SOUTH DAKOTA BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY TRUST.

SEC. 3201. SOUTH DAKOTA BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY TRUST. (a) The Secretary, subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, shall make an annual Federal contribution to a South Dakota Biological Diversity Trust established in accordance with subsection (b) of this section and operated in accordance with subsection (c) of this section. Contributions from the State of South Dakota may be paid to the Trust in such amounts and in such manner as may be agreed upon by the Governor and the Secretary. The total Federal contribution pursuant to this section, including subsection (d), shall not exceed $12,000,000. (b) A South Dakota Biological Diversity Trust shall be eligible to receive Federal contributions pursuant to subsection (a) of this section if it complies with each of the following requirements: (1) The Trust is established by non-Federal interests as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of South Dakota with its principal office in South Dakota. (2) The Trust is under the direction of a Board of Trustees which has the power to manage all affairs of the corporation, including administration, data collection, and implementation of the purposes of the Trust. (3) The Board is comprised of five persons appointed as follows, each for a term of five years: (A) 1 person appointed by the Governor of South Dakota; (B) 1 person appointed by each United States Senator from South Dakota; (C) 1 person appointed by the United States Representative from South Dakota; and (D) 1 person appointed by the South Dakota Academy of Science. (4) Vacancies on the Board are filled in the manner in which the original appointments were made. Any member of the Board is eligible for reappointment for successive terms. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which his or her predecessor was appointed is appointed only for the remainder of such term. A member may serve after the expiration of his or her term until his or her successor has taken office. Members of the Board shall serve without compensation. (5) The corporate purposes of the Trust are to select and provide funding for projects that protect or restore the best examples of South Dakota’s biological diversity, its rare species, exemplary examples of plant and animal communities and large-scale natural ecosystems. (c) A South Dakota Biological Diversity Trust established by non-Federal interests as provided in subsection (b) shall be deemed to be operating in accordance with this subsection if, in the opinion of the Secretary, each of the following requirements are met: (1) the Trust is operated to select and provide funding for projects that protect or restore the best examples of South Dakota’s biological diversity, its rare species, extraordinary examples of plant and animal communities and large-scale 106 STAT. 4701natural ecosystems in accordance with its corporate purpose; and (2) the Trust is managed in a fiscally responsible fashion by investing in private and public financial vehicles with the goal of producing income and preserving principal. The principal will be inviolate, but income will be used to accomplish the goals of the trust. (3) Proceeds from the Trust are used for the following purposes: (A) $10,000 per year or 5 percent of the total funds expended by the Trust (whichever is larger) will be provided to the South Dakota Natural Heritage Program (currently as part of the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks Departments), in order to do the following: (i) maintain and update the South Dakota Biodiversity Priority Site List; (ii) conduct inventory to discover and survey new sites for the Priority Site List; and (iii) manage data to maintain the Natural Heritage Databases needed to produce and document the Priority Site List. (B) Up to 5 percent of the costs of each project are used for preserve design or site planning to ensure that sites are selected for funding which are well-designed to maintain the long-term viability of the significant species and communities found at the site. (C) Proceeds from the Trust may be used to complete land protection projects designed to protect biological diversity. (D) Projects may include acquisition of land, water rights or other partial interests from willing sellers only, or arranging management agreements, registry and other techniques to protect significant sites. (E) Ownership of land acquired with Trust proceeds will be held by the public agency or private non-profit organization which proposed and completed the project, or another conservation owner with the approval of the Board. The land will be managed and used for the protection of biological diversity. If the property is used or man-aged otherwise, title will revert to the Trust for disposition. (F) Projects eligible for funding must be included on the South Dakota Biodiversity Priority List and located within the borders of South Dakota. (G) At the discretion of the Board, Trust proceeds may be used for direct project costs including direct expenses incurred during project completion. Land project funding may also include the creation of a stewardship endowment subject to the following terms: (i) Up to 25 percent of the total fair market value of the project may be placed in a separate endowment. (ii) The proceeds from the endowment will be used for the ongoing management costs of maintaining the biological integrity and viability of the significant biological features of the site. (iii) Endowment funds may not be used for activities which primarily promote recreational or economic use of the site. 106 STAT. 4702 (iv) The endowment for each site will be held in a separate account from the body of the Trust and other endowments. The endowments will be managed by the Trust Board but the owner or manager of the site may draw upon the proceeds of the stewardship endowment to fund management activities with approval of the Board. Additional management funds may be secured from other public and private sources. (H) Should the biological significance of a site be destroyed or greatly reduced, the land may be disposed of but the proceeds and any stewardship endowment will revert to the Trust for use in other projects. (I) Proceeds from the Trust may be used for management of public or private lands, including but not restricted to lands purchased with Trust funds, except that only those management projects that result in the maintenance or restoration of statewide biological diversity are eligible for consideration. (d) For each fiscal year after 1992, 2 percent of the Federal contributions for the same fiscal year, determined pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, shall be used by the Secretary in order to do the following: (1) restore damaged natural ecosystems on public lands and waterways affected by the Reclamation program outside South Dakota; (2) acquire from willing sellers only other lands and properties or appropriate interests therein outside South Dakota with restorable damaged natural ecosystems and restore such ecosystems; (3) provide jobs and suitable economic development in a manner that carries out the other purposes of this subsection; (4) provide expanded recreational opportunities; and (5) support and encourage research, training and education in methods and technologies of ecosystem restoration. (e) In implementing subsection (d), the Secretary shall give priority to restoration and acquisition of lands and properties (or appropriate interests therein) where repair of compositional, structural and functional values will do the following: (1) reconstitute natural biological diversity that has been diminished; (2) assist the recovery of species populations, communities and ecosystems that are unable to survive onsite without intervention; (3) allow reintroduction and reoccupation by native flora and fauna; (4) control or eliminate exotic flora and fauna which are damaging natural ecosystems; (5) restore natural habitat for the recruitment and survival of fish, waterfowl and other wildlife; (6) provide additional conservation values to state and local government lands; (7) add to structural and compositional values of existing preserves or enhance the viability, defensibility and manage-ability of preserves; and (8) restore natural hydrological effects including sediment and erosion control, drainage, percolation and other water quality improvement capacity. 106 STAT. 4703 (f) The Secretary shall annually report on activities under this section to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. (g) There are authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $12,000,000 for the purposes of this title.