FWS 16USC 668ee

Page 1167

TITLE 16—CONSERVATION

ditional uses of refuges cannot be sustained. The Refuge System will continue to conserve and enhance the
quality and diversity of fish and wildlife habitat within
refuges.
(c) Partnerships. America’s sportsmen and women
were the first partners who insisted on protecting valuable wildlife habitat within wildlife refuges. Conservation partnerships with other Federal agencies, State
agencies, Tribes, organizations, industry, and the general public can make significant contributions to the
growth and management of the Refuge System.
(d) Public Involvement. The public should be given a
full and open opportunity to participate in decisions regarding acquisition and management of our National
Wildlife Refuges.
SEC. 3. Directives to the Secretary of the Interior. To the
extent consistent with existing laws and interagency
agreements, the Secretary of the Interior, in carrying
out his trustee and stewardship responsibilities for the
Refuge System, is directed to:
(a) recognize compatible wildlife-dependent recreational activities involving hunting, fishing, wildlife
observation and photography, and environmental education and interpretation as priority general public
uses of the Refuge System through which the American
public can develop an appreciation for fish and wildlife;
(b) provide expanded opportunities for these priority
public uses within the Refuge System when they are
compatible and consistent with sound principles of fish
and wildlife management, and are otherwise in the public interest;
(c) ensure that such priority public uses receive enhanced attention in planning and management within
the Refuge System;
(d) provide increased opportunities for families to experience wildlife-dependent recreation, particularly opportunities for parents and their children to safely engage in traditional outdoor activities, such as fishing
and hunting;
(e) ensure that the biological integrity and environmental health of the Refuge System is maintained for
the benefit of present and future generations of Americans;
(f) continue, consistent with existing laws and interagency agreements, authorized or permitted uses of
units of the Refuge System by other Federal agencies,
including those necessary to facilitate military preparedness;
(g) plan and direct the continued growth of the Refuge System in a manner that is best designed to accomplish the mission of the Refuge System, to contribute
to the conservation of the ecosystems of the United
States, and to increase support for the Refuge System
and participation from conservation partners and the
public;
(h) ensure timely and effective cooperation and collaboration with Federal agencies and State fish and
wildlife agencies during the course of acquiring and
managing National Wildlife Refuges;
(i) ensure appropriate public involvement opportunities will be provided in conjunction with refuge planning and management activities; and
(j) identify, prior to acquisition, existing compatible
wildlife-dependent uses of new refuge lands that shall
be permitted to continue on an interim basis pending
completion of comprehensive planning.
SEC. 4. Judicial Review. This order does not create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable
at law or equity by a party against the United States,
its agencies, its officers, or any person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON.

§ 668ee. Definitions
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘compatible use’’ means a wildlife-dependent recreational use or any other
use of a refuge that, in the sound professional
judgment of the Director, will not materially

§ 668ee

interfere with or detract from the fulfillment
of the mission of the System or the purposes
of the refuge.
(2) The terms ‘‘wildlife-dependent recreation’’ and ‘‘wildlife-dependent recreational
use’’ mean a use of a refuge involving hunting,
fishing, wildlife observation and photography,
or environmental education and interpretation.
(3) The term ‘‘sound professional judgment’’
means a finding, determination, or decision
that is consistent with principles of sound fish
and wildlife management and administration,
available science and resources, and adherence
to the requirements of this Act and other applicable laws.
(4) The terms ‘‘conserving’’, ‘‘conservation’’,
‘‘manage’’, ‘‘managing’’, and ‘‘management’’,
mean to sustain and, where appropriate, restore and enhance, healthy populations of fish,
wildlife, and plants utilizing, in accordance
with applicable Federal and State laws, methods and procedures associated with modern
scientific resource programs. Such methods
and procedures include, consistent with the
provisions of this Act, protection, research,
census, law enforcement, habitat management, propagation, live trapping and transplantation, and regulated taking.
(5) The term ‘‘Coordination Area’’ means a
wildlife management area that is made available to a State—
(A) by cooperative agreement between the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service and
a State agency having control over wildlife
resources pursuant to section 664 of this
title; or
(B) by long-term leases or agreements pursuant to title III of the Bankhead-Jones
Farm Tenant Act (50 Stat. 525; 7 U.S.C. 1010
et seq.).
(6) The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director
of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
or a designee of that Director.
(7) The terms ‘‘fish’’, ‘‘wildlife’’, and ‘‘fish
and wildlife’’ mean any wild member of the
animal kingdom whether alive or dead, and regardless of whether the member was bred,
hatched, or born in captivity, including a part,
product, egg, or offspring of the member.
(8) The term ‘‘person’’ means any individual,
partnership, corporation, or association.
(9) The term ‘‘plant’’ means any member of
the plant kingdom in a wild, unconfined state,
including any plant community, seed, root, or
other part of a plant.
(10) The terms ‘‘purposes of the refuge’’ and
‘‘purposes of each refuge’’ mean the purposes
specified in or derived from the law, proclamation, executive order, agreement, public land
order, donation document, or administrative
memorandum establishing, authorizing, or expanding a refuge, refuge unit, or refuge
subunit.
(11) The term ‘‘refuge’’ means a designated
area of land, water, or an interest in land or
water within the System, but does not include
Coordination Areas.
(12) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior.
(13) The terms ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘United States’’
mean the several States of the United States,

§§ 668ff to 668jj

TITLE 16—CONSERVATION

Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the territories and possessions of the United States.
(14) The term ‘‘System’’ means the National
Wildlife Refuge System designated under section 668dd(a)(1) of this title.
(15) The terms ‘‘take’’, ‘‘taking’’, and
‘‘taken’’ mean to pursue, hunt, shoot, capture,
collect, or kill, or to attempt to pursue, hunt,
shoot, capture, collect, or kill.
(Pub. L. 89–669, § 5, Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 929; Pub.
L. 105–57, § 3(a), Oct. 9, 1997, 111 Stat. 1253.)

Sec.

669c.
669d.
669e.
669f.
669g.
669g–1.

Editorial Notes
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This Act, referred to in text, means Pub. L. 89–669,
Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 927, as amended, which enacted
sections 668aa to 668ee, amended sections 460k, 696, 696b,
715c, 715i to 715k, 718d, and repealed sections 715d–1,
715d–2, 715l, 715m of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, referred to in
par. (5)(B), is act July 22, 1937, ch. 517, 50 Stat. 522, as
amended. Title III of the Act is classified generally to
subchapter III (§ 1010 et seq.) of chapter 33 of Title 7,
Agriculture. For complete classification of this Act to
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section
1000 of Title 7 and Tables.
AMENDMENTS
1997—Pub. L. 105–57 inserted section catchline and
amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read
as follows:
‘‘(a) The term ‘person’ as used in this Act means any
individual, partnership, corporation, or association.
‘‘(b) The terms ‘take’ or ‘taking’ or ‘taken’ as used in
this Act mean to pursue, hunt, shoot, capture, collect,
kill, or attempt to pursue, hunt, shoot, capture, collect, or kill.
‘‘(c) The terms ‘State’ and the ‘United States’ as used
in this Act mean the several States of the United
States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American
Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.’’

§§ 668ff to 668jj. Omitted
Sections, Pub. L. 92–330, June 30, 1972, 86 Stat. 399,
which established San Francisco Bay National Wildlife
Refuge to be administered by Secretary of the Interior
in accordance with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, have been omitted because of
the limited scope of the subject matter. The San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge [now Don Edwards
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge] has been
set out in the table of National Wildlife Refuges under
section 668dd of this title.

§§ 668kk to 668ss. Omitted
Sections, Pub. L. 94–466, Oct. 8, 1976, 90 Stat. 1992,
which established Minnesota Valley National Wildlife
Refuge to be administered by Secretary of the Interior
in accordance with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, have been omitted because of
the limited scope of the subject matter. The Minnesota
National Wildlife Refuge has been set out in the table
of National Wildlife Refuges under section 668dd of this
title.

CHAPTER 5B—WILDLIFE RESTORATION
Sec.

669.
669a.
669b.
669b–1.

Cooperation of Secretary of the Interior with
States; conditions.
Definitions.
Authorization of appropriations.
Authorization of appropriation of accumulated unappropriated receipts.

Page 1168

669h.
669h–1.
669h–2.
669i.
669j.
669k.
669l.

Allocation and apportionment of available
amounts.
Apportionment; certification to States and
Secretary of the Treasury; acceptance by
States; disposition of funds not accepted.
Submission and approval of plans and
projects.
Payment of funds to States; laws governing
construction and labor.
Maintenance of projects; expenditures for
management of wildlife areas and resources.
Payment of funds to and cooperation with
Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Virgin Islands.
Requirements and restrictions concerning use
of amounts for expenses for administration.
Firearm and bow hunter education and safety
program grants.
Multistate conservation grant program.
Rules and regulations.
Repealed.
Reports and certifications.
Value of land.

§ 669. Cooperation of Secretary of the Interior
with States; conditions
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to
cooperate with the States, through their respective State fish and game departments, in wildlife-restoration projects as hereinafter in this
chapter set forth; but no money apportioned
under this chapter to any State shall be expended therein until its legislature, or other
State agency authorized by the State constitution to make laws governing the conservation of
wildlife, shall have assented to the provision of
this chapter and shall have passed laws for the
conservation of wildlife which shall include a
prohibition against the diversion of license fees
paid by hunters for any other purpose than the
administration of said State fish and game department, except that, until the final adjournment of the first regular session of the legislature held after September 2, 1937, the assent of
the Governor of the State shall be sufficient.
The Secretary of the Interior and the State fish
and game department of each State accepting
the benefits of this chapter, shall agree upon the
wildlife-restoration projects to be aided in such
State under the terms of this chapter and all
projects shall conform to the standards fixed by
the Secretary of the Interior. One of the purposes of this chapter is to provide financial and
technical assistance to the States for the promotion of hunting and recreational shooting.
(Sept. 2, 1937, ch. 899, § 1, 50 Stat. 917; 1939 Reorg.
Plan No. II, § 4(f), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2731, 53
Stat. 1433; Pub. L. 116–94, div. P, title V, § 501(b),
Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3191.)
Editorial Notes
AMENDMENTS
2019—Pub. L. 116–94 inserted at end ‘‘One of the purposes of this chapter is to provide financial and technical assistance to the States for the promotion of
hunting and recreational shooting.’’
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
SHORT TITLE OF 2019 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 116–94, div. P, title V, § 501(a), Dec. 20, 2019, 133
Stat. 3191, provided that: ‘‘This title [amending this