IB 

Union Calendar No. 228

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2696

[Report No. 108–397, Part I] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2003

Mr. RENZI (for himself, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. 

PEARCE, and Mr. TANCREDO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee 

on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Additional sponsor: Mr. UDALL of Colorado 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Reported from the Committee on Resources with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a period ending not 

later than November 21, 2003

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 10, 2003] 

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southwest Forest Health 

5 and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

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

9 millions of acres of forest land and rangeland 

10 throughout the United States; 

11 (2) forest land and rangeland are degraded as a 

12 direct consequence of land management practices (in13 cluding practices to control and prevent wildfires and 

14 the failure to harvest subdominant trees from over15 stocked stands that disrupt the occurrence of frequent 

16 low-intensity fires that have periodically removed 

17 flammable undergrowth; 
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1 (3) at least 39,000,000 acres of land of the Na2 tional Forest System in the interior West are at high 

3 risk of wildfire; 

4 (4) an average of 95 percent of the expenditures 

5 by the Forest Service for wildfire suppression during 

6 fiscal years 1990 through 1994 were made to suppress 

7 wildfires in the interior West; 

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

9 the interior West are increasing; 

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

11 States of Arizona and New Mexico, 59 percent of such 

12 land in Arizona, and 56 percent of such land in New 

13 Mexico, has an average diameter of 9 to 12 inches di14 ameter at breast height; 

15 (7) the population of the interior West grew 

16 twice as fast as the national average during the 

17 1990s; 

18 (8) efforts to prioritize forests and communities 

19 for wildfire risk reduction have been inconsistent and 

20 insufficient and have resulted in funding to areas 

21 that are not prone to severe wildfires; 

22 (9) catastrophic wildfires—

23 (A) endanger homes and communities; 

24 (B) damage and destroy watersheds and 

25 soils; and 
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1 (C) pose a serious threat to the habitat of 

2 threatened and endangered species; 

3 (10) a 1994 assessment of forest health in the in4 terior West estimated that only a 15- to 30-year win5 dow of opportunity exists for effective management 

6 intervention before damage from uncontrollable wild7 fire becomes widespread, with 8 years having already 

8 elapsed since the assessment; 

9 (11) following a catastrophic wildfire, degraded 

10 forests in the interior West that have lost their resil11 ience may not return to their former grandeur; 

12 (12) healthy forest and woodland ecosystems—

13 (A) reduce the risk of wildfire to forests and 

14 communities; 

15 (B) improve wildlife habitat and biodiver16 sity; 

17 (C) increase tree, grass, forb, and shrub pro18 ductivity; 

19 (D) enhance watershed values; 

20 (E) improve the environment; and 

21 (F) provide a basis in some areas for eco22 nomically and environmentally sustainable uses; 

23 (13) sustaining the long-term ecological and eco24 nomic health of interior West forests and woodland, 

25 and their associated human communities requires 
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1 preventing severe wildfires before the wildfires occur 

2 and permitting natural, low-intensity ground fires; 

3 (14) more natural fire regimes cannot be accom4 plished without the reduction of excess fuels and 

5 thinning of subdominant trees (which fuels and trees 

6 may be of commercial value); 

7 (15) ecologically-based forest and woodland eco8 system restoration on a landscape scale will—

9 (A) improve long-term community protec10 tion; 

11 (B) minimize the need for wildfire suppres12 sion; 

13 (C) improve resource values; 

14 (D) improve the ecological integrity and re15 silience of these systems; 

16 (E) reduce rehabilitation costs; 

17 (F) reduce loss of critical habitat; and 

18 (G) protect forests for future generations; 

19 (16) although the National Fire Plan, and the 

20 report entitled ‘‘Protecting People and Sustaining Re21 sources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems—A Cohesive 

22 Strategy’’ (65 Fed. Reg. 67480), advocated a shift in 

23 wildfire policy from suppression to prevention (in24 cluding restoration and hazardous fuels reduction), 

25 Federal land managers are not dedicating sufficient 
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1 attention and financial resources to restoration ac2 tivities that simultaneously restore forest health and 

3 reduce the risk of severe wildfire; 

4 (17) although landscape scale restoration is need5 ed to effectively reverse degradation, scientific under6 standing of landscape scale treatments is limited; 

7 (18) the Federal wildfire research program is 

funded at approximately 1 8 ⁄3 of the amount that is re9 quired to address emerging wildfire problems, result10 ing in the lack of a cohesive strategy to address the 

11 threat of catastrophic wildfires; and 

12 (19) rigorous, objective, understandable, and ap13 plied scientific information is needed for—

14 (A) the design, implementation, monitoring 

15 and adaptation of landscape scale restoration 

16 treatments and improvement of wildfire manage17 ment technology; 

18 (B) the environmental review process; and 

19 (C) affected entities that collaborate in the 

20 development and implementation of wildfire 

21 treatment. 

22 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

23 The purposes of this Act are—

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

25 apply, and monitor, and regularly update practical 
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1 science-based forest restoration treatments that will 

2 reduce the risk of severe wildfires, and improve the 

3 health of dry forest and woodland ecosystems in the 

4 interior West; 

5 (2) to synthesize and adapt scientific findings 

6 from conventional research programs to the imple7 mentation of forest and woodland restoration on a 

8 landscape scale;

9 (3) to facilitate the transfer of interdisciplinary 

10 knowledge required to understand the socioeconomic 

11 and environmental impacts of wildfire on ecosystems 

12 and landscapes; 

13 (4) to require the institutes established under 

14 this Act to collaborate with Federal agencies—

15 (A) to use ecological restoration treatments 

16 to reverse declining forest health and reduce the 

17 risk of severe wildfires across the forest land18 scape; 

19 (B) to ensure that sufficient funds are dedi20 cated to wildfire prevention activities, especially 

21 restoration treatments; and 

22 (C) to design, implement, monitor and reg23 ularly revise wildfire treatments based on the use 

24 of adaptive ecosystem management; 

25 (5) to assist land managers in—
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1 (A) treating acres with restoration-based 

2 applications; and 

3 (B) using new management technologies 

4 (including the transfer of understandable infor5 mation, assistance with environmental review, 

6 and field and classroom training and collabora7 tion) to accomplish the goals identified in—

8 (i) the National Fire Plan; 

9 (ii) the report entitled ‘‘Protecting Peo10 ple and Sustaining Resources in Fire11 Adapted Ecosystems—A Cohesive Strategy’’ 

12 (65 Fed. Reg. 67480); and 

13 (iii) the report entitled ‘‘10-Year Com14 prehensive Strategy: A Collaborative Ap15 proach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to 

16 Communities and the Environment’’ of the 

17 Western Governors’ Association; 

18 (6) to provide technical assistance to collabo19 rative efforts by affected entities to develop, imple20 ment, and monitor adaptive ecosystem management 

21 restoration treatments that are ecologically sound, 

22 economically viable, and socially responsible; and 

23 (7) to assist Federal and non-Federal land man24 agers in providing information to the public on the 
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1 role of fire and fire management in dry forest and 

2 woodland ecosystems in the interior West. 

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADAPTIVE ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT.—The 

6 term ‘‘adaptive ecosystem management’’ means a nat7 ural resource management process under which plan8 ning, implementation, monitoring, research, evalua9 tion, and incorporation of new knowledge are com10 bined into a management approach that is—

11 (A) based on scientific findings and the 

12 needs of society; 

13 (B) treats management actions as experi14 ments; 

15 (C) acknowledges the complexity of these 

16 systems and scientific uncertainty; and 

17 (D) uses the resulting new knowledge to 

18 modify future management methods and policy. 

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

20 entities’’ includes—

21 (A) land managers; 

22 (B) stakeholders; 

23 (C) concerned citizens; and 

24 (D) the States of the interior West, includ25 ing political subdivisions of the States. 
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1 (3) DRY FOREST AND WOODLAND ECOSYSTEM.—

2 The term ‘‘dry forest and woodland ecosystem’’ means 

3 an ecosystem that is dominated by ponderosa pines 

4 and associated dry forest and woodland types. 

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

6 Institute established under section 5(a). 

7 (5) INTERIOR WEST.—The term ‘‘interior West’’ 

8 means the States of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Ne9 vada, New Mexico, and Utah. 

10 (6) LAND MANAGER.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘land man12 ager’’ means a person or entity that practices or 

13 guides natural resource management. 

14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘land man15 ager’’ includes a Federal, State, local, or tribal 

16 land management agency. 

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

18 means a process undertaken to return an ecosystem or 

19 habitat toward—

20 (A) the original structure of the ecosystem 

21 or habitat; or 

22 (B) a condition that supports a natural 

23 complement of species, natural function, or eco24 logical process (such as a low intensity fire). 
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1 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief 

3 of the Forest Service. 

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

5 means—

6 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

7 through the Chief of the Forest Service; and 

8 (B) the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

10 means any person interested in or affected by man11 agement of forest or woodland ecosystems. 

12 (11) SUBDOMINANT TREES.—Are trees that occur 

13 underneath the canopy or extend into the canopy but 

14 are smaller and less vigorous than dominant trees. 

15 (12) OVERSTOCKED STANDS.—Where the number 

16 of trees per acre exceeds the natural carrying capacity 

17 of the site. 

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

19 absorb disturbance without being pushed into a dif20 ferent, possibly less desirable stable state. 

21 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTES. 

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

23 the Secretary of the Interior, shall—

24 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of en25 actment of this Act, establish 3 Institutes to promote 
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1 the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce 

2 the risk of wildfires, and restore the health of forest 

3 and woodland ecosystems, in the interior West; and 

4 (2) provide assistance to the Institutes to pro5 mote the use of collaborative processes and adaptive 

6 ecosystem management in accordance with paragraph 

7 (1).

8 (b) LOCATION.—

9 (1) EXISTING INSTITUTES.—The Secretary may 

10 designate an institute in existence on the date of en11 actment of this Act to serve as an Institute established 

12 under this Act. 

13 (2) STATES.—Of the Institutes established under 

14 this Act, the Secretary shall establish 1 Institute in 

15 each of—

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

17 Northern Arizona University; 

18 (B) the State of New Mexico; and 

19 (C) the State of Colorado. 

20 (c) DUTIES.—Each Institute shall—

21 (1) develop, conduct research on, transfer, pro22 mote, and monitor restoration-based hazardous fuel 

23 reduction treatments to reduce the risk of severe 

24 wildfires and improve the health of dry forest and 

25 woodland ecosystems in the interior West; 
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1 (2) synthesize and adapt scientific findings from 

2 conventional research to implement restoration-based 

3 hazardous fuel reduction treatments on a landscape 

4 scale using an adaptive ecosystem management 

5 framework; 

6 (3) translate for and transfer to affected entities 

7 any scientific and interdisciplinary knowledge about 

8 restoration-based hazardous fuel reduction treatments; 

9 (4) assist affected entities with the design of 

10 adaptive management approaches (including moni11 toring) for the implementation of restoration-based 

12 hazardous fuel reduction treatments; and 

13 (5) provide peer-reviewed annual reports. 

14 (d) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each Institute shall—

15 (1) develop and demonstrate capabilities in the 

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

17 (2) explicitly integrate those disciplines in the 

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

19 (e) COOPERATION.—Each Institute may cooperate 

20 with—

21 (1) researchers and cooperative extension pro22 grams at colleges, community colleges, and univer23 sities in the States of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colo24 rado that have a demonstrated capability to conduct 

25 research described in subsection (c); and 
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1 (2) other organizations and entities in the inte2 rior West (such as the Western Governors’ Associa3 tion). 

4 (f) ANNUAL WORK PLANS.—As a condition of the re5 ceipt of funds made available under this Act, for each fiscal 

6 year, each Institute shall develop in consultation with the 

7 Secretary, for review by the Secretary, in consultation with 

8 the Secretary of the Interior, an annual work plan that in9 cludes assurances, satisfactory to the Secretaries, that the 

10 proposed work of the Institute will serve the informational 

11 needs of affected entities. 

12 SEC. 6. COOPERATION BETWEEN INSTITUTES AND FED13 ERAL AGENCIES. 

14 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

15 with the Secretary of the Interior—

16 (1) to the extent that funds are appropriated for 

17 the purpose, shall provide financial and technical as18 sistance to the Institutes to carry out the duties of the 

19 Institutes under section 5; 

20 (2) shall encourage Federal agencies to use, on a 

21 cooperative basis, information and expertise provided 

22 by the Institutes; 

23 (3) shall encourage cooperation and coordination 

24 between Federal programs relating to—

25 (A) ecological restoration; 
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1 (B) wildfire risk reduction; and 

2 (C) wildfire management technologies; 

3 (4) notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31, 

4 United States Code, may—

5 (A) enter into contracts, cooperative agree6 ments, interagency personal agreements to carry 

7 out this Act; and 

8 (B) carry out other transactions under this 

9 Act; 

10 (5) may accept funds from other Federal agen11 cies to supplement or fully fund grants made, and 

12 contracts entered into, by the Secretaries; 

13 (6) may support a program of internships for 

14 qualified individuals at the undergraduate and grad15 uate levels to carry out the educational and training 

16 objectives of this Act; 

17 (7) shall encourage professional education and 

18 public information activities relating to the purposes 

19 of this Act; and 

20 (8) may promulgate such regulations as the Sec21 retaries determine are necessary to carry out this Act. 

22 SEC. 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION. 

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

24 date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, 

25 the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Inte-
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1 rior, shall complete and submit to the appropriate commit2 tees of Congress a detailed evaluation of the programs and 

3 activities of each Institute—

4 (1) to ensure, to the maximum extent prac5 ticable, that the research, communication tools, and 

6 information transfer activities of each Institute are 

7 sufficient to achieve the purposes of this Act, includ8 ing—

9 (A) implementing active adaptive ecosystem 

10 management practices at the landscape level; 

11 (B) reducing unnecessary planning costs; 

12 (C) avoiding duplicative and conflicting ef13 forts; 

14 (D) increasing public acceptance of active 

15 adaptive ecosystem management practices; and 

16 (E) achieving general satisfaction on the 

17 part of affected entities; and 

18 (2) to determine the extent to which each Insti19 tute has implemented its duties under section 5(c); 

20 (3) to determine whether continued provision of 

21 Federal assistance to each Institute is warranted. 

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

23 an evaluation under subsection (a), the Secretary, in con24 sultation with the Secretary of the Interior, determines that 

25 an Institute does not qualify for further Federal assistance 
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1 under this Act, the Institute shall receive no further Federal 

2 assistance under this Act until such time as the qualifica3 tions of the Institute are reestablished to the satisfaction 

4 of the Secretaries. 

5 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out this Act $15,000,000 for each fiscal 

8 year. 

9 (b) LIMITATION.—No funds made available under sub10 section (a) shall be used to pay the costs of constructing 

11 any facilities.
Union Calendar No. 228

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2696

[Report No. 108–397, Part I] 

A BILL

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. 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Reported from the Committee on Resources with an 

amendment 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a 

period ending not later than November 21, 2003

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to 

the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed