108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2696

AN ACT

To establish Institutes to demonstrate and promote

the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk of wildfires, and restore the healthof fire-adapted forest and woodland ecosystemsof the interior West.

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2696

AN ACT

To establish Institutes to demonstrate and promote the use

of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk

of wildfires, and restore the health of fire-adapted forest

and woodland ecosystems of the interior West.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southwest Forest

3 Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) there is an increasing threat of wildfire to

7 millions of acres of forest land and rangeland

8 throughout the United States;

9 (2) forest land and rangeland are degraded as

10 a direct consequence of land management practices,

11 including practices to control and prevent wildfires

12 and the failure to harvest subdominant trees from

13 overstocked stands that disrupt the occurrence of

14 frequent low-intensity fires that have periodically re15 moved flammable undergrowth;

16 (3) at least 39,000,000 acres of land of the Na17 tional Forest System in the interior West are at

18 high risk of wildfire;

19 (4) an average of 95 percent of the expendi20 tures by the Forest Service for wildfire suppression

21 during fiscal years 1990 through 1994 were made to

22 suppress wildfires in the interior West;

23 (5) the number, size, and severity of wildfires in

24 the interior West are increasing;

25 (6) of the timberland in National Forests in the

26 States of Arizona and New Mexico, 59 percent of
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1 such land in Arizona, and 56 percent of such land

2 in New Mexico, has an average diameter of 9 to 12

3 inches diameter at breast height;

4 (7) the population of the interior West grew

5 twice as fast as the national average during the

6 1990s;

7 (8) catastrophic wildfires—

8 (A) endanger homes and communities;

9 (B) damage and destroy watersheds and

10 soils; and

11 (C) pose a serious threat to the habitat of

12 threatened and endangered species;

13 (9) a 1994 assessment of forest health in the

14 interior West estimated that only a 15- to 30-year

15 window of opportunity exists for effective manage16 ment intervention before damage from uncontrollable

17 wildfire becomes widespread, with 8 years having al18 ready elapsed since the assessment;

19 (10) healthy forest and woodland ecosystems—

20 (A) reduce the risk of wildfire to forests

21 and communities;

22 (B) improve wildlife habitat and biodiver23 sity;

24 (C) increase tree, grass, forb, and shrub

25 productivity;
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1 (D) enhance watershed values;

2 (E) improve the environment; and

3 (F) provide a basis in some areas for eco4 nomically and environmentally sustainable uses;

5 (11) sustaining the long-term ecological and

6 economic health of interior West forests and wood7 land, and their associated human communities re8 quires preventing severe wildfires before the wildfires

9 occur and permitting natural, low-intensity ground

10 fires;

11 (12) more natural fire regimes cannot be ac12 complished without the reduction of excess fuels and

13 thinning of subdominant trees (which fuels and trees

14 may be of commercial value);

15 (13) ecologically based forest and woodland eco16 system restoration on a landscape scale will—

17 (A) improve long-term community protec18 tion;

19 (B) minimize the need for wildfire suppres20 sion;

21 (C) improve resource values;

22 (D) improve the ecological integrity and re23 silience of these systems;

24 (E) reduce rehabilitation costs;

25 (F) reduce loss of critical habitat; and
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1 (G) protect forests for future generations;

2 (14) although landscape scale restoration is

3 needed to effectively reverse degradation, scientific

4 understanding of landscape scale treatments is lim5 ited;

6 (15) rigorous, objective, understandable, and

7 applied scientific information is needed for—

8 (A) the design, implementation, moni9 toring, and adaptation of landscape scale res10 toration treatments and improvement of wildfire

11 management;

12 (B) the environmental review process; and

13 (C) affected entities that collaborate in the

14 development and implementation of wildfire

15 treatment.

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

17 The purposes of this Act are—

18 (1) to enhance the capacity to develop, transfer,

19 apply, monitor, and regularly update practical

20 science-based forest restoration treatments that will

21 reduce the risk of severe wildfires, and improve the

22 health of dry forest and woodland ecosystems in the

23 interior West;

24 (2) to synthesize and adapt scientific findings

25 from conventional research programs to the imple-
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1 mentation of forest and woodland restoration on a

2 landscape scale;

3 (3) to facilitate the transfer of interdisciplinary

4 knowledge required to understand the socioeconomic

5 and environmental impacts of wildfire on ecosystems

6 and landscapes;

7 (4) to require the Institutes established under

8 this Act to collaborate with Federal agencies—

9 (A) to use ecological restoration treatments

10 to reverse declining forest health and reduce the

11 risk of severe wildfires across the forest land12 scape; and

13 (B) to design, implement, monitor, and

14 regularly revise representative wildfire treat15 ments based on the use of adaptive ecosystem

16 management;

17 (5) to assist land managers in—

18 (A) treating acres with restoration-based

19 applications; and

20 (B) using new management technologies

21 (including the transfer of understandable infor22 mation, assistance with environmental review,

23 and field and classroom training and collabora24 tion) to accomplish the goals identified in—

25 (i) the National Fire Plan;
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1 (ii) the report entitled ‘‘Protecting

2 People and Sustaining Resources in Fire3 Adapted Ecosystems-A Cohesive Strategy’’

4 (65 Fed. Reg. 67480); and

5 (iii) the report entitled ‘‘10-Year

6 Comprehensive Strategy: A Collaborative

7 Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire

8 Risks to Communities and the Environ9 ment’’ of the Western Governors’ Associa10 tion;

11 (6) to provide technical assistance to collabo12 rative efforts by affected entities to develop, imple13 ment, and monitor adaptive ecosystem management

14 restoration treatments that are ecologically sound,

15 economically viable, and socially responsible; and

16 (7) to assist Federal and non-Federal land

17 managers in providing information to the public on

18 the role of fire and fire management in dry forest

19 and woodland ecosystems in the interior West.

20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act:

22 (1) ADAPTIVE ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT.—

23 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘adaptive

24 ecosystem management’’ means a natural re25 source management process under which plan-
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1 ning, implementation, monitoring, research,

2 evaluation, and incorporation of new knowledge

3 are combined into a management approach

4 that—

5 (i) is based on scientific findings and

6 the needs of society;

7 (ii) treats management actions as ex8 periments;

9 (iii) acknowledges the complexity of

10 these systems and scientific uncertainty;

11 and

12 (iv) uses the resulting new knowledge

13 to modify future management methods and

14 policy.

15 (B) CLARIFICATION.—This paragraph

16 shall not define the term ‘‘adaptive ecosystem

17 management’’ for the purposes of the Forest

18 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning

19 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.).

20 (2) AFFECTED ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘affected

21 entities’’ includes—

22 (A) land managers;

23 (B) stakeholders;

24 (C) concerned citizens; and
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1 (D) the States of the interior West, includ2 ing political subdivisions of the States.

3 (3) DRY FOREST AND WOODLAND ECO4 SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘dry forest and woodland eco5 system’’ means an ecosystem that is dominated by

6 ponderosa pines and associated dry forest and wood7 land types.

8 (4) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means

9 an Institute established under section 5(a).

10 (5) INTERIOR WEST.—The term ‘‘interior

11 West’’ means the States of Arizona, Colorado,

12 Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

13 (6) LAND MANAGER.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘land man15 ager’’ means a person or entity that practices

16 or guides natural resource management.

17 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘land man18 ager’’ includes a Federal, State, local, or tribal

19 land management agency.

20 (7) RESTORATION.—The term ‘‘restoration’’

21 means a process undertaken to move an ecosystem

22 or habitat toward—

23 (A) a sustainable structure of the eco24 system or habitat; or
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1 (B) a condition that supports a natural

2 complement of species, natural function, or eco3 logical process (such as a low-intensity fire).

4 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

5 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the

6 Chief of the Forest Service.

7 (9) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’

8 means—

9 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting

10 through the Chief of the Forest Service; and

11 (B) the Secretary of the Interior.

12 (10) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’

13 means any person interested in or affected by man14 agement of forest or woodland ecosystems.

15 (11) SUBDOMINANT TREES.—Are trees that

16 occur underneath the canopy or extend into the can17 opy but are smaller and less vigorous than dominant

18 trees.

19 (12) OVERSTOCKED STANDS.—Where the num20 ber of trees per acre exceeds the natural carrying ca21 pacity of the site.

22 (13) RESILIENCE.—The ability of a system to

23 absorb disturbance without being pushed into a dif24 ferent, possibly less desirable stable state.
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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation

3 with the Secretary of the Interior, shall—

4 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of

5 enactment of this Act, establish Institutes to pro6 mote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to

7 reduce the risk of wildfires, and restore the health

8 of forest and woodland ecosystems, in the interior

9 West; and

10 (2) provide assistance to the Institutes to pro11 mote the use of collaborative processes and adaptive

12 ecosystem management in accordance with para13 graph (1).

14 (b) LOCATION.—

15 (1) EXISTING INSTITUTES.—The Secretary may

16 designate an institute in existence on the date of en17 actment of this Act to serve as an Institute estab18 lished under this Act.

19 (2) STATES.—Of the Institutes established

20 under this Act, the Secretary shall establish 1 Insti21 tute in each of—

22 (A) the State of Arizona, to be located at

23 Northern Arizona University;

24 (B) the State of New Mexico, to be located

25 at New Mexico Highlands University, while en26 gaging the full resources of the consortium of
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1 universities represented in the Institute of Nat2 ural Resource Analysis and Management

3 (INRAM); and

4 (C) the State of Colorado.

5 (c) DUTIES.—Each Institute shall—

6 (1) develop, conduct research on, transfer, pro7 mote, and monitor restoration-based hazardous fuel

8 reduction treatments to reduce the risk of severe

9 wildfires and improve the health of dry forest and

10 woodland ecosystems in the interior West;

11 (2) synthesize and adapt scientific findings

12 from conventional research to implement restoration13 based hazardous fuel reduction treatments on a

14 landscape scale using an adaptive ecosystem man15 agement framework;

16 (3) translate for and transfer to affected enti17 ties any scientific and interdisciplinary knowledge

18 about restoration-based hazardous fuel reduction

19 treatments;

20 (4) assist affected entities with the design of

21 adaptive management approaches (including moni22 toring) for the implementation of restoration-based

23 hazardous fuel reduction treatments; and

24 (5) provide peer-reviewed annual reports.

25 (d) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each Institute shall—
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1 (1) develop and demonstrate capabilities in the

2 natural, physical, social, and policy sciences; and

3 (2) explicitly integrate those disciplines in the

4 performance of the duties listed in subsection (c).

5 (e) COOPERATION.—Each Institute may cooperate

6 with—

7 (1) researchers and cooperative extension pro8 grams at colleges, community colleges, and univer9 sities in the States of Arizona, New Mexico, and Col10 orado that have a demonstrated capability to con11 duct research described in subsection (c); and

12 (2) other organizations and entities in the inte13 rior West (such as the Western Governors’ Associa14 tion).

15 (f) ANNUAL WORK PLANS.—As a condition of the re16 ceipt of funds made available under this Act, for each fis17 cal year, each Institute shall develop in consultation with

18 the Secretary, for review by the Secretary, in consultation

19 with the Secretary of the Interior, an annual work plan

20 that includes assurances, satisfactory to the Secretaries,

21 that the proposed work of the Institute will serve the infor22 mational needs of affected entities.

23 (g) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL INSTITUTES.—

24 If after 2 years after the date of the enactment of this

25 Act, the Secretary finds that the Institute model estab-
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1 lished at the locations named in subsection (b)(2) would

2 be constructive for other interior West States, the Sec3 retary may establish 1 institute in each of those States.

4 SEC. 6. COOPERATION BETWEEN INSTITUTES AND FED5 ERAL AGENCIES.

6 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary, in consulta7 tion with the Secretary of the Interior—

8 (1) to the extent that funds are appropriated

9 for the purpose, shall provide financial and technical

10 assistance to the Institutes to carry out the duties

11 of the Institutes under section 5;

12 (2) shall encourage Federal agencies to use, on

13 a cooperative basis, information and expertise pro14 vided by the Institutes;

15 (3) shall encourage cooperation and coordina16 tion between Federal programs relating to—

17 (A) ecological restoration;

18 (B) wildfire risk reduction; and

19 (C) wildfire management technologies;

20 (4) notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31,

21 United States Code, may—

22 (A) enter into contracts, cooperative agree23 ments, and interagency personal agreements to

24 carry out this Act; and
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1 (B) carry out other transactions under this

2 Act;

3 (5) may accept funds from other Federal agen4 cies to supplement or fully fund grants made, and

5 contracts entered into, by the Secretaries;

6 (6) may support a program of internships for

7 qualified individuals at the undergraduate and grad8 uate levels to carry out the educational and training

9 objectives of this Act;

10 (7) shall encourage professional education and

11 public information activities relating to the purposes

12 of this Act; and

13 (8) may promulgate such regulations as the

14 Secretaries determine are necessary to carry out this

15 Act.

16 SEC. 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the

18 date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years there19 after, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of

20 the Interior, shall complete and submit to the Committee

21 on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of the

22 House of Representatives and to the Committee on En23 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate a detailed eval24 uation of the programs and activities of each Institute—
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1 (1) to ensure, to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, that the research, communication tools, and

3 information transfer activities of each Institute are

4 sufficient to achieve the purposes of this Act,

5 including—

6 (A) implementing active adaptive eco7 system management practices at the landscape

8 level;

9 (B) reducing unnecessary planning costs;

10 (C) avoiding duplicative and conflicting ef11 forts;

12 (D) increasing public acceptance of active

13 adaptive ecosystem management practices; and

14 (E) achieving general satisfaction on the

15 part of affected entities;

16 (2) to determine the extent to which each Insti17 tute has implemented its duties under section 5(c);

18 and

19 (3) to determine whether continued provision of

20 Federal assistance to each Institute is warranted.

21 (b) TERMINATION OF ASSISTANCE.—If, as a result

22 of an evaluation under subsection (a), the Secretary, in

23 consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, determines

24 that an Institute does not qualify for further Federal as25 sistance under this Act, the Institute shall receive no fur-
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1 ther Federal assistance under this Act until such time as

2 the qualifications of the Institute are reestablished to the

3 satisfaction of the Secretaries.

4 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this Act $15,000,000 for each fiscal

7 year.

8 (b) LIMITATION.—No funds made available under

9 subsection (a) shall be used to pay the costs of con10 structing any facilities.

Passed the House of Representatives February 24,

2004.

Attest:

Clerk.