Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity Conservation Act of 2026
A BILL
To provide for the conservation of wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings; purposes
Findings— Congress finds that—
the native fish, wildlife, and plant species in the United States are part of a rich natural heritage and an important legacy to pass on to future generations;
the populations of many native fish, wildlife, and plant species in the United States are in decline;
scientists estimate that, in the United States, 34 percent of plants and 40 percent of animals are at risk of extinction and 41 percent of ecosystems are at risk of range-wide collapse;
threats to the survival and diversity of many native fish, wildlife, and plant species in the United States include the loss, degradation, fragmentation, and obstruction of natural habitats;
habitat fragmentation reduces native biodiversity and impairs key ecosystem functions;
climate change threatens native fish, wildlife, and plant species;
the document published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services titled “Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services” (2019) found that—
1,000,000 wildlife and plant species worldwide are now threatened with extinction; and
75 percent of the land-based environment, and approximately 66 percent of the marine environment, have been significantly altered by human actions;
the conservation of new and existing landscape and seascape corridors, through which native species can transition from one habitat to another, plays an important role in helping—
to conserve native biodiversity; and
to ensure resiliency against impacts from a range of biotic and abiotic stressors;
the conservation, restoration, and establishment of new ecological connections to facilitate the movement of species into more suitable habitats is a key climate change adaptation strategy;
the protection of new and existing corridors is often one of the first steps in restoration and recovery planning;
States have recognized the importance of habitat connectivity, including through—
at least 83 pieces of State legislation passed in 20 States since 2019, which have supported actions including identification of wildlife corridors and coordination of State agencies, Tribes, non-governmental organizations, and other partners to address habitat connectivity issues; and
a New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers’ Conference on the importance of connectivity for ecosystem adaptability and resilience, biodiversity, and human communities; and
Federal policies consistently recognize the importance of voluntary improvement projects by private landowners to habitat conservation and restoration for native species.
Purposes— The purposes of this Act are—
to support a natural diversity of native species, including species protected under Federal, State, and Tribal law, that have experienced or may experience diminished habitat connectivity due to habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, or obstruction;
to provide long-term habitat connectivity for native species migration, dispersal, adaptation to climate and other environmental change, and genetic exchange;
to restore wildlife movements that have been disrupted by habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, or obstruction;
to facilitate coordinated landscape and seascape-scale connectivity planning and management across jurisdictions; and
to support State, Tribal, local, voluntary private landowner, and Federal agency decisionmakers in the planning and development of National Wildlife Corridors.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Appropriate committees of Congress— The term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate;
the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate;
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives;
the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
Connectivity— The term connectivity means the degree to which the landscape or seascape facilitates wildlife movement to achieve—
dispersal and genetic exchange between populations;
range shifting, range expansion, or range restoration, such as in response to climate change;
seasonal movement or migration; or
succession, movement, or recolonization following—
a disturbance, such as fire, flood, drought, or infestation; or
population decline or previous extirpation.
Coordinating Committee— The term Coordinating Committee means the Coordinating Committee established under section 205(a).
Corridor— The term corridor means a feature of the landscape or seascape that provides habitat connectivity.
Federal land or water— The term Federal land or water means any land or water, or interest in land or water, owned by the United States.
Grant program— The term grant program means the wildlife movement grant program established by section 301(a).
Habitat— The term habitat means land, water, and substrate that supports or may support in the future the life cycle of a native species that facilitates, with respect to the native species, spawning, breeding, feeding, growth to maturity, or migration.
Indian land— The term Indian land means land of an Indian Tribe, or an Indian individual, that is—
held in trust by the United States; or
subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by the United States.
Indian Tribe— The term Indian Tribe has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
Land use management plan— The term land use management plan means a land use management plan developed pursuant to—
section 100502 of title 54, United States Code;
section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712);
section 4(e) of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(e));
section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604); or
section 202 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670h).
National Wildlife Corridor— The term National Wildlife Corridor means any Federal land or water designated as a National Wildlife Corridor pursuant to section 201(a).
National Wildlife Corridor System— The term National Wildlife Corridor System means the system of National Wildlife Corridors established by section 201(a).
Native species— The term native species means—
a fish, wildlife, aquatic organism, or plant species that is or was historically present in a particular ecosystem as a result of behavioral or evolutionary processes, including subspecies and plant varieties; and
a migratory bird species that is native to the United States or its territories (as that term is defined in section 2(b)(2)(A) of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703(b)(2)(A))).
Regional ocean partnership— The term regional ocean partnership means a regional organization of coastal or Great Lakes States, territories, or possessions voluntarily convened by Governors to address cross-jurisdictional ocean matters, or the functional equivalent of such a regional ocean organization designated by the Governor or Governors of a State or States.
Secretaries— The term Secretaries means—
the Secretary of Agriculture;
the Secretary of Commerce;
the Secretary of Defense;
the Secretary of the Interior; and
the Secretary of Transportation.
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Secretary concerned— The term “Secretary concerned” means each of the Secretaries with administrative jurisdiction over the Federal land or water at issue.
United States— The term United States, when used in a geographical sense, means—
a State;
the District of Columbia;
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
Guam;
American Samoa;
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
the Federated States of Micronesia;
the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
the Republic of Palau;
the United States Virgin Islands; and
the territorial sea (within the meaning of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)) and the exclusive economic zone (as that term is defined in section 3 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1802)) within the jurisdiction or sovereignty of the Federal Government.
Wildlife movement— The term wildlife movement means the passage of individual members or populations of native species across a landscape or seascape.