wilderness purposes are "within and supplemental to" the purposes of the underlying federal land unit. Requires the head of each federal agency, when seeking to carry out fish and wildlife conservation programs and projects or providing fish and wildlife dependent recreation opportunities on designated wilderness areas, to implement these supplemental purposes while not impeding on the underlying conservation purpose. Prohibits such implementation from authorizing or facilitating commodity development, use or extraction, motorized recreational access, road construction or maintenance, or use not otherwise allowed within designated wilderness areas.

Requires biennial reports on closures of federal public lands to sport hunting, recreational fishing, or shooting. Sets forth requirements for specified closures or significant restrictions involving 640 or more contiguous acres of federal public land or water to hunting or recreational fishing or related activities.

Instructs federal public land agencies to consult with the advisory councils specified in Executive Orders 12962 (relating to recreational fisheries) and 13443 (relating to the facilitation of hunting heritage and wildlife conservation) in carrying out this Act.

Requires the Secretary to manage the Ozark National Scenic Riverways to allow the use of motorized vessels in a manner not more restrictive than the use restrictions in effect on November 21, 2013. Permits the Secretary to manage the area to allow the use of motorized vessels in a manner that is less restrictive than such use restrictions.

(Sec. 805) Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from restricting the use of dogs in deer hunting activities within the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana unless those restrictions are applicable to the smallest practicable parts and are necessary for the reduction or control of trespassing onto adjacent land.

Title IX: Respect for Treaties and Rights - (Sec. 901) Prohibits this Act from being construed to affect or modify any treaty or other right of any federally recognized Indian tribe.

Title X: Exemptions for Taking Migratory Birds on Certain Agricultural Land - Hunter and Farmer Protection Act - (Sec. 1002) Amends the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to permit the taking of any migratory game bird, including waterfowl, coots, and cranes, on or over land that: (1) is not otherwise a baited area; and (2) contains a standing crop (including an aquatic crop), standing, flooded, or manipulated natural vegetation, flooded harvested cropland, or an area on which seed or grain has been scattered solely as the result of a normal agricultural practice, as determined by the head of the state office of the USDA Cooperative Extension System with the concurrence of the state department of fish and wildlife.

Title XI: Sense of Congress Regarding Snowmobiles on National Forest System Lands - (Sec. 1101) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Forest Service should continue to allow snowmobiles access to National Forest System lands at the same levels allowed as of March 28, 2013, subject to closures for public health and safety at the discretion of the respective agencies, until a final travel management rule is promulgated for snowmobiles.