19–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPT. 112–524 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session Part 1 

AMENDING THE HERGER-FEINSTEIN QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP FOREST 

RECOVERY ACT TO EXTEND AND EXPAND THE SCOPE OF THE PILOT 

FOREST MANAGEMENT PROJECT REQUIRED BY THAT ACT 

JUNE 15, 2012.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 3685] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 3685) to amend the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library 

Group Forest Recovery Act to extend and expand the scope of the 

pilot forest management project required by that Act, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and 

recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. REAUTHORIZATION OF HERGER-FEINSTEIN QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP FOREST RECOVERY ACT. 

(a) EXTENSION.—Subsection (g) of the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group 

Forest Recovery Act (title IV of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 1999, as contained in section 101(e) of division A of Public Law 

105–277; 16 U.S.C. 2104 note) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(g) TERM OF PILOT PROJECT.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct the pilot project until the earlier of the following: 

‘‘(A) September 30, 2022. 

‘‘(B) The date on which the Secretary completes amendment or revision 

of the land and resource management plans for the National Forest System 

lands included in the pilot project area. 

‘‘(2) FOREST PLAN AMENDMENTS.—When the Regional Forester for Region 5 

initiates the process to amend or revise the land and resource management 

plans for the pilot project area, the process shall include preparation of at least 

one alternative that incorporates the pilot project and area designations under 

subsection (b), the resource management activities described in subsection (d), 

and other aspects of the Quincy Library Group Community Stability Proposal.’’. 


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(b) EXPANSION OF PILOT PROJECT AREA.—Subsection (b) of the Herger-Feinstein 

Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

‘‘(3) EXPANSION OF PILOT PROJECT AREA.—The Secretary may expand the pilot 

project area to include all National Forest System lands within California or 

Nevada that lie within the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Province, Lake Tahoe 

Basin Management Unit, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and Inyo National 

Forest. These lands may be managed using the same strategy, guidelines and 

resource management activities outlined in this section or developed to meet 

local forest and community needs and conditions.’’. 

(c) ROADLESS AREA PROTECTION.—Subsection (c)(4) of the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘However, those areas designated as ‘Deferred’ on the map, 

but located in Tehama County, south and west of Lassen Peak, are deemed to be 

designated as ‘Available for Group Selection’ and shall be managed accordingly 

under subsection (d).’’. 

(d) GROUP SELECTION REQUIREMENT.—Subparagraph (A) of subsection (d)(2) of 

the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act is amended to read 

as follows: 

‘‘(A) GROUP SELECTION.—After September 30, 2012, group selection on an 

average acreage of .57 percent of the pilot project area land shall occur each 

year of the pilot project.’’. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3685, as ordered reported, is to amend the 

Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act to extend and expand the scope of the pilot forest management project 

required by that Act. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act 

(HFQLG) passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 

429 to 1 on July 9, 1997, and was signed into law as part of the 

Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1999 on October 21, 1998. It authorized forest management activities on the Plumas and Lassen National Forests, as well 

as the Sierraville Ranger District of the Tahoe National Forest. 

The Act came about as a result of a locally-driven effort by community leaders, industry and local environmentalists (named the 

‘‘Quincy Library Group’’ because of their meetings in the Quincy, 

California, library) to address the declining forest health and rural 

economies in Northern California after the listing of the Northern 

Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act. 

Total annual management was limited to 70,000 acres (across 

the 1.5 million acre project area) as a five-year pilot project. Unfortunately, the U.S. Forest Service has been unable to undertake 

much of the required management activities due to appeals and 

litigation (over 150 lawsuits since 2000). However, monitoring of 

the pilot project area already shows that treated units have significantly reduced fire behavior and environmental impacts from fire 

compared to untreated areas, while producing merchantable forest 

material. In addition, the Final Environmental Impact Statement 

for the pilot project estimated that full implementation would have 

resulted in $20.8 million in Forest Reserve Revenues, 2,965 jobs, 

and a total economic multiplier worth $2.1 billion. For these reasons, the HFQLG has been extended twice: in 2003 and again in 

2008. The most recent reauthorization expires September 30, 2012. 

H.R. 3685 would extend the HFQLG authority through 2022 to 

allow for its full implementation. The legislation would also authorVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:33 Jun 16, 2012 Jkt 019006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR524P1.XXX HR524P1

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ize U.S. Forest Service land managers, at their discretion, to replicate HFLQG management activities throughout the Sierra-Cascade province and Western Nevada. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3685 was introduced on December 15, 2011, by Congressman Wally Herger (R–CA). The bill was referred primarily to the 

Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 

on Agriculture. Within the Committee on Natural Resources, the 

bill was referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests 

and Public Lands. On February 3, 2012, the Subcommittee held a 

hearing on the bill. On June 7, 2012, the Full Natural Resources 

Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on National 

Parks, Forests and Public Lands was discharged by unanimous 

consent. Congressman Rob Bishop (R–UT) offered amendment designated #1; the amendment was adopted by voice vote. Congressman John Garamendi (D–CA) offered amendment designated .AM1 

to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by voice vote. The bill, 

as amended, was then adopted and ordered favorably reported to 

the House of Representatives by a bipartisan roll call vote of 21– 

16, as follows: 


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COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 3685—A bill to amend the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library 

Group Forest Recovery Act to extend and expand the scope of 

the pilot forest management project required by that act 

Summary: H.R. 3685 would reauthorize the Herger-Feinstein 

Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act through 2022. That act 

established a pilot project to manage lands within the Plumas, 

Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in accordance with a forest 

management program developed by the Quincy Library Group. The 

bill would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to expand that 

pilot program to several other national forests. 

Based on information provided by the Forest Service CBO esti- mates that implementing the legislation would cost $60 million 

over the 2013–2017 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Implementing H.R. 3685 could affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending); however, any increase in 

receipts, which CBO estimates could total a few million dollars annually, would be contingent on future appropriations and not directly attributable to this bill. Enacting the bill would not—by 

itself—affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 

procedures do not apply. 

H.R. 3685 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 

and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 3685 is shown in the following table. The costs 

of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources 

and environment). 


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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013– 

2017 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 1

Estimated Authorization Level .................................................................. 14 14 14 14 14 70 

Estimated Outlays .................................................................................... 7 11 14 14 14 60 

1 Implementing H.R. 3685 could affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending); however, any increase in receipts, which CBO 

estimates could total a few million dollars annually, would be contingent on future appropriations and not directly attributable to this bill. 

Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 

3685 will be enacted by the end of 2012 and that the necessary 

amounts will be appropriated for each fiscal year. Estimated outlays are based on historical spending patterns for similar Forest 

Service activities. 

H.R. 3685 would reauthorize the pilot project established under 

the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act. 

That pilot project requires the Forest Service to implement specified forest management activities, including thinning the forests 

through individual tree selection (removing selected trees from 

dense forests) and conducting group selection (clearing areas within 

forests ranging from 0.5 to 2 acres) within the Plumas, Lassen, and 

Tahoe National Forests. Under the pilot project, the agency is required to meet specified acreage targets in carrying out those activities. Over the past five years, the Forest Service has spent 

about $25 million a year to carry out those activities at the specified levels. 

The bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture to continue 

the pilot project in the areas designated under the original HergerFeinstein legislation. Based on information provided by the Forest 

Service, CBO estimates that the costs of managing lands within 

the project area has exceeded the cost of managing lands outside 

that area by about $9 per acre. Thus, CBO estimates that continuing the project within the existing 1.5-million-acre project area 

would cost $60 million over the 2013–2017 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. 

The bill also would authorize but not require the Secretary to expand the pilot project area to include an additional 12.5 million 

acres of national forest land in California and Nevada. Under current law, the Forest Service has discretion to use the forest management methods required under the pilot project on lands outside 

of the designated project area. Because the acreage targets required under the pilot project would reduce the agency’s flexibility 

in managing the national forests, CBO expects that the Secretary 

would not expand the designated project area; however, CBO estimates that, if the Secretary elected to expand the project area, the 

costs of carrying out the activities required under the bill would 

total up to $126 million a year over the 2013–2017 period, depending on the number of acres added to the project area and assuming 

appropriation of the necessary amounts. 

CBO expects that carrying out the activities required under the 

pilot project could increase the volume of timber produced within 

the project area relative to that expected under current law. As a 

result, implementing H.R. 3685 could increase offsetting receipts (a 

credit against direct spending) if sufficient funds are appropriated 

to manage the pilot project. Because most of the proceeds from additional timber sales would be used to make mandatory payments 


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to states and for other purposes, CBO estimates that any net increase in receipts would be no more than a few million dollars a 

year. 

Pay-As-You-Go considerations: None. 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 3685 contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in 

UMRA and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 

governments. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Jeff LaFave; Impact on 

State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell; Impact on 

the Private Sector: Amy Petz. 

Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

Based on information provided by the Forest Service, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $60 million 

over the 2013–2017 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Implementing H.R. 3685 could affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending); however, any increase in 

receipts, which CBO estimates could total a few million dollars annually, would be contingent on future appropriations and not directly attributable to this bill. Enacting the bill would not—by 

itself—affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 

procedures do not apply. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill, as ordered reported, is to amend the Herger-Feinstein 

Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act to extend and expand 

the scope of the pilot forest management project required by that 

Act. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 


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HERGER-FEINSTEIN QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP FOREST 

RECOVERY ACT 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 401. PILOT PROJECT FOR PLUMAS, LASSEN, AND TAHOE NATIONAL FORESTS TO IMPLEMENT QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP PROPOSAL. 

(a) * * * 

(b) PILOT PROJECT REQUIRED.— 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(3) EXPANSION OF PILOT PROJECT AREA.—The Secretary may 

expand the pilot project area to include all National Forest System lands within California or Nevada that lie within the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Province, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and Inyo National Forest. These lands may be managed using the same 

strategy, guidelines and resource management activities outlined in this section or developed to meet local forest and community needs and conditions. 

(c) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN LANDS, RIPARIAN PROTECTION AND

COMPLIANCE.— 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(4) ROADLESS AREA PROTECTION.—The Regional Forester for 

Region 5 shall direct that any resource management activity 

required by subsection (d)(1) and (2), all road building, all timber harvesting activities, and any riparian management under 

subsection (d)(4) that utilizes road construction or timber harvesting shall not be conducted on Federal lands within the 

Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the 

Sierraville Ranger District of the Tahoe National Forest that 

are designated as either ‘‘Off Base’’ or ‘‘Deferred’’ on the map 

referred to in subsection (a). Such direction shall be effective 

during the term of the pilot project. However, those areas designated as ‘‘Deferred’’ on the map, but located in Tehama County, south and west of Lassen Peak, are deemed to be designated 

as ‘‘Available for Group Selection’’ and shall be managed accordingly under subsection (d). 

(d) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—During the term of the 

pilot project, the Secretary shall implement and carry out the following resource management activities on an acreage basis on the 

Federal lands included within the pilot project area designated 

under subsection (b)(2): 

(1) * * * 

(2) GROUP SELECTION AND INDIVIDUAL TREE SELECTION.—Utilization of group selection and individual tree selection unevenaged forest management prescriptions described in the Quincy 

Library Group-Community Stability Proposal to achieve a desired future condition of all-age, multistory, fire resilient forests as follows: 

ø(A) GROUP SELECTION.—Group selection on an average 

acreage of .57 percent of the pilot project area land each 

year of the pilot project.¿ 


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(A) GROUP SELECTION.—After September 30, 2012, group 

selection on an average acreage of .57 percent of the pilot 

project area land shall occur each year of the pilot project. 

* * * * * * * 

ø(g) TERM OF PILOT PROJECT.—The Secretary shall conduct the 

pilot project until September 30, 2012.¿ 

(g) TERM OF PILOT PROJECT.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct the pilot 

project until the earlier of the following: 

(A) September 30, 2022. 

(B) The date on which the Secretary completes amendment or revision of the land and resource management 

plans for the National Forest System lands included in the 

pilot project area. 

(2) FOREST PLAN AMENDMENTS.—When the Regional Forester 

for Region 5 initiates the process to amend or revise the land 

and resource management plans for the pilot project area, the 

process shall include preparation of at least one alternative that 

incorporates the pilot project and area designations under subsection (b), the resource management activities described in subsection (d), and other aspects of the Quincy Library Group Community Stability Proposal. 

* * * * * * * 


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DISSENTING VIEWS 

Congress first authorized the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library 

Group Forest Recovery Act in 1998. It was approved as a pilot 

project to determine if collaborative efforts would result in more efficient and effective forest management. Now, fifteen years later, 

the House is considering expanding and extending a program 

which has failed in the dual goals of building consensus and improving forest conditions. Meanwhile, there are other efforts in 

California and elsewhere, receiving a fraction of the funding, that 

are forging agreements that result in increased logging with common-sense environmental protections. 

H.R. 3685 also eviscerates important environmental protections 

in the legislation that were integral to reaching enactment in 1998. 

Specifically, the bill allows increased logging in roadless areas and 

sets logging mandates. The Forest Service testified in opposition to 

these highly controversial changes. 

During Committee consideration of the legislation, Congressman 

Garamendi offered an amendment to extend the existing pilot for 

another five years while allowing other successful collaborative efforts to be included in the framework. His efforts were rejected by 

the Majority. 

While communities across the country are finding ways to work 

collaboratively towards better forest management, the Majority 

continues to push old, dysfunctional models. a. 3685 does not reflect the great work happening through the Collaborative Forest 

Landscape Restoration Program and instead diverts money from 

these more successful efforts by continuing a failed experiment. 

EDWARD J. MARKEY. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA. 


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