Intergovernmental Cooperation

Intergovernmental Cooperation. (a) The Commonwealth hereby assents to the provisions of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. § 669 et seq.) and the Fish Restoration and Management Projects Act (16 U.S.C. § 777 et seq.). (b) The department is designated as the “state fish and game department” for purposes of the federal laws assented to in subsection (a) of this section and may avail the Commonwealth of the benefits of those laws. (c) The Governor, or the director with the approval of the Governor, may enter into cooperative agreements with any governmental, regional, or private entity to further the purposes of this chapter. Pursuant to such agreements the director is authorized to develop and implement plans, projects, and conservation programs relating to fish, game, nongame fish and wildlife, marine mammals, and threatened and endangered species. Source: PL 2-51, § 7; former (b) deleted by PL 14-14, § 2 and subsequent subsections (c) and (d) redesignated as (b) and (c), respectively. Commission Comment: With respect to the references to the “Director of Finance,” and the “director” of the Department of Natural Resources, see Executive Order 94-3 (effective August 23, 1994), reorganizing the executive branch, changing agency names and official titles, and effecting other changes, set forth in the Commission comment to 1 CMC § 2001. PL 14-14 was enacted on June 17, 2004 and contained a findings and purpose provision. PL 14-14 stated: Section 1. Statement of Purpose and Findings. The Legislature finds that the Department of Lands and Natural Resources has received over $2 million dollars annually for the past twenty-five years from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for projects that directly benefit the people of the Commonwealth. These projects include, but are not limited to, construction of the Smiling Cove Marina, construction of West Harbor Marina Project in Rota, construction of boat launching ramps, assembly and deployment of Fish Aggregation Devices (FADS), conducting marine surveys, and fish stock studies. The Legislature further finds that this constant source of federal funds will no longer be made available to the CNMI unless a technical amendment is made to the enabling legislation thereby assuring the federal government that any fish and hunting license fees raised by the DFW is not diverted to the General Fund but remains in the Fish and Game Conservation Revolving Fund. This Act makes the appropriate amendments to pertinent sections of the Fish, Game and Endangered Species Act, 2 CMC § 5101 et seq.