The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, more commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, was enacted on September 2, 1937. This Act has been amended several times. The Act provides federal aid to states for the management and restoration of wildlife.
The Act empowers the Secretary of the Interior to provide federal aid to state fish and game departments for wildlife restoration projects. A state should assent to the provisions of the Act and have laws governing the conservation of wildlife in order to be eligible for federal funds.
Further, a state should have a law prohibiting the diversion of license fees paid by hunters for any purpose other than the administration of the state’s fish and game department. All wildlife-restoration projects aided under the Act must be agreed upon by the Secretary and the fish and game department of the state where the project is located[i].
Federal aid to a wildlife restoration fund is established pursuant to the Act through the U.S. Treasury. The fund includes all revenues accruing each fiscal year from taxes imposed on certain types of sporting goods. The Act authorizes funds to be appropriated and made available until expended.
Any amount apportioned to a state that is unspent at the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the funds were apportioned shall be used by the Secretary to carry out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Eight percent of the revenues to the fund shall be used by the Secretary for administering this Act and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.
The Secretary should certify to the Secretary of the Treasury and to each state fish and game department the amount of revenues apportioned to each state and the amount deducted for administrative expenses for each fiscal year. A state intending to avail itself of funds apportioned under the Act must notify the Secretary of the Interior to this effect within 60 days after receiving the notice of certification. The state’s failure to do so shall enable the Secretary to use the funds to carry out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest the portion of the fund not required for current year in interest-bearing obligations. For receiving funds under the Act, a state has to submit to the Secretary either a comprehensive fish and wildlife resource management plan or a detailed description of proposed wildlife-restoration projects. The plans should be for at least five years and should also be based on long-range projections regarding the desires and needs of the public.
Once the plan is approved by the Secretary of a state’s plan or wildlife-restoration project, the state shall use the federal funds apportioned to it under the Act to finance up to 75 percent of the costs of the plan or project. It is the duty of the states to maintain the wildlife-restoration projects established under the Act.
The Act authorizes the Secretary to provide aid to Puerto Rico, Guam, America Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands for wildlife-restoration projects. The Secretary shall not require any of the cooperating agencies to pay more than 25 percent of the cost of an approved project.
[i] 16 USCS § 669.
