Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019

Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019

This bill authorizes the use of wildlife corridors on Indian land to provide habitat or ecological connectivity and allow for fish, wildlife, or plant movement on such land.

Specifically, the bill permits an Indian tribe to nominate a corridor within the land of such tribe as a tribal wildlife corridor. The Department of the Interior must establish criteria for determining whether such a corridor qualifies as a tribal wildlife corridor, including criteria for restoring historical habitat.

Interior must provide tribes with technical assistance to establish, manage, or expand a tribal wildlife corridor. Such assistance must include support with accessing wildlife data and working with private landowners to access programs for facilitating connectivity on nonfederal land.

Additionally, Interior must (1) establish a program to award grants to tribes to increase connectivity through tribal wildlife corridors, and (2) consult with tribes to determine whether a tribal wildlife corridor may be expanded into public lands or otherwise benefit connectivity between public lands and such corridor.

The bill also permits the Department of Agriculture to give priority under certain conservation programs to those projects that enhance connectivity by expanding a tribal wildlife corridor.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2891 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2891

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife 
                   Corridors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 19, 2019

  Mr. Udall (for himself, Mr. Booker, Ms. Harris, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
    Sanders, Mr. Tester, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Warren) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish Tribal Wildlife 
                   Corridors, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Connectivity.--The term ``connectivity'' means the 
        degree to which the landscape or seascape facilitates native 
        species movement.
            (2) Corridor.--The term ``corridor'' means a distinct 
        component of a landscape or seascape that--
                    (A) provides habitat or ecological connectivity; 
                and
                    (B) allows for fish, wildlife, or plant movement.
            (3) Indian land.--The term ``Indian land'' means land of an 
        Indian tribe, or an Indian individual, that is--
                    (A) held in trust by the United States; or
                    (B) subject to a restriction against alienation 
                imposed by the United States.
            (4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service, in consultation with the 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs.
            (6) Tribal wildlife corridor.--The term ``Tribal Wildlife 
        Corridor'' means a corridor established by the Secretary under 
        section 3(a).

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Nominations.--An Indian tribe may nominate a corridor 
        within Indian land of the Indian tribe as a Tribal Wildlife 
        Corridor by submitting to the Secretary an application at such 
        time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
        Secretary may require.
            (2) Determination.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
        on which the Secretary receives an application under paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary shall determine whether the nominated Tribal 
        Wildlife Corridor described in the application meets the 
        criteria established under subsection (b).
            (3) Publication.--On approval of an application under 
        paragraph (2), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 
        Register a notice of the establishment of the Tribal Wildlife 
        Corridor, which shall include a map and legal description of 
        the land designated as a Tribal Wildlife Corridor.
    (b) Criteria.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 540 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish criteria 
        for determining whether a corridor nominated by an Indian tribe 
        under subsection (a)(1) qualifies as a Tribal Wildlife 
        Corridor.
            (2) Inclusions.--The criteria established under paragraph 
        (1) shall include, at a minimum, the following:
                    (A) The restoration of historical habitat for the 
                purposes of facilitating connectivity.
                    (B) The management of land for the purposes of 
                facilitating connectivity.
                    (C) The management of land to prevent the 
                imposition of barriers that may hinder current or 
                future connectivity.
    (c) Removal.--
            (1) In general.--An Indian tribe may elect to remove the 
        designation of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor on the Indian land of 
        the Indian tribe by notifying the Secretary.
            (2) Effect of removal.--An Indian tribe that elects to 
        remove a designation under paragraph (1) may not receive 
        assistance under section 5 or 6.

SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF LAND USE PLANS.

    Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking ``Indian tribes by'' and inserting 
                the following: ``Indian tribes--
            ``(1) by'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 
                striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; 
                and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) for the purposes of determining whether the land use 
        plans for land in the National Forest System would provide 
        additional connectivity to benefit the purposes of a Tribal 
        Wildlife Corridor established under section 3(a) of the Tribal 
        Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Tribal Wildlife Corridors.--On the establishment of a Tribal 
Wildlife Corridor under section 3(a) of the Tribal Wildlife Corridors 
Act of 2019, the Secretary shall conduct a meaningful consultation with 
the Indian tribe that administers the Tribal Wildlife Corridor to 
determine whether, through the revision of one or more existing land 
use plans, the Tribal Wildlife Corridor can--
            ``(1) be expanded into public lands; or
            ``(2) otherwise benefit connectivity (as defined in section 
        2 of that Act) between public lands and the Tribal Wildlife 
        Corridor.''.

SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    The Secretary shall provide to Indian tribes technical assistance 
relating to the establishment, management, and expansion of a Tribal 
Wildlife Corridor, including assistance with accessing wildlife data 
and working with private landowners to access Federal and State 
programs to improve wildlife habitat and connectivity on non-Federal 
land.

SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Conservation Programs Priority.--
            (1) In general.--In evaluating applications under 
        conservation programs described in paragraph (2), the Secretary 
        of Agriculture may give priority to an application for a 
        project that would enhance connectivity through the expansion 
        of a Tribal Wildlife Corridor.
            (2) Programs described.--The conservation programs referred 
        to in paragraph (1) are any of the following conservation 
        programs administered by the Secretary of Agriculture:
                    (A) The conservation reserve program established 
                under subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of title 
                XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et 
                seq.).
                    (B) The environmental quality incentives program 
                established under subchapter A of chapter 4 of subtitle 
                D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
                U.S.C. 3839aa et seq.).
                    (C) The conservation stewardship program 
                established under subchapter B of chapter 4 of subtitle 
                D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
                U.S.C. 3839aa-21 et seq.).
                    (D) The agricultural conservation easement program 
                established under subtitle H of title XII of the Food 
                Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3865 et seq.).
    (b) Wildlife Movements Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a Tribal 
        Wildlife Corridor grant program to encourage wildlife movement 
        in accordance with this Act.
            (2) Grants.--Beginning not later than 3 years after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make grants 
        under the program established under paragraph (1) to one or 
        more Indian tribes to increase connectivity through Tribal 
        Wildlife Corridors.

SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE.

    Nothing in this Act authorizes or affects the use of private 
property or Indian land.
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