National Wildlife Refuge System Volunteer and Community Partnership Enhancement Act of 1998
PL 105-242 (H.R.1856), enacted 10/05/1998

112 STAT. 1574 
PUBLIC LAW 105-242—OCT. 5, 1998 
Public Law 105-242 
105th Congress 
An Act 
r\ t K 1QQ« 
'^^ amend the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 to promote volunteer programs and 
'— community partnerships for the benefit of national wildlife refuges, and for other 
[H.R. 1856] 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
National Wildlife 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
Refuge System 
Volunteer and 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
Pairtnership 
This Act may be cited as the "National Wildlife Refuge System 
Enhancement 
Volunteer and Community Partnership Enhancement Act of 1998". 
Act of 1998. 
16 u s e 742a 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
16 use 742f 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
note. 
(1) the National Wildlife Refuge System (referred to in 
this Act as the "System"), consisting of more than 500 refuges 
and 93,000,000 acres, plays an integral role in the protection 
of the natural resources of the United States; 
(2) the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act 
of 1997 (Pubhc Law 105-57; 111 Stat. 1252) significantly 
improved the law governing the System, although the financial 
resources for implementing this law and managing the System 
remain limited; 
(3) by encouraging volunteer programs and donations, and 
facilitating non-Federal partnerships with refuges. Federal 
funding for the refuges can be supplemented and the System 
can fully benefit from the amendments made by the National 
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997; and 
(4) by encouraging refuge educational programs, public 
awareness of the resources of the System and public participa-
tion in the conservation of those resources can be promoted. 
(b) PURPOSES.—^The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to encourage the use of volunteers to assist the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service in the management of refuges 
within the System; 
(2) to facilitate partnerships between the System and non-
Federal entities to promote public awareness of the resources 
of the System and public participation in the conservation 
of those resources; and 
(3) to encourage donations and other contributions by per-
sons and organizations to the System. 
SEC. 3. GIFTS TO PARTICULAR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES. 
Section 7(b)(2) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 
742f (b)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by striking "(2) Any" and inserting the following: 
PUBLIC LAW 105-242—OCT. 5, 1998 
112 STAT. 1575 
"(2) USE OF GIFTS, DEVISES, AND BEQUESTS.— 
"(A) IN GENERAL.—Any"; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
"(B) GIFTS, DEVISES, AND BEQUESTS TO PARTICULAR 
REFUGES.— 
"(i) DiSBURSAL.—^Any gift, devise, or bequest made 
for the benefit of a particular national wildlife refuge 
or complex of geographically related refuges shall be 
disbursed only for the benefit of that refuge or complex 
of refuges and without further appropriations. 
"(ii) MATCHING.—Subject to the availability of 
appropriations and the requirements of the National 
WildUfe Refuge Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 
668dd et seq.) and other applicable law, the Secretary 
may provide funds to match gifts, devises, and bequests 
made for the benefit of a particular national wildHfe 
refuge or complex of geographically related refuges. 
With respect to each gift, devise, or bequest, the 
amount of Federal funds may not exceed the amount 
(or, in the case of property or in-kind services, the 
fair market value) of the gift, devise, or bequest.". 
SEC. 4. VOLUNTEER ENHANCEMENT. 
(a) PILOT PROJECTS.— 
16 use 742f 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appropria- nota-
tions, the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out a pilot 
project at 2 or more national wildlife refuges or complexes 
of geographically related refuges in each United States Fish 
and Wildlife Service region, but not more than 20 pilot projects 
nationwide. 
(2) VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR.—Each pilot project shall pro-
vide for the employment of a full-time volunteer coordinator 
for the refuge or complex of geographically related refuges. 
The volunteer coordinator shall be responsible for recruiting, 
training, and supervising volunteers. The volunteer coordinator 
may be responsible for assisting partner organizations in devel-
oping projects and programs under cooperative agreements 
under section 7(d) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (as 
added by section 5) and coordinating volunteer activities with 
partner organizations to carry out the projects and programs. 
(3) REPORT.—^Not later than 3 years after the date of enact- DeacQine. 
ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit 
a report to the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works of the Senate evaluating and making recommendations 
regarding the pilot projects. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION OP APPROPRL\TIONS.—There is author-
ized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $2,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002. 
(b) AWARDS AND RECOGNITION FOR VOLUNTEERS.—Section 
7(c)(2) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f(c)(2)) 
is amended— 
(1) by inserting "awards (including nominal cash awards) 
and recognition," after "lodging,"; and 
(2) by inserting "without regard to their places of residence" 
after "volunteers". 
112 STAT. 1576 
PUBLIC LAW 105-242—OCT. 5, 1998 
(c) SENIOR VOLUNTEER CORPS.—Section 7(c) of the Fish and 
Wildhfe Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f(c)) is amended by striking 
paragraph (6) and inserting the following: 
"(6) SENIOR VOLUNTEER CORPS.—^The Secretary of the 
Interior may establish a Senior Volunteer Corps, consisting 
of volunteers over the age of 50. To assist in the recruitment 
and retention of the volunteers, the Secretary may provide 
for additional incidental expenses to members of the Corps 
beyond the incidental expenses otherwise provided to volunteers 
under this subsection. The members of the Corps shall be 
subject to the other provisions of this subsection.". 
SEC. 5. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP ENHANCEMENT. 
Section 7 of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 
742f) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
"(d) COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP ENHANCEMENT.— 
"(1) DEFINITION OF PARTNER ORGANIZATION.—In this sub-
section, the term 'partner organization' means an organization 
that— 
"(A) draws its membership from private individuals, 
organizations, corporations, academic institutions, or State 
or local governments; 
"(B) is established to promote the understanding of, 
. education relating to, and the conservation of the fish, 
wildlife, plants, and cultural and historical resources of 
a particular refuge or complex of geographically related 
remges; and 
"(C) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under 
section 501(a) of that Code. 
"(2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 
"(A) IN GENERAL.—^The Secretary of the Interior may 
enter into a cooperative agreement (within the meaning 
of chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code) with any 
partner organization, academic institution, or State or local 
government agency to carry out 1 or more projects or 
programs for a refuge or complex of geographically related 
refuges in accordance with this subsection. 
(B) PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS.—Subject to the require-
ments of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administra-
. tion Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.) and other 
applicable law, and such terms and conditions as the Sec-
retary determines to be appropriate, the Secretary may 
approve projects and programs for a refuge or complex 
01 geographically related refuges that— 
"(i) promote the stewardship of resources of the 
refuge through habitat maintenance, restoration, and 
' improvement, biological monitoring, or research; 
"(ii) support the operation and maintenance of the 
refuge through constructing, operating, maintaining, 
or improving the facilities and services of the refuge; 
"(iii) increase awareness and understanding of the 
refuge and the National Wildlife Refuge 
System 
through the development, publication, or distribution 
of educational materials and products; 
"(iv) advance education concerning the purposes 
of the refuge and the mission of the System through 
PUBLIC LAW 105-242—OCT. 5, 1998 
112 STAT. 1577 
the use of the refuge as an outdoor classroom and 
development of other educational programs; or 
"(v) contribute financial resources to the refuge, 
under terms that require that the net revenues be 
used exclusively for the benefit of the refuge, through 
donation of net revenues from the sale of educational 
materials and products and through encouragement 
of gifts, devises, and bequests. 
"(C) FEDERAL FUNDING AND OWNERSHIP. — 
"(i) MATCHING.—Subject to the availability of 
appropriations and the requirements of the National 
. Wildlife Refuge Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 
668dd et seq.) and other applicable law, the Secretary 
may provide funds to match non-Federal funds donated 
under a cooperative agreement under this paragraph. 
With respect to each project or program, the amount 
of funds provided by the Secretary may not exceed 
the amount of the non-Federal funds donated through 
the project or program. 
"(ii) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—^Any Federal funds 
used to fund a project or program under a cooperative 
agreement may be used only for expenses directly 
related to the project or program and may not be 
used for operation or administration of any non-Federal 
entity. 
"(iii) OWNERSHIP OF FACILITIES.—Any new facility, 
improvement to an existing facility, or other permanent 
improvement to a refuge constructed under this sub-
section shall be the property of the United States 
Government. 
"(D) TREASURY ACCOUNT.—^Amounts received by the 
Secretary of the Interior as a result of projects and pro-
grams under subparagraph (B) shall be deposited in a 
separate account in the Treasury. Amounts in the account 
that are attributable to activities at a particular refuge 
or complex of geographically related refuges shall be avail-
able to the Secretary of the Interior, without further appro-
priation, to pay the costs of incidental expenses related 
to volunteer activities, and to carry out cooperative agree-
ments for the refuge or complex of refuges.". 
SEC. 6. REFUGE EDUCATION PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT. 
Section 7 of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 
742f) (as amended by section 5) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
"(e) REFUGE EDUCATION PROGRAM ENHANCEIMENT.— 
"(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date of Deadline, 
enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
develop guidance for refuge education progirams to further the 
mission of the National Wildlife Refuge Sj'^stem and the pur-
poses of individual refuges through— 
"(A) providing outdoor classroom opportunities for stu-
dents on national wildlife refuges that combine educational 
curricula with the personal experiences of students relating 
to fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitat and to the 
cultural and historical resources of the refuges; 
112 STAT. 1578 
PUBLIC LAW 105-242—OCT. 5, 1998 
"(B) promoting understanding and conservation of fish, 
wildlife, and plants and cultural and historical resources 
of the refuges; and 
"(C) improving scientific literacy in conjunction with 
both formal and nonformal education programs. 
"(2) REFUGE PROGRAMS.—Based on the guidance developed 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior may develop 
or enhance refuge education programs as appropriate, based 
on the resources of individual refuges and the opportunities 
available for such programs in State, local, and private schools. 
In developing and implementing each program, the Secretary 
should cooperate with State and local education authorities, 
and may cooperate with partner organizations in accordance 
with subsection (d).". 
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 7 of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 
742f) (as amended by section 6) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
"(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out 
subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
1999 through 2004.". 
Approved October 5, 1998. 
LEGISLATIVE mSTORY—H.R. 1856: 
H O U S E REPORTS: No. 105-329 (Comm. on Resovirces). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 143 (1997): Nov. 4, considered and passed House. 
Vol. 144 (1998): Sept. 11, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Sept. 18, House concurred in Senate amendments.