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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5098 Introduced in House (IH)]

106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5098

To provide incentives for collaborative forest restoration and wildland 
  fire hazard mitigation projects on National Forest System land and 
  other public and private lands in Colorado, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2000

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Hefley) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and 
     in addition to the Committee on Resources, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To provide incentives for collaborative forest restoration and wildland 
  fire hazard mitigation projects on National Forest System land and 
  other public and private lands in Colorado, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Colorado Forest Restoration and Fire 
Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than a century of intensive fire suppression, 
        logging, livestock grazing, and urban development has altered 
        the ecological dynamic of Colorado's forests.
            (2) Much of Colorado's 26,000,000 acres of forest land 
        consists of dense young ponderosa pine and Douglas fir stands 
        characterized by small diameter trees and excessive fuel 
        buildups on the forest floor.
            (3) These unnaturally crowded forests generally contain a 
        large number of stressed unhealthy trees susceptible to 
        catastrophic wildland fires and other risks. Such conditions 
        reduce biodiversity, provide fewer benefits to human 
        communities, wildlife, and watersheds, and pose a tremendous 
        risk to both human and natural resources.
            (4) Risk to human life and property is greatly increased 
        along Colorado's Front Range where rapidly expanding urban 
        populations are increasingly intermingled with forested 
        wildlands.
            (5) Nearly 1,000,000 people currently live within 
        Colorado's Red Zone, an area characterized by 6,300,000 acres 
        of forest land at high risk for catastrophic wildfire. Over 400 
        rural and volunteer fire departments provide initial attack and 
        frontline protection in the complex and hazardous landscapes.
            (6) A severe wildfire on Colorado's highly erodible soils 
        can result in disastrous flood events and sediment deposition 
        if the fire is followed by heavy rains. This combination of 
        events poses a particular threat to the water supply for 
        metropolitan Denver and the State's other Front Range cities.
            (7) Healthy and productive forested watersheds minimize the 
        threat of large, high-intensity wildfires, provide abundant and 
        diverse wildlife habitat, and produce a variety of timber and 
        nontimber products, including better quality water and 
        increased water flows.
            (8) Restoration efforts are more successful when there is 
        involvement from Federal and State land managers as well as 
        neighboring communities and interested stakeholders, when 
        projects are prioritized in high-risk areas where watershed 
        health and human lives and property are threatened, and when 
        both decisions and implementation activities are carried out 
        across ownership boundaries.
            (9) Designing demonstration restoration projects through a 
        collaborative approach may--
                    (A) lead to the development of cost-effective 
                restoration activities;
                    (B) empower diverse organizations to implement 
                activities which value local and traditional knowledge;
                    (C) build ownership and civic pride; and
                    (D) ensure healthy, diverse, and productive forests 
                and watersheds.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To promote healthy watersheds and reduce the threat of 
        large, high-intensity wildfires in the forests of Colorado.
            (2) To reduce the risk to human life and property, 
        including that of fire protection personnel, in Colorado's red 
        zone.
            (3) To improve the functioning of forest ecosystems and 
        enhance plant and wildlife biodiversity by reducing the 
        unnaturally high number and density of small diameter trees on 
        Federal, tribal, State, county, private, and municipal forest 
        lands.
            (4) To improve communication and joint problem solving 
        among Federal, State, and local land managers, as well as other 
        individuals and groups who are interested in restoring the 
diversity of forested watersheds in Colorado.
            (5) To improve the use of, or add value to, small diameter 
        trees.
            (6) To encourage sustainable communities and sustainable 
        forests through collaborative partnerships focused on forest 
        restoration and hazard reduction.
            (7) To develop, demonstrate, and evaluate ecologically 
        sound forest restoration techniques.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act the following definitions apply:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
            (2) Red zone.--The term ``red zone'' means the lands so 
        identified on the map entitled ``Interface Areas of High Forest 
        Fire Risk in Colorado'', dated July 2000.
            (3) Stakeholder.--The term ``stakeholder'' includes forest 
        landowners, local communities and political leaders, tribal 
        governments, conservation organizations, educational 
        institutions, and other interested public and private entities.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

    (a) Cooperative Forest Protection and Restoration Program.--The 
Secretary shall establish a cooperative forest protection and 
restoration program in Colorado in order to provide cost-share grants 
to stakeholders for forest restoration projects that are designed 
through a collaborative process (hereinafter in this Act referred to as 
the ``Collaborative Forest Protection and Restoration Program''). The 
projects may be entirely on, or involve any combination of, Federal, 
tribal, State, county, private, or other municipal forest lands in the 
red zone, except lands within the National Wilderness Preservation 
System. Prioritization, decisionmaking, and implementation of approved 
projects should be on a cross-boundary, landscape-scale basis with both 
State and Federal land managers able to act as agents of the other. The 
cost-share grants shall be administered by the State Forester, in 
cooperation with the Forest Service as established by the Cooperative 
Forestry Assistance Act of 1978. The Federal share of an individual 
project cost shall not exceed 80 percent of the total cost. The 20 
percent matching may be in the form of cash or in-kind contributions.
    (b) Eligibility Requirements.--To be eligible to receive funding 
under this Act, a project shall accomplish the following:
            (1) Address the following objectives:
                    (A) Reduce the threat of large, high-intensity 
                wildfires in the wildland-urban interface and the 
                negative effects of excessive competition between trees 
                by restoring ecosystem functions, structures, and 
                species composition, including the reduction of 
                nonnative species populations.
                    (B) Reestablish fire regimes approximating those 
                that shaped forest ecosystems prior to intensive fire 
                suppression.
                    (C) Improve the ability of State and local fire 
                departments to safely and effectively provide initial 
                attack in the wildland-urban interface.
                    (D) Preserve old trees and trees with a diameter of 
                12 inches or more.
                    (E) Preserve roadless areas.
                    (F) Mitigate areas at high risk for flood, erosion, 
                or sediment damage following a wildland fire, 
                rehabilitate areas that have experienced such fire-
                related damage, or both.
                    (G) Improve the use of, or add value to, small 
                diameter trees.
            (2) Comply with all Federal and State environmental laws.
            (3) Prioritize restoration and hazard reduction activities 
        which can be conducted across ownership boundaries for the 
        benefit of a larger landscape or watershed.
            (4) Include a diverse and balanced group of stakeholders as 
        well as appropriate Federal, tribal, State, county, and 
        municipal government representatives in the design, 
        implementation, and monitoring of the project.
            (5) Incorporate current scientific forest restoration 
        information.
            (6) Include a multiparty assessment to--
                    (A) identify both the existing ecological condition 
                of the proposed project area and the desired future 
                condition; and
                    (B) report, upon project completion, on the 
                positive or negative impact and effectiveness of the 
                project.
            (7) Create local employment or training opportunities 
        within the context of accomplishing restoration objectives that 
        are consistent with the purposes of this Act.
            (8) Leverage Federal funding through in-kind or matching 
        contributions.
            (9) Include an agreement by each stakeholder to attend an 
        annual workshop with other stakeholders for the purpose of 
        discussing the cooperative forest restoration program and 
        projects implemented under this Act. The Secretary shall 
        coordinate and fund the annual workshop. Stakeholders may use 
        funding for projects authorized under this Act to pay for their 
        travel and per diem expenses to attend the workshop.

SEC. 6. SELECTION PROCESS.

    (a) Determination of Project Funding Priorities.--Prior to the 
selection of projects, the State Forester and Regional Forester shall 
meet with the technical advisory panel established in subsection (c) to 
determine priorities for project funding.
    (b) Selection of Proposals To Be Funded.--After consulting with the 
technical advisory panel, the State Forester and the Regional Forester 
shall jointly recommend to the Secretary priority projects for funding. 
The Secretary shall then select the proposals that will receive funding 
through the Collaborative Forest Protection and Restoration Program.
    (c) Technical Advisory Panel.--The Secretary shall convene a 
technical advisory panel, to be jointly administered by the State 
Forester and the Regional Forester, for the purpose of setting 
protection and restoration priorities, evaluating all projects proposed 
for forest restoration grants, and providing recommendations regarding 
which proposals would best meet the objectives of the Collaborative 
Forest Protection and Restoration Program. The technical advisory panel 
shall be composed of 10 to 13 members to be recommended by the State 
Forester and Regional Forester and appointed by the Secretary as 
follows:
            (1) A State Natural Resource official from the State of 
        Colorado.
            (2) At least two representatives from Federal land 
        management agencies.
            (3) At least one tribal representative.
            (4) At least one representative of the State's local and 
        volunteer fire departments.
            (5) At least two independent scientists with experience in 
        forest ecosystem restoration.
            (6) An equal number of representatives from each of the 
        following:
                    (A) Conservation interests.
                    (B) Local communities.
                    (C) Commodity interests.

SEC. 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION.

    The Secretary shall establish a multiparty monitoring and 
evaluation process in order to assess the cumulative accomplishments or 
adverse impacts of the Collaborative Forest Protection and Restoration 
Program. The Secretary shall include any interested individual or 
organization in the monitoring and evaluation process. The Secretary 
also shall conduct a monitoring program to assess the short- and long-
term ecological effects of the restoration treatments, if any, for a 
minimum of 15 years.

SEC. 8. REPORT.

    Not later than five years after the first fiscal year in which 
funding is made available for this program, the Secretary shall submit 
a report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 
and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives. The 
report shall include an assessment on whether, and to what extent, the 
projects funded pursuant to this Act are meeting the purposes of the 
Collaborative Forest Protection and Restoration Program.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 annually to 
carry out this Act.
                                 <all>
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