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Title 16 — Conservation

Chapter 49 — Fish and Wildlife Conservation

§ 2901. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose

Statutory text

(a)

Findings

The Congress finds and declares the following:

(1)

Fish and wildlife are of ecological, educational, esthetic, cultural, recreational, economic, and scientific value to the Nation.

(2)

The improved conservation and management of fish and wildlife, particularly nongame fish and wildlife, will assist in restoring and maintaining fish and wildlife and in assuring a productive and more esthetically pleasing environment for all citizens.

(3)

Many citizens, particularly those residing in urban areas, have insufficient opportunity to participate in recreational and other programs designed to foster human interaction with fish and wildlife and thereby are unable to have a greater appreciation and awareness of the environment.

(4)

Historically, fish and wildlife conservation programs have been focused on the more recreationally and commercially important species within any particular ecosystem. As a consequence such programs have been largely financed by hunting and fishing license rev­enues or excise taxes on certain hunting and fishing equipment. These traditional financing mechanisms are neither adequate nor fully appropriate to meet the conservation needs of nongame fish and wildlife.

(5)

Each State should be encouraged to develop, revise, and implement, in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and local and regional agencies, a plan for the conservation of fish and wildlife, particularly those species which are indigenous to the State.

(b)

Purpose

It is the purpose of this chapter—

(1)

to provide financial and technical assistance to the States for the development, revision, and implementation of conservation plans and programs for nongame fish and wildlife; and

(2)

to encourage all Federal departments and agencies to utilize their statutory and administrative authority, to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with each agency’s statutory responsibilities, to conserve and to promote conservation of nongame fish and wildlife and their habitats, in furtherance of the provisions of this chapter.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980

    Pub. L. 96–366 § 2 · 94 Stat. 1322

    Enacted · 16 U.S.C. § 2901

    (Pub. L. 96–366, § 2, Sept. 29, 1980, 94 Stat. 1322.)

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    (Pub. L. 96–366, § 2, Sept. 29, 1980, 94 Stat. 1322.)

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) Findings.— The Congress finds and declares the following: (1) Fish and wildlife are of ecological, educational, esthetic, cultural, recreational, economic, and scientific value to the Nation. (2) The improved conservation and management of fish and wildlife, particularly nongame fish and wildlife, will assist in restoring and maintaining fish and wildlife and in assuring a productive and more esthetically pleasing environment for all citizens. (3) Many citizens, particularly those residing in urban areas, have insufficient opportunity to participate in recreational and other programs designed to foster human interaction with fish and wildlife and thereby are unable to have a greater appreciation and awareness of the environment. (4) Historically, fish and wildlife conservation programs have been focused on the more recreationally and commercially important species within any particular ecosystem. As a consequence such programs have been largely financed by hunting and fishing license revenues or excise taxes on certain hunting and fishing equipment. These traditional financing mechanisms are neither adequate nor fully appropriate to meet the conservation needs of nongame fish and wildlife. (5) Each State should be encouraged to develop, revise, and implement, in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and local and regional agencies, a plan for the conservation of fish and wildlife, particularly those species which are indigenous to the State. (b) Purpose.— It is the purpose of this Act— (1) to provide financial and technical assistance to the States for the development, revision, and implementation of conservation plans and programs for nongame fish and wildlife; and (2) to encourage all Federal departments and agencies to utilize their statutory and administrative authority, to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with each agency’s statutory responsibilities, to conserve and to promote conservation of nongame fish and wildlife and their habitats, in furtherance of the provisions of this Act.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 96–366, § 1, , 94 Stat. 1322, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980’.”

Credits

(Pub. L. 96–366, § 2, , 94 Stat. 1322.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc16.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-07-16

USLM identifier /us/usc/t16/s2901