,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #ebcd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august #d1    
#bjbf,mr4 ,schiff 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,daines1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,mr4 ,padilla1  
and ,mr4 ,heinrich7 introduced the      
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on          
,environment and ,public ,works  ,a     
,,bill  ,to amend the ,act of ,march #b1
 #aica1 to establish a ,human-,wildlife 
,conflict ,reduction ,program1 and for  
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the                
,human-,wildlife ,conflict ,reduction   
,act of #bjbf4  #b4 ,human-,wildlife    
,conflict ,reduction ,program ,the ,act 
of ,march #b1 #aica 7#df ,stat4 #adfh1  
chapter #cgj71 is amended by adding at  
the end the following3  #d4             
,human-,wildlife ,conflict ,reduction   
,program  7a7 ,establishment  7#a7 ,in  
general ,the ,secretary of ,agriculture 
7referred to in this section as the     
,secretary7 shall establish a program1  

to be known as the ,human-,wildlife     
,conflict ,reduction ,program 7referred 
to in this section as the ,program71 to 
develop1 implement1 and coordinate      
nonlethal strategies and projects to    
reduce conflicts between humans and     
wildlife and between livestock and      
wildlife1 including depredation of      
livestock4  7#b7 ,priorities ,in        
carrying out the ,program1 the          
,secretary shall prioritize-- 7,a7      
deploying resources in ,states in which 
the ,nonlethal ,initiative of the       
,animal and ,plant ,health ,inspection  
,service operates as of the date of     
enactment of this section2  7,b7        
reducing livestock depredation and      
conflict with predator species2 and     
7,c7 reducing harms caused by wildlife  
to human infrastructure or agriculture4 
7#c7 ,nonlethal ,initiative ,the        
operations of the ,nonlethal ,initiative
 of the ,animal and ,plant ,health      
,inspection ,service shall be subsumed  
into the ,program4  7b7 ,research and   

development ,in carrying out the        
activities of the ,program1 the         
,secretary shall pursue research and    
development-- 7#a7 to analyze and       
evaluate the effectiveness of various   
nonlethal strategies for reducing       
human-wildlife conflict1 livestock      
depredations1 and bolstering livestock  
safety2 and  7#b7 to develop new and    
effective nonlethal strategies for      
reducing human-wildlife conflict and    
livestock depredations and bolstering   
livestock safety4  7c7 ,assistance      
,under the ,program1 the ,secretary may 
implement projects to provide assistance
 to landowners1 agricultural producers1 
,indian ,tribes1 and nonprofit          
organizations to deploy nonlethal       
strategies-- 7#a7 to reduce             
human-wildlife conflict2 and  7#b7 to   
reduce predator depredation on          
livestock4  7d7 ,best practices2        
training2 demonstration projects  7#a7  
,in general ,under the ,program1 the    
,secretary-- 7,a7 shall share best      

practices with agricultural producers1  
landowners1 ,indian ,tribes1 nonprofit  
organizations1 and relevant ,federal or 
,state agency personnel2  7,b7 may      
provide training in nonlethal strategies
 to those entities2  7,c7 may support   
demonstration projects and pilot        
projects to evaluate the effectiveness  
of nonlethal strategies under local     
conditions2 and  7,d7 may incorporate   
monitoring and adaptive management to   
improve outcomes of nonlethal strategies
 over time4  7#b7 ,resource ,to the     
extent practicable1 the ,secretary shall
 carry out paragraph 7#a7 with          
consideration of ,state-level plans     
developed under subsection 7e74  7e7    
,state-,level plans ,the ,program shall 
assist ,states1 on request1 to develop  
or update a ,state-level plan to guide  
the implementation of nonlethal         
strategies4  7f7 ,annual report ,the    
,secretary shall submit to ,congress an 
annual report describing-- 7#a7 the use 
of funds under the ,program2  7#b7      

species impacted by the ,program2 and   
7#c7 the nonlethal strategies used under
 the ,program and the effectiveness of  
each of those strategies4  7g7          
,authorization of appropriations ,there 
is authorized to be appropriated to the 
,secretary to carry out this section    
#bj1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years    
#bjbg through #bjca1 of which not more  
than #aj percent per fiscal year shall  
be used for research activities under   
the ,program4  4