Group threatens suit over cattle grazing

By SHANNON DININNY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

YAKIMA -- An environmental group announced plans Wednesday to sue Washington state if it approves a proposal to allow cattle grazing on portions of Central Washington's Whisky Dick Wildlife Area, a parcel of rural sagebrush situated between the state's two remaining sage grouse populations.

The Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project contends that the state must first produce an environmental impact statement before allowing 160 cattle to forage on two pastures in the Whisky Dick area, about 110 miles east of Seattle. The two pastures proposed as grazing land comprise 8,418 acres of the 28,549-acre wildlife area, a rolling series of ridges and canyons above the mid-Columbia River.

"Our major concerns are they're not properly analyzing what they're doing, and that this project would seriously jeopardize one of the last undisturbed sage-steppe habitats in Central Washington," said Miles Johnson of Western Watersheds in Hailey, Idaho.

Cattle grazing on public lands has been an issue in parts of the West for decades. Western Watersheds has repeatedly raised questions about the proposed grazing on Whisky Dick, as well as on the Asotin Wildlife Area in the state's southeastern corner.

The group contends that the grazing violates the Endangered Species Act by harming the rare shrub-steppe ecosystem and adjacent streams that support a number of endangered and declining species, including sage grouse, loggerhead shrike, chinook salmon and bull trout.

Whisky Dick, in particular, sits between the state's two remaining sage grouse populations, and sightings have occurred in the area. Sage grouse are listed as a threatened species by the state.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife bought 17,027 acres in the Whiskey Dick area from private landowners in 1966 to expand winter range for deer and elk herds and to improve upland game bird habitat.

The remaining acreage is owned by the state Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Under the proposal, grazing would occur for 30 days this spring.

Fish and Wildlife officials say the grazing management plan is part of a larger process to improve land management in the area with the cooperation of local landowners, conservation and environmental groups, and others.

Moderate grazing by livestock removes older, rank grass and increases the availability of more-nutritious spring or fall regrowth for elk, thereby reducing chances elk will forage on farmland, according to Fish and Wildlife.

The area in question has not been grazed by livestock for 10 years.

BLM receives range management award

Submitted to the Current-Argus

01/30/2008

LAS CRUCES — The New Mexico Section of the Society for Range Management presented its Excellence in Range Management award to the Bureau of Land Management recently for the agency's work to restore degraded rangelands and wildlife habitat in southeastern New Mexico. Linda Rundell, state director for the BLM in New Mexico, accepted the award on behalf of the BLM's state management team and the agency's Pecos District Office in Roswell.

The BLM worked with a variety of partners to restore more than 250,000 acres of degraded rangelands in New Mexico in 2007, far surpassing the 2006 total of 145,000 acres. What started out as a concept to restore and enhance landscapes three years ago has grown into Restore New Mexico, an effort involving the BLM, ranchers, agencies, organizations and the energy industry. The partnership will restore its 500,000th acre this year.

"The BLM under Linda Rundell has demonstrated that it won't be satisfied with being a custodial land manager," said Dr. Karl Wood, president
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of the SRM's New Mexico Section. "Linda and her management team are getting the word out about the condition of New Mexico's rangelands and forming innovative partnerships to restore them."

BLM management honorees included Rundell, Jesse Juen, associate state director, and Ron Dunton, deputy state director for resources.

Field honorees included: Ray Keller, rangeland management specialists, Carlsbad; Dave Evans, chief of operations, Carlsbad; and Russell Fox, rangeland management specialist, Roswell.

Habitat fragmentation, erosion and the spread of invasive plants have resulted from decades of human impacts and natural ecological processes. Because fire has largely been excluded from the landscape, there's been a dramatic shift over the past 150 years from desert grasslands with scattered shrubs to vegetative communities extensively dominated by invasive shrubs; this has occurred on more than 6 million acres in New Mexico. The result has been reduced grass and herbaceous cover and a significant increase in the amount of bare ground. These factors have in turn severely reduced their biological productivity, while increasing their susceptibility to erosion and reducing the quantity and quality of groundwater.

"Regardless of how people feel about land uses or management priorities, everyone agrees we need to look at the land differently than we have in the past," Rundell said. "We are now beginning to restore entire landscapes. It's amazing what can happen when folks have a shared vision."

The BLM is expanding its efforts with partners this year to restore rangelands to a healthy and productive condition throughout New Mexico. Efforts are focusing on landscapes dominated by mesquite, creosote, juniper and other invasive species to restore native vegetation, which also benefits watersheds and wildlife habitat.

Starting the year, the BLM and its partners will also begin attacking cheatgrass, and exotic species that have taken over huge areas of Nevada, Utah and other Great Basin states. Partners under the program are also identifying and reclaiming orphaned oil and gas wells, pads and roads in the Permian and San Juan basins.

The goal of brush treatments to reduce the incidence of brush in rangelands to historic levels; in many areas, the percentage of brush in a landscape has increased from 10 percent to 90 percent or more over the past 150, years, radically reducing the biological productivity of these areas.

Restore New Mexico partners include ranchers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, New Mexico State Land Office, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts, several Soil and Water Conservation Districts, New Mexico State University and BLM.

BLM to Auction Impounded Cattle

Reno, Nev.— The Bureau of Land Management is accepting bids to sell 58 head of impounded cattle. Bids must be submitted by 9 a.m., Friday, Feb. 1.

The livestock will be offered in three lots: 21 dry cows; eight cows with calves; and 21 calves/yearlings. Successful bidders will receive a certificate of brand inspection for transport and ownership from the Nevada Brand Inspector.

The livestock are available for inspection through Thursday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. Inspections are available by appointment only by calling Amanda DeForest at the Winnemucca Field Office (775) 623-1500.

A sale packet is available on-line at www.blm.gov/nv.

On Jan. 25, the BLM issued the owner of the impounded cattle a notice of public sale. The owners may redeem the livestock up until the sale time.

AP Interview: Washington official takes reins in Southwest

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—It's his third day on the job as head of the U.S. Forest Service's southwest region, but Corbin Newman has a good idea about what kinds of challenges he and other federal land managers will face in the future.

Population growth and demands on natural resources are high on the list, as they have been for years. The relative newcomer, Newman says, is climate change, which wasn't even on the radar screen a few years ago.

"This is probably one of the bellwether regions where climate change probably was first seen, at least the effects of it on the forest environment," he told the Associated Press in an interview Friday. "We've got to figure out what that means to us.

"The forests that once were here may not be the forests that we have in the future. They need to be different to address whatever that change might bring to us."

And it's not only the Forest Service that's dealing with climate change. Newman said it will be a challenge "for all of us to figure out what does that mean for us and our growth, the water that we might have, the resources available to us and how we use the forest."

Newman, 53, may be new to his office, but he's certainly not new to the Forest Service.

He has more than three decades of experience with the agency and has seen it change over the years.

Newman began his career as a college work-study student on the Arapahoe and Roosevelt national forests in Colorado in the early 1970s. He went on to work as a silviculturist—a person who cares for forest lands—in that state, a public affairs officer in South Dakota, a district ranger in Pennsylvania and a forest supervisor in Michigan.

He also worked as the budget coordinator for the National Forest System in Washington, D.C., and was the coordinator of the National Fire Plan. He has been the national director of forest management since October 2005.

Newman replaces Harv Forsgren as the southwestern regional forester. He's now responsible for more than 22 million acres of forests in New Mexico and Arizona and a pair of national grasslands in Texas and Oklahoma.

For the next year, he wants to get to know the region's forests and the people who manage them, use them and live near their boundaries.

"For me, this is a job about people," he said.

Over the years, Newman has tried several times to get posted in the Southwest. He and his wife, Erin, have vacationed here and he has spent a lot of time in the region implementing the National Fire Plan.

Newman said he loves the landscape and the cultures here.

"This is a dream job for me," he said as he was sitting in his new office with a view of the Sandia Mountains that border Albuquerque's east side. "I can't imagine wanting to do anything else in the outfit."

As he settles in and goes through endless e-mails that have stacked up since he left Washington, he acknowledges that he has a lot to learn. But he also points out that he believes his predecessors have done a good job.

Newman considers the region to be on the cutting edge when it comes to community-based forest management, which involves taking care of the land by taking into consideration the needs of those who use and live on the land.

"You need to bring people together and share your scientific knowledge that you have with others and then figure out what we do with the forest," he said. "I think this region has been one of our leaders in doing that. The way forestry is being done here is what I see as the future of the Forest Service across the country."

Ranchers say they're being squeezed out

By RUFFIN PREVOST
Billings Gazette

GREYBULL -- Ranchers operating around the Bighorn National Forest say ongoing drought, tougher environmental oversight, disputed monitoring techniques and growing legal challenges are making it increasingly difficult to effectively use their federal grazing allotments.

U.S. Forest Service managers say they are working to support grazing in the Bighorn National Forest, but must balance it against a host of other appropriate public land uses.

Dozens of ranchers met with Forest Service managers this week for the first of what is likely to be a series of discussions aimed at improving relations between the two sides.

There are 91 permit holders operating on grazing allotments in the Bighorn National Forest, said Bernie Bornong, a Forest Service resource specialist.

Allotments are measured in agricultural unit months, or the amount of forage required to sustain a 1,000-pound animal for one month. The Forest Service may reduce the number of AUMs available to a rancher based on weather, wildlife activity, grazing intensity or other conditions on various sites.

But ranchers said Wednesday that the trend for decades has been to permanently reduce available AUMs and close allotments, causing a continuing decline in available public grazing land.

Figures in the forest plan generally support that argument, and it cites factors behind the trend, including changes in ranching economics, management practices and environmental priorities.

"The trend has been declining since about 1920," Bornong said, but he added that livestock grazing remains one of the primary uses of Forest Service land, and a goal the agency supports.

"We want to maintain or exceed the 2004 permitted stocking level, while maintaining and meeting the guidelines and desired conditions" for appropriate range management, he said.

That can be done only by close cooperation between ranchers and the Forest Service, said Kathleen Jachowski, director of Guardians of the Range, a grazing advocacy group that represents about 100 member ranchers operating on public lands in the Big Horn Basin.

The Bighorn forest has been targeted for special attention, including litigation challenging allotment management plans, by the Western Watersheds Project, a group seeking to limit grazing on public lands, Jachowski said.

"If we don't organize and work together, we're going to lose the battle. These people are working hard to ruin us," Big Horn County Commissioner Keith Grant said of legal challenges filed by Western Watersheds.

"The Bighorn National Forest has the highest stocking rates of any forest in the nation, and twice the average stocking rate of the Forest Service system on average," said Jonathan Ratner, Wyoming director for Western Watersheds.

Speaking by telephone from Pinedale, Ratner said grazing on public lands amounted to bad fiscal and environmental policy.

"In general, we feel that livestock grazing on much of public lands is inappropriate and should be phased out," he said.

Carol Kane, whose family ranches near Dayton, said new range use monitoring requirements in the Tongue District are based on flawed techniques, and have erroneously resulted in drastic reductions in available AUMs.

"Thirteen permittees will have huge cuts, 50 percent or more, in their allotments by 2011. Some of them could be completely put out of business. But we are not overgrazing, and we're not ruining the resource," Kane said.

"How are these ranches going to withstand the loss of the livestock and income? You can't just run a ranch one year with 300 cows and the next year with 50," she said.

Bornong said the new monitoring technique was mandated by the forest plan and had been proven valid in scientific studies and court challenges.

The Forest Service should work more closely with ranchers to collaboratively test range monitoring techniques before mandating their use, said Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association.

Bighorn Forest Supervisor Bill Bass said the industry generally does a much better job with range management than it did decades ago, adding that "grazing is why there's good grass."

He encouraged ranchers to work with legislators to draft laws that protected grazing on Forest Service land.

Bornong said the Forest Service will work more closely with Bighorn-area ranchers to effectively administer vacant grazing allotments and range improvement funds.

Grazing's future still up in the air

Report offers no clear answers to whether livestock grazing can continue in monument

By Paul Fattig
Mail Tribune
January 25, 2008 6:00 AM

The long-anticipated cattle grazing impact studies on the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument were released Thursday afternoon, but the roughly 500-page document contains no recommendation about the future of grazing within the monument.

"We're not in the decision-making process," explained Paul Hosten, the monument ecologist and scientist heading up the study group.

The studies will help U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials determine whether livestock grazing is consistent with the 2000 presidential proclamation creating the monument, he said.

A decision on the grazing issue is expected later this year. The studies have cost an estimated $1.2 million, officials said.

The 52,940-acre monument in the mountains east of Ashland with Soda Mountain as its centerpiece was created because of what scientists described as one of the most biologically diverse places on the continent. The proclamation directed the BLM to study the impacts of livestock on the "objects of biological interest in the monument with specific attention to sustaining the natural ecosystem dynamics."

Should grazing be found incompatible with that goal, then the grazing allotments within the monument shall be retired, it stated.

Some of the key findings of the studies include:

* The monument has experienced 150 years of livestock influence.
* The pattern, seasonality and intensity of use have changed over time.
* There have been many range-related activities, including the use of heavy equipment to clear vegetation, herbicide/fertilizer application and prescribed fires.
* More than 50 herbs and grasses have been introduced since 1950.
* A historic loss of perennial bunch grass and conversion to "weeds" occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
* Intense use by livestock, deer and elk reduces the presence of tiny invertebrates considered intolerant of disturbance.

Although the riparian areas are improving across the land since it became a monument, the rate of improvement in seeps and springs is slower, said Hosten, who is also studying historic vegetation changes throughout the BLM's Medford District.

"There are also populations of weeds that have continued to expand over time," he said, noting that includes yellow star thistle and Canada thistle.

Although the studies contain no recommendations, their completion represents a major step in addressing the grazing issue, observed Howard Hunter, the BLM's assistant monument manager.

"This is just data to do the rangeland health assessment," Howard said. "After that we will begin the environmental assessment process. But we're not there yet."

The goal is to determine this spring whether the grazing on the monument meets agency's standards for rangeland health, he said. The grazing must also meet the proclamation language, he reiterated.

The public will be asked to comment during the environmental assessment phase of the process later this year, he said.

Livestock grazing during late spring and summer has continued through the study period, which began in 2001. There are currently 11 ranchers holding grazing leases for 2,714 animal unit months on nine grazing allotments. An AUM represents the amount of forage required to feed one mature 1,000-pound cow and her calf for one month. Two allotments are currently vacant.

The BLM grazing studies coupled with studies completed last year by the National Center for Conservation Science & Policy in Ashland demonstrate it's time to end grazing on the monument, said center director Dominick DellaSala, a forest ecologist.

"Both studies provide rock-solid peer-reviewed science to permanently retire livestock grazing in the monument," DellaSala said.

"The BLM needs to put its science where its policy mouth is and remove destructive cows in order to comply with the monument proclamation mandate of protecting the monument's rare species," he added.

Mike Dauenhauer, an Ashland area rancher whose family has ranched in the area for nearly half a century and has run cattle on the monument, hadn't had a chance to review the study when reached Thursday evening.

"In a perfect world, I wish we could keep running cows up there forever," he said. "But that's not realistic.

"Our best hope is to get bought out," he added. "That's the best solution for the ranchers. We would at least get something for all the years we put into it."

He supports legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., in 2006 that would allow a multimillion dollar buyout of grazing permits from willing ranchers who run their cattle in or near the monument.

The concept has been endorsed by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Oregon Cattlemen's Association.

The BLM studies can be seen at www.mailtribune.com/grazingstudies.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.

BLM follows Nev. cattle seizure with horse impoundment at McDermitt

Associated Press - January 25, 2008 7:05 PM ET

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Federal agents who seized more than 100 cattle from Nevada ranchers accused of trespassing on public rangeland this week have confiscated 200 horses from an American Indian and his son they say were grazing the animals without a permit near the Nevada-Oregon line.

The Bureau of Land Management's roundup of the privately owned horses near a reservation at McDermitt, Nevada, yesterday followed Monday's impoundment of 107 cattle near Winnemucca, Nevada.

Larry Crutcher was cited by the BLM along with his father, Leonard.

Agency officials say the Crutchers ignored warnings for years that their horses were trespassing on federal land.

This week's court-ordere marks the first time in five years the federal agency has flexed its enforcement muscle against livestock ranchers who refuse to obtain grazing permits and pay fees for use of federal rangeland.

First BLM cattle seizures for trespassing Nevada since 2002

By Scott Sonner
ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. – Federal agents seized more than 100 cattle and jailed a 66-year-old woman who owns some of them in the first U.S. criminal or civil enforcement action in five years against Nevada ranchers accused of trespassing livestock on public land.

Bureau of Land Management rangers began impounding the cattle across a 10-mile stretch of the high desert rangeland in north central Nevada on Monday. They said Inger Casey and Larry “Dudley” Hiibel had been grazing cattle on BLM land without a permit for more than three years and failed to comply with federal court orders this fall demanding they keep them off U.S. land.

“They've never had permits or authorization to have their cattle on public lands,” said BLM spokesman Doran Sanchez, who counted 107 cattle that have been impounded.

Long at odds with the BLM, the two ranchers maintain the U.S. government has no legal jurisdiction over rangeland in Nevada, although federal courts have ruled otherwise.

“They are arresting people for doing nothing but trying to drive their cattle,” Hiibel told The Associated Press.

Hiibel, 63, took an unrelated case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 before he lost his argument he did not have to give his name to law officers who stopped him and his daughter on a rural road near his ranch outside Winnemucca four years before.

On Thursday, he was working with his daughter and brother in a snowstorm to try to move some of his remaining cattle off BLM land and onto a neighbor's field.

“I'm behind about 150 cows in a blizzard with icicles on my whiskers,” Hiibel said from near the Pershing-Humboldt county line about 165 miles northeast of Reno. “We're trying to get them out of the way of the BLM as a temporary thing. They didn't get them all.”

Casey went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert McQuaid on Tuesday on the criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office alleging she “knowingly did forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate and interfere” with BLM law officers.

The judge released her on her own recognizance and set her arraignment for Jan. 30.

BLM special agent Zachary Oper said in an affidavit that Casey drove her pickup toward five BLM employees at a high rate of speed and that one perceived she was trying to run them over. She later allegedly hit one of the BLM ranger's ATVs before agents stopped her truck, “pulled her out of her vehicle and arrested her,” he said.

Casey's version is different. She said she slammed on her brakes when a ranger stopped in front of her and an ATV ran into the side of her truck.

“I was going straight and he hit me on the side,” Casey said. “I was going to get out, but they told me to get out, really rough and mean. So I said, 'No, I'm not getting out.'

“They jerked me out so hard they ripped my clothes in the front, my heavy T-shirt and sweatshirt zipper,” she said. “I'm a 66-year-old woman who will soon be 67 and they threw me on the ground.”

The last time the BLM seized trespassing cattle in Nevada was in 2002 – about 150 animals that the Te-Moak Band Western Shoshone tribe was grazing south of Elko. In 2001, the agency impounded 62 cattle from Goldfield rancher Ben Colvin.

Diverse Groups Protest Federal 'Water Grab' Bill

Written By: James M. Taylor
Published In: Environment News
Publication Date: February 1, 2008
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

A diverse group of grassroots organizations and business and civic groups has come together to oppose the proposed Federal Clean Water Restoration Act, which many call the Federal Water Grab Bill.

The bill would strip state oversight of minor waterways and for the first time give federal bureaucrats control over millions of acres of drainage ditches, seasonal ponds, and small waterways that have no significant impact on larger bodies of water.

Nationwide Opposition

Opposition to the federal proposal was expressed on December 5 when members of Congress, state legislators, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Property Rights Alliance, Partnership for America, and Americans for American Energy joined the National Farm Bureau Federation, American Property Coalition, and Western Business Roundtable on the steps of the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, DC.

Strong opposition also has been expressed outside of Washington in town meetings, state capitols, and newspaper editorials across the country.

"The scope of this legislation is breathtaking," said Larry Wooten, president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau. "It will raise costs for farmers and homeowners while also burdening state and local governments."

Huge Power Shift

"[B]y eliminating one word--navigable--and replacing it with the term 'waters of the United States,' the legislation would give the federal government authority over anything that is wet, as well as any activity on land that could affect water," explained the North Carolina Coalition for Clean Water in a December 18 news release.

"That term has always been used to signal a balance between federal and state authority," noted Don Parrish, senior director of regulatory relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

"When the word 'navigable' is taken out, [it makes] everything federal water--without regard to volume and flow. That means gutters, ditches, seasonal wet spots, even groundwater. That's a very big deal," Parrish said.

Unprecedented Federal Power

Even supporters of the proposed legislation acknowledge it is a monumental expansion of federal power. In an interview with the December 19 Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) argued even seasonal puddles in America's farm belt, known as "prairie potholes," would come under federal jurisdiction.

"Most of the ducks that migrate across our skies in the spring and fall are hatched and raised on prairies," Dingell asserted.

"Remove [the puddles] and you remove the ducks," Dingell claimed.

Farmers in Crosshairs

"Farmers and ranchers are especially concerned about the combination of these [changes] to a law that has already proved its effectiveness," countered John Youngberg, vice president of governmental affairs for the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, in the December 15 Twin Falls, Idaho Ag Weekly.

"With these changes," Youngberg said, "ordinary roadside ditches, stock tanks, and ponds would be subject to extensive regulation and permitting. Even low spots in fields farmed for decades would be subject to extensive reviews."

Parrish expressed similar concern. "We're strongly opposed to H.R. 2421. There are at least a half dozen things we find problematic with this bill," he said.

"For the first time ever, federal agencies would gain authority over all 'activities' affecting these waters," said American Property Coalition President Linda Runbeck. "Under the bill's broad definition of water, few activities would not be regulated by EPA or the Corps of Engineers, whether or not they take place in water."

James M. Taylor (taylor@heartland.org) is a senior fellow of The Heartland Institute and managing editor of Environment & Climate News.

BLM GRAZING REGULATIONS

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BLM LAND USE PLANNING

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BLM HEARINGS AND APPEALS

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National Forest Management Act

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FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT

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Forest Service Land Management Planning 2008

Highlights of 2008 Planning Rule

Q&A about the 2008 Planning Rule

Final EIS 2008

Forest Service Land Management Planning 2005

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT

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ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973

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TAYLOR GRAZING ACT
Title 43 Chapter 8A - GRAZING LANDS

§ 315. Grazing districts; establishment; restrictions; prior rights; rights-of-way; hearing and notice; hunting or fishing rights

In order to promote the highest use of the public lands pending its final disposal, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, by order to establish grazing districts or additions thereto and/or to modify the boundaries thereof, of vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved lands from any part of the public domain of the United States (exclusive of Alaska), which are not in national forests, national parks and monuments, Indian reservations, revested Oregon and California Railroad grant lands, or revested Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands, and which in his opinion are chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage crops: Provided, That no lands withdrawn or reserved for any other purpose shall be included in any such district except with the approval of the head of the department having jurisdiction thereof. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed in any way to diminish, restrict, or impair any right which has been heretofore or may be hereafter initiated under existing law validly affecting the public lands, and which is maintained pursuant to such law except as otherwise expressly provided in this subchapter nor to affect any land heretofore or hereafter surveyed which, except for the provisions of this subchapter, would be a part of any grant to any State, nor as limiting or restricting the power or authority of any State as to matters within its jurisdiction. Whenever any grazing district is established pursuant to this subchapter, the Secretary shall grant to owners of land adjacent to such district, upon application of any such owner, such rights-of-way over the lands included in such district for stock-driving purposes as may be necessary for the convenient access by any such owner to marketing facilities or to lands not within such district owned by such person or upon which such person has stock-grazing rights. Neither this subchapter nor the Act of December 29, 1916 (39 Stat. 862; U.S.C., title 43, secs. 291 and following), commonly known as the “Stock Raising Homestead Act”, shall be construed as limiting the authority or policy of Congress or the President to include in national forests public lands of the character described in section 471 [1] of title 16, for the purposes set forth in section 475 of title 16, or such other purposes as Congress may specify. Before grazing districts are created in any State as herein provided, a hearing shall be held in the State, after public notice thereof shall have been given, at such location convenient for the attendance of State officials, and the settlers, residents, and livestock owners of the vicinity, as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior. No such district shall be established until the expiration of ninety days after such notice shall have been given, nor until twenty days after such hearing shall be held: Provided, however, That the publication of such notice shall have the effect of withdrawing all public lands within the exterior boundary of such proposed grazing districts from all forms of entry of settlement. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as in any way altering or restricting the right to hunt or fish within a grazing district in accordance with the laws of the United States or of any State, or as vesting in any permittee any right whatsoever to interfere with hunting or fishing within a grazing district.

§ 315a. Protection, administration, regulation, and improvement of districts; rules and regulations; study of erosion and flood control; offenses

The Secretary of the Interior shall make provision for the protection, administration, regulation, and improvement of such grazing districts as may be created under the authority of section 315 of this title, and he shall make such rules and regulations and establish such service, enter into such cooperative agreements, and do any and all things necessary to accomplish the purposes of this subchapter and to insure the objects of such grazing districts, namely, to regulate their occupancy and use, to preserve the land and its resources from destruction or unnecessary injury, to provide for the orderly use, improvement, and development of the range; and the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to continue the study of erosion and flood control and to perform such work as may be necessary amply to protect and rehabilitate the areas subject to the provisions of this subchapter, through such funds as may be made available for that purpose, and any willful violation of the provisions of this subchapter or of such rules and regulations thereunder after actual notice thereof shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500.

§ 315b. Grazing permits; fees; vested water rights; permits not to create right in land

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue or cause to be issued permits to graze livestock on such grazing districts to such bona fide settlers, residents, and other stock owners as under his rules and regulations are entitled to participate in the use of the range, upon the payment annually of reasonable fees in each case to be fixed or determined from time to time in accordance with governing law. Grazing permits shall be issued only to citizens of the United States or to those who have filed the necessary declarations of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, and to groups, associations, or corporations authorized to conduct business under the laws of the State in which the grazing district is located. Preference shall be given in the issuance of grazing permits to those within or near a district who are landowners engaged in the livestock business, bona fide occupants or settlers, or owners of water or water rights, as may be necessary to permit the proper use of lands, water or water rights owned, occupied, or leased by them, except that until July 1, 1935, no preference shall be given in the issuance of such permits to any such owner, occupant, or settler, whose rights were acquired between January 1, 1934, and December 31, 1934, both dates, inclusive, except that no permittee complying with the rules and regulations laid down by the Secretary of the Interior shall be denied the renewal of such permit, if such denial will impair the value of the grazing unit of the permittee, when such unit is pledged as security for any bona fide loan. Such permits shall be for a period of not more than ten years, subject to the preference right of the permittees to renewal in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, who shall specify from time to time numbers of stock and seasons of use. During periods of range depletion due to severe drought or other natural causes, or in case of a general epidemic of disease, during the life of the permit, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion to remit, reduce, refund in whole or in part, or authorize postponement of payment of grazing fees for such depletion period so long as the emergency exists: Provided further, That nothing in this subchapter shall be construed or administered in any way to diminish or impair any right to the possession and use of water for mining, agriculture, manufacture, or other purposes which has heretofore vested or accrued under existing law validly affecting the public lands or which may be hereafter initiated or acquired and maintained in accordance with such law. So far as consistent with the purposes and provisions of this subchapter, grazing privileges recognized and acknowledged shall be adequately safeguarded, but the creation of a grazing district or the issuance of a permit pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter shall not create any right, title, interest, or estate in or to the lands.

§ 315c. Fences, wells, reservoirs, and other improvements; construction; permits; partition fences

Fences, wells, reservoirs, and other improvements necessary to the care and management of the permitted livestock may be constructed on the public lands within such grazing districts under permit issued by the authority of the Secretary, or under such cooperative arrangement as the Secretary may approve. Permittees shall be required by the Secretary of the Interior to comply with the provisions of law of the State within which the grazing district is located with respect to the cost and maintenance of partition fences. No permit shall be issued which shall entitle the permittee to the use of such improvements constructed and owned by a prior occupant until the applicant has paid to such prior occupant the reasonable value of such improvements to be determined under rules and regulations of the Secretary of the Interior. The decision of the Secretary in such cases is to be final and conclusive

§ 315d. Grazing stock for domestic purposes; use of natural resources

The Secretary of the Interior shall permit, under regulations to be prescribed by him, the free grazing within such districts of livestock kept for domestic purposes; and provided that so far as authorized by existing law or laws hereinafter enacted, nothing contained in this subchapter shall prevent the use of timber, stone, gravel, clay, coal, and other deposits by miners, prospectors for mineral, bona fide settlers and residents, for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and domestic purposes within areas subject to the provisions of this subchapter.

§ 315e. Rights of way; development of mineral resources

Nothing contained in this subchapter shall restrict the acquisition, granting or use of permits or rights of way within grazing districts under existing law; or ingress or egress over the public lands in such districts for all proper and lawful purposes; and nothing contained in this subchapter shall restrict prospecting, locating, developing, mining, entering, leasing, or patenting the mineral resources of such districts under law applicable thereto.

§ 315f. Homestead entry within district or withdrawn lands; classification; preferences

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to examine and classify any lands withdrawn or reserved by Executive order of November 26, 1934 (numbered 6910), and amendments thereto, and Executive order of February 5, 1935 (numbered 6964), or within a grazing district, which are more valuable or suitable for the production of agricultural crops than for the production of native grasses and forage plants, or more valuable or suitable for any other use than for the use provided for under this subchapter or proper for acquisition in satisfaction of any outstanding lieu, exchange or script [1] rights or land grant, and to open such lands to entry, selection, or location for disposal in accordance with such classification under applicable public-land laws, except that homestead entries shall not be allowed for tracts exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in area. Such lands shall not be subject to disposition, settlement, or occupation until after the same have been classified and opened to entry: Provided, That locations and entries under the mining laws including the Act of February 25, 1920, as amended [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.], may be made upon such withdrawn and reserved areas without regard to classification and without restrictions or limitation by any provision of this subchapter. Where such lands are located within grazing districts reasonable notice shall be given by the Secretary of the Interior to any grazing permittee of such lands. The applicant, after his entry, selection, or location is allowed, shall be entitled to the possession and use of such lands: Provided, That upon the application of any applicant qualified to make entry, selection, or location, under the public-land laws, filed in the land office of the proper district, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause any tract to be classified, and such application, if allowed by the Secretary of the Interior, shall entitle the applicant to a preference right to enter, select, or locate such lands if opened to entry as herein provided.

§§ 315g, 315g-1. Repealed.

§ 315h. Cooperation with associations, land officials, and agencies engaged in conservation or propagation of wildlife; local hearings on appeals; acceptance and use of contributions

The Secretary of the Interior shall provide, by suitable rules and regulations, for cooperation with local associations of stockmen, State land officials, and official State agencies engaged in conservation or propagation of wildlife interested in the use of the grazing districts. The Secretary of the Interior shall provide by appropriate rules and regulations for local hearings on appeals from the decisions of the administrative officer in charge in a manner similar to the procedure in the land department. The Secretary of the Interior shall also be empowered to accept contributions toward the administration, protection, and improvement of lands within or without the exterior boundaries of a grazing district, moneys, so received to be covered into the Treasury as a special fund, which is appropriated and made available until expended, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct, for payment of expenses incident to said administration, protection, and improvement, and for refunds to depositors of amounts contributed by them in excess of their share of the cost.

§ 315i. Disposition of moneys received; availability for improvements

Except as provided in sections 315h and 315j of this title, all moneys received under the authority of this subchapter shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts, but the following proportions of the moneys so received shall be distributed as follows:
(a) 121/2 per centum of the moneys collected as grazing fees under section 315b of this title during any fiscal year shall be paid at the end thereof by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State in which the grazing districts producing such moneys are situated, to be expended as the State legislature of such State may prescribe for the benefit of the county or counties in which the grazing districts producing such moneys are situated: Provided, That if any grazing district is in more than one State or county, the distributive share to each from the proceeds of said district shall be proportional to its area in said district;
(b) 50 per centum of all moneys collected under section 315m of this title [1] during any fiscal year shall be paid at the end thereof by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State in which the lands producing such moneys are located, to be expended as the State legislature of such State may prescribe for the benefit of the county or counties in which the lands producing such moneys are located: Provided, That if any leased tract is in more than one State or county, the distributive share to each from the proceeds of said leased tract shall be proportional to its area in said leased tract.

§ 315j. Appropriation of moneys received; application of public-land laws to Indian ceded lands; application for mineral title to lands

When appropriated by Congress, 331/3 per centum of all grazing fees received from each grazing district on Indian lands ceded to the United States for disposition under the public-land laws during any fiscal year shall be paid at the end thereof by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State in which said lands are situated, to be expended as the State legislature may prescribe for the benefit of public schools and public roads of the county or counties in which such grazing lands are situated. And the remaining 662/3 per centum of all grazing fees received from such grazing lands shall be deposited to the credit of the Indians pending final disposition under applicable laws, treaties, or agreements. The applicable public land laws as to said Indian ceded lands within a district created under this subchapter shall continue in operation, except that each and every application for nonmineral title to said lands in a district created under this subchapter shall be allowed only if in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior the land is of the character suited to disposal through the Act under which application is made and such entry and disposal will not affect adversely the best public interest, but no settlement or occupation of such lands shall be permitted until ninety days after allowance of an application.

§ 315k. Cooperation with governmental departments; coordination of range administration

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to cooperate with any department of the Government in carrying out the purposes of this subchapter and in the coordination of range administration, particularly where the same stock grazes part time in a grazing district and part time in a national forest or other reservation.

§ 315l. Lands under national-forest administration

The President of the United States is authorized to reserve by proclamation and place under national-forest administration in any State where national forests may be created or enlarged by Executive order any unappropriated public lands lying within watersheds forming a part of the national forests which, in his opinion, can best be administered in connection with existing national-forest administration units, and to place under the Interior Department administration any lands within national forests, principally valuable for grazing, which, in his opinion, can best be administered under the provisions of this subchapter: Provided, That such reservations or transfers shall not interfere with legal rights acquired under any public-land laws so long as such rights are legally maintained. Lands placed under the national-forest administration under the authority of this subchapter shall be subject to all the laws and regulations relating to national forests, and lands placed under the Interior Department administration shall be subject to all public-land laws and regulations applicable to grazing districts created under authority of this subchapter. Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to limit the powers of the President (relating to reorganizations in the executive departments) granted by sections 124 to 132 of title 5.[1]

§ 315m. Lease of isolated or disconnected tracts for grazing; preferences

The Secretary of the Interior is further authorized, in his discretion, where vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved lands of the public domain are so situated as not to justify their inclusion in any grazing district to be established pursuant to this subchapter, to lease any such lands for grazing purposes, upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe: Provided, That preference shall be given to owners, homesteaders, lessees, or other lawful occupants of contiguous lands to the extent necessary to permit proper use of such contiguous lands, except, that when such isolated or disconnected tracts embrace seven hundred and sixty acres or less, the owners, homesteaders, lessees, or other lawful occupants of lands contiguous thereto or cornering thereon shall have a preference right to lease the whole of such tract, during a period of ninety days after such tract is offered for lease, upon the terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary: Provided further, That when public lands are restored from a withdrawal, the Secretary may grant an appropriate preference right for a grazing lease, license, or permit to users of the land for grazing purposes under authority of the agency which had jurisdiction over the lands immediately prior to the time of their restoration.

§ 315m–1. Lease of State, county, or privately owned lands; period of lease; rental

The Secretary of the Interior in his discretion is authorized to lease at rates to be determined by him any State, county, or privately owned lands chiefly valuable for grazing purposes and lying within the exterior boundaries of a grazing district when, in his judgment, the leasing of such lands will promote the orderly use of the district and aid in conserving the forage resources of the public lands therein: Provided, That no such leases shall run for a period of more than ten years and in no event shall the grazing fees paid the United States for the grazing privileges on any of the lands leased under the provisions of this section be less than the rental paid by the United States for any of such lands: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the appropriation of any moneys except that moneys heretofore or hereafter appropriated for construction, purchase, and maintenance of range improvements within grazing districts, pursuant to the provisions of sections 315i and 315j of this title, may be made additionally available by Congress for the leasing of land under this section and sections 315m–2 to 315m–4 of this title.

§ 315m–2. Administration of leased lands

The lands leased under sections 315m–1 to 315m–4 of this title shall be administered under the provisions of the Act of June 28, 1934 (48 Stat. 1269), as amended June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1976), commonly known as the Taylor Grazing Act.

§ 315m–3. Availability of contributions received

Contributions received by the Secretary of the Interior under section 315h of this title, toward the administration, protection, and improvement of any district shall be additionally available for the leasing of lands under sections 315m–1 to 315m–4 of this title.

§ 315m–4. Disposition of receipts; availability for leasing of land

All moneys received by the Secretary of the Interior in the administration of leased lands as provided in section 315m–2 of this title shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts, but are made available, when appropriated by the Congress, for the leasing of lands under sections 315m–1 to 315m–4 of this title and shall not be distributed as provided under sections 315i and 315j of this title.

§ 315n. State police power not abridged

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as restricting the respective States from enforcing any and all statutes enacted for police regulation, nor shall the police power of the respective States be, by this subchapter, impaired or restricted, and all laws heretofore enacted by the respective States or any thereof, or that may hereafter be enacted as regards public health or public welfare, shall at all times be in full force and effect: Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting or restricting the power and authority of the United States.

§ 315o. Repealed. Pub. L. 89–554, § 8(a), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 649

Section, act June 28, 1934, ch. 865, § 17, as added June 26, 1936, ch. 842, § 6, 49 Stat. 1978, authorized the President to select a Director of Grazing and the Secretary of the Interior to appoint assistant directors and employees.

§ 315o–1. Board of grazing district advisers; composition; meetings; duties

(a) In order that the Secretary of the Interior may have the benefit of the fullest information and advice concerning physical, economic, and other local conditions in the several grazing districts, there shall be an advisory board of local stockmen in each such district, the members of which shall be known as grazing district advisers. Each such board shall consist of not less than five nor more than twelve members, exclusive of wildlife representatives, one such representative to be appointed by the Secretary, in his discretion, to membership on each such board. Except for such wildlife representatives, the names of the members of each district advisory board shall be recommended to the Secretary by the users of the range in that district through an election conducted under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary. No grazing district adviser so recommended, however, shall assume office until he has been appointed by the Secretary and has taken an oath of office. The Secretary may, after due notice, remove any grazing district adviser from office if in his opinion such removal would be for the good of the service.
(b) Each district advisory board shall meet at least once annually at a time to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, or by such other officer to whom the Secretary may delegate the function of issuing grazing permits, and at such other times as its members may be called by such officer. Each board shall offer advice and make a recommendation on each application for such a grazing permit within its district: Provided, That in no case shall any grazing district adviser participate in any advice or recommendation concerning a permit, or an application therefor, in which he is directly or indirectly interested. Each board shall further offer advice or make recommendations concerning rules and regulations for the administration of this subchapter, the establishment of grazing districts and the modification of the boundaries thereof, the seasons of use and carrying capacity of the range, and any other matters affecting the administration of this subchapter within the district. Except in a case where in the judgment of the Secretary an emergency shall exist, the Secretary shall request the advice of the advisory board in advance of the promulgation of any rules and regulations affecting the district.

§ 315o–2. Animals and equipment for field employees

The Secretary of the Interior may require field employees of the Bureau of Land Management to furnish horses and miscellaneous equipment necessary for the performance of their official work and may provide at Government expense forage, care, and housing for such animals and equipment.

§ 315p. Repealed. Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 705(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2792

Section, act Aug. 24, 1937, ch. 744, 50 Stat. 748, authorized issuance of patents for lands acquired under exchange provisions of former section 315g of this title.

§ 315q. Withdrawal of lands for war or national defense purposes; payment for cancellation of permits or licenses

Whenever use for war or national defense purposes of the public domain or other property owned by or under the control of the United States prevents its use for grazing, persons holding grazing permits or licenses and persons whose grazing permits or licenses have been or will be canceled because of such use shall be paid out of the funds appropriated or allocated for such project such amounts as the head of the department or agency so using the lands shall determine to be fair and reasonable for the losses suffered by such persons as a result of the use of such lands for war or national defense purposes. Such payments shall be deemed payment in full for such losses. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to create any liability not now existing against the United States.

§ 315r. Rental payments in advance in case of withdrawal of lands for war or national defense purposes

In administering the provisions of section 315q of this title, payments of rentals may be made in advance.

WILDERNESS ACT

SHORT TITLE

Section 1. This Act may be cited as the "Wilderness Act".

WILDERNESS SYSTEM ESTABLISHED STATEMENT OF POLICY

Sec. 2. (a) In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as "wilderness areas", and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and no Federal lands shall be designated as "wilderness areas" except as provided for in this chapter or by a subsequent Act.

(b) The inclusion of an area in the National Wilderness Preservation System notwithstanding, the area shall continue to be managed by the Department and agency having jurisdiction thereover immediately before its inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System unless otherwise provided by Act of Congress. No appropriation shall be available for the payment of expenses or salaries for the administration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit nor shall any appropriations be available for additional personnel stated as being required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas solely because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation System.

DEFINITION OF WILDERNESS

(c) A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this chapter an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.

NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM -- EXTENT OF SYSTEM

Sec. 3. (a) All areas within the national forests classified at least 30 days before September 30, 1964, by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service as "wilderness", "wild", or "canoe" are hereby designated as wilderness areas. The Secretary of Agriculture shall --

(1) Within one year after September 30, 1964, file a map and legal description of each wilderness area with the Interior and Insular Affairs Committees of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, and such descriptions shall have the same force and effect as if included in this chapter: Provided, however, That correction of clerical and typographical errors in such legal descriptions and maps may be made.

(2) Maintain, available to the public, records pertaining to said wilderness areas, including maps and legal descriptions, copies of regulations governing them, copies of public notices of, and reports submitted to Congress regarding pending additions, eliminations, or modifications. Maps, legal descriptions, and regulations pertaining to wilderness areas within their respective jurisdictions also shall be available to the public in the offices of regional foresters, national forest supervisors, and forest rangers.

(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten years after September 30, 1964, review, as to its suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness, each area in the national forests classified on September 3, 1964, by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service as "primitive" and report his findings to the President. The President shall advise the United States Senate and House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to the designation as "wilderness" or other reclassification of each area on which review has been completed, together with maps and a definition of boundaries. Such advice shall be given with respect to not less than one-third of all the areas now classified as "primitive" within three years after September 3, 1964, not less than two-thirds within seven years after September 3, 1964, and the remaining areas within ten years after September 3, 1964. Each recommendation of the President for designation as "wilderness" shall become effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Areas classified as "primitive" on September 3, 1964, shall continue to be administered under the rules and regulations affecting such areas on September 3, 1964, until Congress has determined otherwise. Any such area may be increased in size by the President at the time he submits his recommendation to the Congress by not more than five thousand acres with no more than one thousand two hundred and eighty acres of such increase in any one compact unit; if it is proposed to increase the size of any such area by more than five thousand acres or by more than one thousand two hundred and eighty acres in any one compact unit the increase in size shall not become effective until acted upon by Congress. Nothing herein contained shall limit the President in proposing, as part of his recommendations to Congress, the alteration of existing boundaries of primitive areas or recommending the addition of any contiguous area of national forest lands predominantly of wilderness value. Not withstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the Secretary of Agriculture may complete his review and delete such area as may be necessary, but not to exceed seven thousand acres, from the southern tip of the Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area, Colorado, if the Secretary determines that such action is in the public interest.

(c) Within ten years after September 3, 1964, the Secretary of the Interior shall review every roadless area of five thousand contiguous acres or more in the national parks, monuments and other units of the national park system and every such area of, and every roadless island within, the national wildlife refuges and game ranges, under his jurisdiction on September 3, 1964, and shall report to the President his recommendation as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such area or island for preservation as wilderness. The President shall advise the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of his recommendation with respect to the designation as wilderness of each such area or island on which review has been completed, together with a map thereof and a definition of its boundaries. Such advice shall be given with respect to not less than one-third of the areas and islands to be reviewed under this subsection within three years after September 3, 1964, not less than two-thirds within seven years of September 3, 1964, and the remainder within ten years of September 3, 1964. A recommendation of the President for designation as wilderness shall become effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Nothing contained herein shall, by implication or otherwise, be construed to lessen the present statutory authority of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the maintenance of roadless areas within units of the national park system.

(d) (1) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall, prior to submitting any recommendations to the President with respect to the suitability of any area for preservation as wilderness --

(A) give such public notice of the proposed action as they deem appropriate, including publication in the Federal Register and in a newspaper having general circulation in the area or areas in the vicinity of the affected land;

(B) hold a public hearing or hearings at a location or locations convenient to the area affected. The hearings shall be announced through such means as the respective Secretaries involved deem appropriate, including notices in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in the area: Provided, That if the lands involved are located in more than one State, at least one hearing shall be held in each State in which a portion of the land lies;

(C) at least thirty days before the date of a hearing advise the Governor of each State and the governing board of each county, or in Alaska the borough, in which the lands are located, and Federal departments and agencies concerned, and invite such officials and Federal agencies to submit their views on the proposed action at the hearing or by not later than thirty days following the date of the hearing.

(2) Any views submitted to the appropriate Secretary under the provisions of (1) of this subsection with respect to any area shall be included with any recommendations to the President and to Congress with respect to such area.

(e) Any modification or adjustment of boundaries of any wilderness area shall be recommended by the appropriate Secretary after public notice of such proposal and public hearing or hearings as provided on subsection (d) of this section. The proposed modification or adjustment shall then be recommended with map and description thereof to the President. The President shall advise the United States Senate and the House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to such modification or adjustment and such recommendations shall become effective only on the same manner as provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

USE OF WILDERNESS AREAS

Sec. 4. (a) The purposes of this chapter are hereby declared to be within and supplemental to the purposes for which national forests and units of the national park and national wildlife refuge systems are established and administered and --

(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to be in interference with the purpose for which national forests are established as set forth in the Act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 11), and the Multiple Use Sustained-Yield Act of June 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 215).

(2) Nothing in this chapter shall modify the restrictions and provisions of the Shipstead-Nolan Act (Public Law 539, Seventy-first Congress, July 10, 1930; 46 Stat. 1020),the Thye-Blatnik Act (Public Law 733, Eightieth Congress, June 22, 1948; 62 Stat. 568), and the Humphrey-Thye-Blatnik-Andersen Act (Public Law 607, Eighty-fourth Congress, June 22.1965; 70 Stat. 326), as applying to the Superior National Forest or the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture.

(3) Nothing in this chapter shall modify the statutory authority under which units of the national park system are created. Further, the designation of any area of any park, monument, or other unit of the national park system as a wilderness area pursuant to this Act shall in no manner lower the standards evolved for the use and preservation of such park, monument, or other unit of the national park system in accordance with the Act of August 25, 1916, the statutory authority under which the area was created, or any other Act of Congress which might pertain to or affect such area, including, but not limited to, the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225; 16 U.S.C. 432 et seq.); section 3(2) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796 (2) ); and the Act of August 21,1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, each agency administering any area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area and shall so administer such area for such other purposes for which it may have been established as also to preserve its wilderness character. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use.

PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES

(c) Except as specifically provided for in this chapter, and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and, except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS

(d) The following special provisions are hereby made:

(1) Within wilderness areas designated by this chapter the use of aircraft or motorboats, where these uses have already become established, may be permitted to continue subject to such restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture deems desirable. In addition, such measures may be taken as may be necessary in the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such conditions as the Secretary deems desirable.

(2) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent within national forest wilderness areas any activity, including prospecting, for the purpose of gathering information about mineral or other resources, if such activity is carried on in a manner compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environment. Furthermore, in accordance with such program as the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and conduct in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, such areas shall be surveyed on a planned, recurring basis consistent with the concept of wilderness preservation by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present; and the results of such surveys shall be made available to the public and submitted to the President and Congress.

(3) Not withstanding any other provisions of this chapter, until midnight December 31, 1983, the United States mining laws and all laws pertaining to mineral leasing shall, to the extent as applicable prior to September 3, 1964, extend to those national forest lands designated by this chapter as "wilderness areas"; subject, however, to such reasonable regulations governing ingress and egress as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture consistent with the use of the land for mineral location and development and exploration, drilling, and production, and use of land for transmission lines, waterlines, telephone lines, or facilities necessary in exploring, drilling, producing, mining, and processing operations, including where essential the use of mechanized ground or air equipment and restoration as near as practicable of the surface of the land disturbed in performing prospecting, location, and , in oil and gas leasing, discovery work, exploration, drilling, and production, as soon as they have served their purpose. Mining locations lying within the boundaries of said wilderness areas shall be held and used solely for mining or processing operations and uses reasonably incident thereto; and hereafter, subject to valid existing rights, all patents issued under the mining laws of the United States affecting national forest lands designated by this chapter as wilderness areas shall convey title to the mineral deposits within the claim, together with the right to cut and use so much of the mature timber therefrom as may be needed in the extraction, removal, and beneficiation of the mineral deposits, if needed timber is not otherwise reasonably available, and if the timber is cut under sound principles of forest management as defined by the national forest rules and regulations, but each such patent shall reserve to the United States all title in or to the surface of the lands and products thereof, and no use of the surface of the claim or the resources therefrom not reasonably required for carrying on mining or prospecting shall be allowed except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter: Provided, That, unless hereafter specifically authorized, no patent within wilderness areas designated by this Act shall issue after December 31, 1983, except for the valid claims existing on or before December 31, 1983. Mining claims located after September 3, 1964, within the boundaries of wilderness areas designated by this chapter shall create no rights in excess of those rights which may be patented under the provisions of this subsection. Mineral leases, permits, and licenses covering lands within national forest wilderness areas designated by this chapter shall contain such reasonable stipulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture for the protection of the wilderness character of the land consistent with the use of the land for the purposes for which they are leased, permitted, or licensed. Subject to valid rights then existing, effective January 1, 1984, the minerals in lands designated by this Act as wilderness areas are withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing and all amendments thereto.

(4) Within wilderness areas in the national forests designated by this chapter, (1) the President may, within a specific area and in accordance with such regulations as he may deem desirable, authorize prospecting for water resources, the establishment and maintenance of reservoirs, water-conservation works, power projects, transmission lines, and other facilities needed in the public interest, including the road construction and maintenance essential to development and use thereof, upon his determination that such use or uses in the specific area will better serve the interests of the United States and the people thereof than will its denial; and (2) the grazing of livestock, where established prior to September 3, 1964, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture.

(5) Other provisions of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, the management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, formerly designated as the Superior, Little Indian Sioux, and Caribou Roadless Areas, in the Superior National Forest, Minnesota, shall be in accordance with the general purpose of maintaining, without unnecessary restrictions on other uses, including that of timber, the primitive character of the area, particularly in the vicinity of lakes, streams, and portages: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall preclude the continuance within the area of any already established use of motorboats.

(6) Commercial services may be performed within the wilderness areas designated by this Act to the extent necessary for activities which are proper for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of the areas.

(7) Nothing in this chapter shall constitute an express or implied claim or denial on the part of the Federal Government as to exemption from State water laws.

(8) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the several States with respect to wildlife and fish in the national forests.

STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS WITHIN WILDERNESS AREAS

Sec. 5. (a) In any case where State-owned of privately owned land is completely surrounded by national forest lands within areas designated by this chapter as wilderness, such State or private owner shall be given such rights as may be necessary to assure adequate access to such State-owned or privately owned land by such State or private owner and their successors in interest, or the State-owned land or privately owned land shall be exchanged for federally owned land in the same State of approximately equal value under authorities available to the Secretary of Agriculture: Provided, however, That the United States shall not transfer to a state or private owner any mineral interests unless the State or private owner relinquishes or causes to be relinquished to the United States the mineral interest in the surrounded land.

(b) In any case where valid mining claims or other valid occupancies are wholly within a designated national forest wilderness area, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, by reasonable regulations consistent with the preservation of the area as wilderness, permit ingress and egress to such surrounded areas by means which have been or are being customarily enjoyed with respect to other such areas similarly situated.

(c) Subject to the appropriation of funds by Congress, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to acquire privately owned land within the perimeter of any area designated by this chapter as wilderness if (1) the owner concurs in such acquisition or (2) the acquisition is specifically authorized by Congress.

GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Sec. 6. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture may accept gifts or bequests of land within wilderness areas designated by this chapter for preservation as wilderness. The Secretary of Agriculture may also accept gifts or bequests of land adjacent to wilderness areas designated by this chapter for preservation as wilderness if he has given sixty days advance notice thereof to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Land accepted by the Secretary of Agriculture under this section shall become part of the wilderness area involved. Regulations with regard to any such land may be in accordance with such agreements, consistent with the policy of this chapter, as are made at the time of such gift, or such conditions, consistent with such policy, as may be included in, and accepted with, such bequest.

(b) The Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept private contributions and gifts to be used to further the purpose of this chapter.

ANNUAL REPORTS

Sec. 7. At the opening of each session of Congress, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior shall jointly report to the President for transmission to Congress on the status of the wilderness system, including a list and descriptions of the areas in the system, regulations in effect, and other pertinent information, together with any recommendations they may care to make.

Approved September 3, 1964.
_____________________
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 1538 accompanying H.R. 9070 (Comm. on Interior & Insular Affairs) and
No. 1829 (Comm. of Conference).
SENATE REPORT: No. 109 (Comm. on Interior & Insular Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 109 (1963): Apr. 4, 8, considered in Senate.
Apr. 9, considered and passed Senate.
Vol. 110 (1964): July 28, considered in House
July 30, considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H. R. 9070.
Aug. 20, House and Senate agreed to conference report.

BLM RANGELAND HEALTH STANDARDS HANDBOOK

Click on title

BLM NEPA HANDBOOK

BLM LAND USE PLANNING HANDBOOK

Click on title.

BLM NEPA HANDBOOK

Click on title.

FOREST SERVICE GRAZING AND LIVESTOCK USE PERMIT SYSTEM MANUAL

Click on title and then click on document 2230.

FOREST SERVICE RANGE IMPROVEMENTS MANUAL

Click on title and then on document 2240.

FOREST SERVICE RANGE COOPERATION MANUAL

Click on title and then on document 2250.

FOREST SERVICE Range Management Annual Reports Handbook FSH - 2209.15

FOREST SERVICE Ecological Classification and Inventory Handbook FSH - 2090.11

FOREST SERVICE Pesticide-Use Management and Coordination Handbook FSH - 2109.14

Filing For Stock Water Claims on FS allotments

Published by Gila Livestock Growers Association

National Landscape Conservation System Act

By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Salazar, Ms. Cantwell, and Mr. Sanders):

S. 1139. A bill to establish the National Landscape Conservation System; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, together with Senators Salazar, Cantwell, and SANDERS, I am pleased today to introduce legislation to codify the National Landscape Conservation System, the collection of national monuments, national conservation areas, wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers and other remarkable landscapes on our public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

The National Landscape Conservation System was established administratively by the Department of the Interior in 2000 and consists of all areas the BLM administers for conservation purposes. The concept behind grouping all of these areas into one system was to increase public awareness of the importance of these lands and to highlight the BLM's conservation of these areas and their cultural, historical, scientific, and ecological significance to the Nation.

Within my own State of New Mexico, the National Landscape Conservation System encompasses several nationally significant areas, including the rugged lava flows of El Malpais National Conservation Area, the unique cone-shaped rock formations of the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail and the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and Old Spanish Trail National Historic Trails, as well as over one million acres of wilderness and wilderness study areas.

However, because the NLCS was established administratively, it does not have the permanence that it would have if enacted legislatively. In addition, legislative enactment of the NLCS will help increase the attention to these important, congressionally protected areas, and hopefully will help ensure that the system remains a high priority within the BLM and the Department of the Interior. The bill does not create any new management authority and does not change the authorities for any of the previously designated areas within the system.

Given the broad public support for these areas, I expect this bill to be non-controversial and it is my hope that it will be able to move quickly through the Congress and enactment into law.

S 1139 IS

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1139

To establish the National Landscape Conservation System, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 18, 2007

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. SALAZAR, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the National Landscape Conservation System, 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 `National Landscape Conservation System Act'.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior.

(2) SYSTEM- The term `system' means the National Landscape Conservation System established by section 3(a).

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION SYSTEM.

(a) Establishment- In order to conserve, protect, and restore nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of current and future generations, there is established in the Bureau of Land Management the National Landscape Conservation System.

(b) Components- The system shall include each of the following areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management:

(1) Each area that is designated as--

(A) a national monument;

(B) a national conservation area;

(C) an outstanding natural area;

(D) a wilderness study area;

(E) a component of the National Trails System;

(F) a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; or

(G) a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

(2) Any area designated by Congress to be administered for conservation purposes, including--

(A) the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area, as designated under section 101(a) of the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 460nnn-11(a));

(B) the Headwaters Forest Reserve; and

(C) any additional area designated by Congress for inclusion in the system.

(c) Management- The Secretary shall manage the system--

(1) in accordance with any applicable law (including regulations) relating to any component of the system included under subsection (b); and

(2) in a manner that protects the values for which the components of the system were designated.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.

END

The Borderlands Conservation and Security Act of 2007

HR 2593 IH

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2593

To secure and conserve Federal public lands and natural resources along the international land borders of the United States, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 6, 2007

Mr. GRIJALVA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To secure and conserve Federal public lands and natural resources along the international land borders of the United States, 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 Borderlands Conservation and Security Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings- The Congress finds the following:

(1) The United States-Mexico border area contains a high concentration of protected Federal lands, including National Parks, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Wilderness Areas. These lands are of significant ecological, educational, historic, cultural, recreational and economic value to the United States and its people.

(2) The United States and Mexico have collaborated to address shared conservation and security issues, including migratory, imperiled, and invasive species, border operations and security, cultural resources, and trans-boundary pollution.

(3) Federal lands and resources along the United States-Mexico border have suffered extensive damage from the effects of unauthorized immigration, human and drug smuggling, and border enforcement activities.

(4) Increased coordination and planning between the Department of Homeland Security and Federal land management agencies can help avoid and mitigate damage to Federal lands and resources along the United States-Mexico border while improving border security.

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are to provide a means whereby the Federal lands and resources along the United States-Mexico border are provided the highest protection possible from the effects of unauthorized immigration, human and drug smuggling, and border enforcement activities, while ensuring that all operations necessary to achieve border security are undertaken.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

(a) Protected Land- The term `protected land' means land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned.

(b) Secretary- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Homeland Security.

(c) Secretary Concerned- The term `Secretary concerned' means--

(1) with respect to land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Agriculture; and

(2) with respect to land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF BORDERLAND ENVIRONMENT.

(a) Border Protection Strategy-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than May 30, 2008, the Secretary, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly develop a border protection strategy that supports the border security needs of the United States in the manner that best protects--

(A) units of the National Park System;

(B) National Forest System land;

(C) land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management;

(D) land under the jurisdiction of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and

(E) other relevant land under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture.

(2) TRIBAL LANDS- The Secretary, in consultation with Tribal officials, shall jointly develop a border protection strategy for tribal lands along the United States-Mexico border.

(b) Required Training- The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary concerned, shall provide--

(1) Federal land resource training for Customs and Border Protection agents assigned to patrol protected land; and

(2) cultural resource training for Customs and Border Protection agents assigned to patrol tribal lands.

(c) Coordination- In providing training for Customs and Border Protection agents under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary concerned to ensure that the training is appropriate to the mission of the relevant agency of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture to minimize the adverse impact on natural and cultural resources from border enforcement activities.

(d) Inventory of Costs and Activities- The Secretary concerned shall develop and submit to the Secretary an inventory of costs incurred by the Secretary concerned relating to illegal border activity and border enforcement activities, including the cost of--

(1) infrastructure;

(2) equipment;

(3) training;

(4) recurring maintenance;

(5) construction of facilities;

(6) restoration of natural and cultural resources;

(7) recapitalization of facilities; and

(8) operations.

(e) Recommendations- The Secretary shall--

(1) develop joint recommendations with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture for an appropriate cost recovery mechanism relating to items identified in subsection (d); and

(2) not later than May 30, 2008, submit to the appropriate congressional committees (as defined in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101)), including the Subcommittee on National Parks of the Senate and the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands of the House of Representatives, the recommendations developed under paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. BORDER BARRIER CONSTRUCTION.

(a) Fencing and Other Barriers on Public Lands- Section 102(b)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208; 8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended--

(1) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking `the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors--' and inserting `the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, or the heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, and State, local, and tribal officials, shall provide for fencing, vehicle barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, sensors, or other surveillance and barrier tools as necessary--';

(2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking `2007' and inserting `2008'; and

(3) by adding after subparagraph (C) the following new subparagraph:

`(D) MANNER OF CONSTRUCTION- In carrying out the requirements of subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, where practicable, prioritize the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, remote cameras, sensors, vehicle barriers, or other low impact border enforcement techniques on lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, or other Federal agencies.'.

(b) Applicability of Existing Laws- Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note), is repealed.

(c) Federal Lands- In fulfilling the requirements of section 102(b)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 as amended by subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall not commence any construction of fencing on any lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior prior to the submission to Congress by the Secretary of Homeland Security of the Border Protection Strategy mandated by section 4(a) of this Act.

SEC. 6. BORDERLANDS CONSERVATION FUND.

(a) In General- The Secretary shall--

(1) establish a program to provide financial assistance for projects consistent with the goal of improved management of ecologically sensitive or listed species, improved wildlife habitat to aid in the management of these species, and mitigating the impacts of border enforcement, human and drug smuggling, and unauthorized immigration on these species, pending approval of project applications; and

(2) subject to the availability of funds, award grants to eligible organizations to promote conservation of these species.

(b) Definitions-

(1) In this section:

(A) CONSERVATION- The term `conservation' means the use of methods and procedures necessary to prevent the diminution of, and to sustain viable populations of species that occur in the United States--Mexico borderlands. This includes all activities associated with the protection and management of wildlife species of the borderland region and with the protection of the habitat upon which they depend.

(B) FUND- The term `fund' means the Borderland Conservation Fund established in this section.

(C) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior.

(c) Project Proposals-

(1) SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS- A proposal for a project for the conservation of species identified in this Act may be submitted to the Secretary by--

(A) any local wildlife management authority in the United States or Mexico; and

(B) any person or non-governmental organization with the demonstrated ability and experience working with the taxa for which a proposal is submitted.

(2) ELEMENTS- A proposal submitted under paragraph (1) shall contain the following elements:

(A) A concise statement of the proposed action that includes a statement of need and benefits to the species to be achieved by the project proposal.

(B) An outline of methods to be used to accomplish the tasks outlined in the project proposal.

(C) The name of the project applicant and their affiliation.

(D) An estimate of the cost and time frame for project completion.

(E) Identification of all mechanisms to ensure local involvement in the project.

(F) Assurances that the project has received endorsement of the responsible wildlife management authority and other appropriate authorities.

(G) Information on the source and amount of any matching funds to be used for completion of the project.

(d) Project Review and Approval- The Secretary shall--

(1) establish a protocol for soliciting and reviewing proposals for Borderland Conservation Fund monies; and

(2) within the framework established by the Secretary, call for proposals in all years when funds are available in the Borderland Conservation Fund.

(e) Criteria for Approval- To be eligible for approval, a project must enhance conservation of wildlife species and their habitat by assisting efforts to--

(1) develop sound scientific information on--

(A) population trends for approved wildlife species;

(B) identification of threats to wildlife populations or the habitat upon which they depend, particularly due to border security measures, construction, enforcement, or illegal activity; and

(C) identification of methods to improve habitat conditions or to improve the status of the wildlife species, particularly those impacted by border security measures, construction, enforcement, or illegal activity;

(2) implement species or habitat conservation plans;

(3) promote cooperation among local citizens, wildlife and habitat management agencies, and nongovernmental organizations in programs that would be approved under this Act; and

(4) build local capacity to implement scientifically sound wildlife or habitat management programs.

(f) Matching Funds- In determining whether to approve project proposals under this section, the Secretary shall give preference to projects with matching non-Federal funds.

(g) Project Reporting-

(1) RECIPIENT REPORTS- In any year for which a recipient is awarded funds under this Act, the recipient shall submit a report to the Secretary that outlines significant accomplishments of the project, significant deviations from the approved project proposal, and financial expenditures related to the project for that year.

(2) SECRETARIAL REPORTS- The Secretary shall submit an annual report to Congress outlining accomplishments under this Act related to the improved conservation of borderland resources.

(h) Establishment- There is established in the Multinational Species Conservation Fund a separate account to be known as the `Borderland Conservation Fund' consisting of--

(1) amounts transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit into the Borderland Conservation Fund;

(2) amounts appropriated to the fund; and

(3) any interest earned on investments from funds held within the fund.

(i) Expenditures From the Fund-

(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), upon request by the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the Borderland Conservation Fund to the Secretary, without further appropriation, such amounts as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out projects under this Act.

(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES- Of the amounts in the account available for each fiscal year, the Secretary may expend not more than 3 percent or $80,000, whichever is greater, of the fund balance annually to pay the administrative expenses necessary to carry out this Act.

(3) FOCUS- Not less than 30 percent of the amounts made available to the fund for each fiscal year shall be expended for projects carried out in Mexico.

(j) Investments of Amounts-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest amounts in the fund that are not, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, required to meet withdrawals. Investments may be made only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States.

(2) ACQUISITIONS OF OBLIGATIONS- For the purpose of investments under paragraph (1), obligations may be acquired--

(A) on original issue at the issue price; or

(B) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market price.

(3) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS- Any obligation acquired by the fund may be sold by the Secretary of the Treasury at the market price.

(4) CREDITS TO FUND- The interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held in the fund shall be credited to and form a part of the fund.

(k) Transfers of Amounts-

(1) IN GENERAL- The amounts required to be transferred to the fund under this section shall be transferred at least monthly from the general fund of the Treasury to the fund on the basis of estimates made by the Secretary of the Treasury.

(2) ADJUSTMENTS- Proper adjustment shall be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than the amounts required to be transferred.

(l) Acceptance and Use of Donations- The Secretary may accept and use donations to provide assistance under section 4. Amounts received by the Secretary in the form of donations shall be transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit into the Fund.

(m) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to the fund through the Secretary $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013.

END