I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2407

To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act

of 1974, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the

National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act, and title 10, United

States Code, to strengthen the protection of native biodiversity and

to place restraints upon clearcutting and certain other cutting practices

on the forests of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 27, 1995

Mr. BRYANT of Texas (for himself and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition

to the Committees on Resources and National Security, 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 amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources

Planning Act of 1974, the Federal Land Policy and

Management Act of 1976, the National Wildlife Refuge

System Administration Act of 1966, the National Indian

Forest Resources Management Act, and title 10, United

States Code, to strengthen the protection of native

biodiversity and to place restraints upon clearcutting and

certain other cutting practices on the forests of the

United States.
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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 ‘‘Forest Biodiversity

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES, FINDINGS, CONFLICT WITH ENDAN7 GERED SPECIES ACT.

8 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are, on all

9 Federal public lands, to conserve native biodiversity and

10 to protect all native ecosystems against losses that result

11 from clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging.

12 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

13 (1) Federal agencies of the United States that

14 engage in even-age logging practices include the

15 Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, the

16 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of

17 Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Affairs of

18 the Department of the Interior, and the Army,

19 Navy, and Air Force of the Department of Defense.

20 (2) Even-age logging causes substantial alter21 ations in native biodiversity by emphasizing the pro22 duction of a limited number of commercial species of

23 trees on each site, generally only one; by manipulat24 ing the vegetation toward greater relative density of

25 such commercial species, by suppressing competing
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1 species, and by planting, on numerous sites, a com2 mercial strain that was developed to reduce the rel3 ative diversity of genetic strains that previously oc4 curred within the species on the same sites.

5 (3) Even-age logging kills immobile species and

6 the very young of mobile species of wildlife and de7 pletes the habitat of deep-forest species of animals,

8 including endangered species.

9 (4) Even-age logging exposes the soil to direct

10 sunlight, impact of rains, disruption of surface, and

11 compaction of organic layers, and disrupts the run12 off restraining capabilities of roots and low-lying

13 vegetation, resulting in soil erosion, leaching out of

14 nutrients, reduction in biological content of the soil,

15 and impoverishment of the soil, with long-range dele16 terious effect on all land resources, even timber

17 production.

18 (5) Even-age logging decreases the capability of

19 the soil to retain carbon and, during the critical pe20 riods of felling and site preparation, reduces the ca21 pacity of the biomass to process and to store carbon,

22 with a result of loss of such carbon to the atmos23 phere, thereby aggravating global warming.

24 (6) Even-age logging renders the soil increas25 ingly sensitive to acid deposition by causing decline
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1 of soil wood and coarse woody debris, reducing site

2 capacity for retention of water and nutrients, in3 creasing soil heat, and impairing the maintenance of

4 protective carbon compounds on the soil surface.

5 (7) Even-age logging results in increased

6 stream sedimentation, siltation of stream bottoms,

7 decline in water quality, impairment of life cycles

8 and spawning processes of aquatic life from benthic

9 organisms to large fish, thereby depleting the sports

10 and commercial fisheries of the United States.

11 (8) Even-age logging increases harmful edge ef12 fects, including blowdowns, invasions by weed spe13 cies, and heavier losses to predators and competi14 tors, from raccoons and hawks to ratsnakes and

15 cowbirds.

16 (9) Even-age logging decreases recreational val17 ues, reducing deep, canopied, variegated, permanent

18 forests, where the public can fulfill an expanding

19 need for recreation. Even-age logging replaces such

20 forests with a surplus of clearings that grow into rel21 atively impenetrable thickets of saplings, and then

22 into monotonous plantations.

23 (10) Human beings depend on native biological

24 resources, including plants, animals, and micro-orga25 nisms, for food, medicine, shelter, and other impor-
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1 tant products, and as a source of intellectual and

2 scientific knowledge, recreation, and aesthetic

3 pleasure.

4 (11) Alteration of native biodiversity has seri5 ous consequences for human welfare as America

6 irretrievably loses resources for research and agricul7 tural, medicinal, and industrial development.

8 (12) Alteration of biological diversity in Federal

9 forests adversely affects the functions of ecosystems

10 and critical ecosystem processes that moderate cli11 mate, govern nutrient cycles and soil conservation

12 and production, control pests and diseases, and

13 degrade wastes and pollutants.

14 (13) The harm of even-age logging to the natu15 ral resources of this Nation and the quality of life

16 of its people are substantial, severe, and avoidable.

17 (14) By substituting selection management, as

18 prescribed in this Act, for the even-age system, the

19 Federal agencies now engaged in even-age logging

20 would substantially reduce devastation to the envi21 ronment and would improve the quality of life of the

22 American people.

23 (15) By protecting native biodiversity, as pre24 scribed in this Act, Federal agencies would maintain
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1 vital native ecosystems and would improve the qual2 ity of life of the American people.

3 (16) Selection logging is more job intensive,

4 therefore providing more employment than even-age

5 cutting for managing the same amount of timber

6 production, and produces higher quality sawlogs.

7 (17) The court remedies now available for citi8 zens to utilize in the enforcement of Federal forest

9 laws are inadequate, and should be strengthened by

10 providing for actions by citizens for injunctions, de11 claratory judgments, civil penalties, and reasonable

12 costs of suit.

13 (c) CONFLICT WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—

14 In the event of any conflict between a provision of this

15 Act, or an amendment made by this Act, and the Endan16 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531), the latter

17 shall prevail.

18 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF RANGELAND AND RENEWABLE RE19 SOURCES PLANNING ACT OF 1974 RELATING

20 TO NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.

21 (a) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—Sec22 tion 6(g)(3)(B) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable

23 Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.

24 1604(g)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(B) regardless of any other provision in

2 this Act, in each stand and each watershed

3 throughout each forested area, the Secretary

4 shall provide for the conservation or restoration

5 of native biodiversity except during the extrac6 tion stage of authorized mineral development or

7 during authorized construction projects, in

8 which events the Secretary shall conserve native

9 biodiversity to the extent possible;’’.

10 (b) COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS.—Section 6(h)(1) of

11 the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning

12 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(h)(1)) is amended to read

13 as follows:

14 ‘‘(h) COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS.—(1) In carrying

15 out the purposes of subsection (g) of this section, the Sec16 retary shall appoint a committee of scientists who are not

17 officers or employees of the Forest Service nor of any

18 other public entity, nor of any entity engaged in whole

19 or in part in the production of wood or wood products,

20 and have not contracted with or represented any of such

21 entities within a period of 5 years prior to serving on such

22 committee. The committee shall provide scientific and

23 technical advice and counsel on proposed guidelines and

24 procedures and all other issues involving forestry and

25 biodiversity to assure that an effective interdisciplinary
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1 approach is proposed and adopted. The committee shall

2 terminate after the expiration of 10 years from the date

3 of enactment of this paragraph.’’.

4 (c) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

5 PRACTICES.—Section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Re6 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.

7 1604) is amended by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(n) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

9 PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout

10 each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even11 age logging and any even-age management after the date

12 of enactment of this subsection.

13 ‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage14 ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection

15 management within one year, or (B) cease managing for

16 timber purposes and actively restore the native

17 biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native

18 biodiversity.

19 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this Act:

20 ‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the

21 full range of variety and variability within and

22 among living organisms and the ecological complexes

23 in which they would have occurred in the absence of

24 significant human impact, and encompasses diversity

25 within a species (genetic or species), within a com-
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1 munity of species (within-community), between com2 munities of species (between-communities), within a

3 total area such as a watershed (total area), along a

4 plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the

5 plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and

6 horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of

7 diversity.

8 ‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’

9 refer to protective measures for maintaining existing

10 native biological diversity and active and passive

11 measures for restoring diversity through manage12 ment efforts, in order to protect, restore, and en13 hance as much of the variety of species and commu14 nities as possible in abundances and distributions

15 that provide for their continued existence and nor16 mal functioning, including the viability of popu17 lations throughout their natural geographic distribu18 tions.

19 ‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’

20 means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec21 ological processes that occur in different physical

22 settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the

23 world.
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1 ‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif2 ferences in genetic composition within and among

3 populations of a given species.

4 ‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the

5 richness and variety of native species in a particular

6 location of the world.

7 ‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form

8 of selection management that emphasizes the peri9 odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,

10 and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that

11 way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex12 ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall13 est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of

14 the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age

15 groups in a given stand. In no event will more than

16 30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled

17 within 40 years. The foregoing limitation shall not

18 be deemed to establish a 100-year projected felling

19 age as the standard at which individual trees in a

20 stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be

21 limited to that which occurs within the context of a

22 100-year projected felling age.

23 ‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com24 munity with enough identity by location, topography,
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1 or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to

2 exceed 100 acres.

3 ‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging

4 of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a

5 patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph

6 (F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of

7 time.

8 ‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means

9 the growing of commercial timber so that all trees

10 in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of

11 the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or

12 clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com13 pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by

14 clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or

15 shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec16 tion management.

17 ‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell18 ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,

19 of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre

20 of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination

21 of such trees.

22 ‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even23 age logging operation that leaves a small minority of

24 seed trees in a stand for any period of time.
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1 ‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means

2 the application of logging and other actions needed

3 to maintain continuous high forest cover where such

4 cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera5 tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly

6 growth and development of trees through a range of

7 diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield

8 of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and

9 maintain selection stands are individual-tree and

10 group selection. A goal of selection is improvement

11 of quality by continuously harvesting trees less likely

12 to contribute to the long-range health of the stand.

13 ‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an

14 even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority

15 (larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a

16 seed source or protection cover remaining standing

17 for any period of time.

18 ‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include

19 the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the

20 felling of trees or portions of trees except to create

21 land space for a structure or other use.

22 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster

23 the widest possible enforcement of subsection (g)(3)(B)

24 and this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United

2 States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection

3 (g)(3)(B) and this subsection apply.

4 ‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this

5 subsection shall be enforced by the Secretary of Agri6 culture and the Attorney General of the United States

7 against any person who violates either of them.

8 ‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act

9 may enforce any provision of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this

10 subsection by bringing an action for declaratory judgment,

11 temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and

12 other remedies against any alleged violator including the

13 United States, in any district court of the United States.

14 ‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either

15 of such subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than

16 $5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall

17 issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief

18 and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga19 tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec20 essary expenses.

21 ‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought

22 under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the

23 evidence and the trial shall be de novo.

24 ‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)

25 shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the
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1 court. If that violator is the United States of America or

2 a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to

3 the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec4 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.

5 ‘‘(E) The penalty shall be paid from the Judgment

6 Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per7 sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting

8 or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal

9 land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of

10 attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.

11 ‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em12 ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in

13 all actions under subsection (g)(3)(B) and this subsection.

14 No notice is required to enforce this subsection.

15 ‘‘(5) No roads shall be constructed or reconstructed

16 in any roadless area, as defined in the second United

17 States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Roadless

18 Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II, 1978) or in a land

19 and resource management plan prepared pursuant to this

20 section.’’.

21 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6(g)(2)(F)

22 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resource Plan23 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(g)(2)(F)) is amended

24 by inserting ‘‘in accordance with subsection (g) and’’ after

25 ‘‘National Forest System lands.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MAN2 AGEMENT ACT OF 1976 RELATING TO THE

3 PUBLIC LANDS.

4 (a) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—Sec5 tion 202(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

6 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)) is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as

8 paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; and

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the follow10 ing new paragraph (8):

11 ‘‘(8) regardless of any other provision in this

12 Act, in each stand and each watershed throughout

13 each forested area, the Secretary shall provide for

14 the conservation or restoration of native biodiversity

15 except during the extraction stage of authorized

16 mineral development or during authorized construc17 tion projects, in which events the Secretary shall

18 conserve native biodiversity to the extent possible;’’.

19 (b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

20 PRACTICES.—Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and

21 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended

22 by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(g) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

24 PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout

25 each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
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1 age logging and any even-age management after the date

2 of enactment of this subsection.

3 ‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage4 ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection

5 management within one year, or (B) cease managing for

6 timber purposes and actively restore the native

7 biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native

8 biodiversity.

9 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this Act:

10 ‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the

11 full range of variety and variability within and

12 among living organisms and the ecological complexes

13 in which they would have occurred in the absence of

14 significant human impact, and encompasses diversity

15 within a species (genetic or species), within a com16 munity of species (within-community), between com17 munities of species (between-communities), within a

18 total area such as a watershed (total area), along a

19 plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the

20 plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and

21 horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of

22 diversity.

23 ‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’

24 refer to protective measures for maintaining existing

25 native biological diversity and active and passive
17

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1 measures for restoring diversity through manage2 ment efforts, in order to protect, restore, and en3 hance as much of the variety of species and commu4 nities as possible in abundances and distributions

5 that provide for their continued existence and nor6 mal functioning, including the viability of popu7 lations throughout their natural geographic distribu8 tions.

9 ‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’

10 means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec11 ological processes that occur in different physical

12 settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the

13 world.

14 ‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif15 ferences in genetic composition within and among

16 populations of a given species.

17 ‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the

18 richness and variety of native species in a particular

19 location of the world.

20 ‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form

21 of selection management that emphasizes the peri22 odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,

23 and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that

24 way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex25 ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall-
18

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1 est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of

2 the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age

3 groups in a given stand. In no event will more than

4 30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled

5 within 40 years. The foregoing limitation shall not

6 be deemed to establish a 100-year projected felling

7 age as the standard at which individual trees in a

8 stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be

9 limited to that which occurs within the context of a

10 100-year projected felling age.

11 ‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com12 munity with enough identity by location, topography,

13 or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to

14 exceed 100 acres.

15 ‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging

16 of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a

17 patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph

18 (F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of

19 time.

20 ‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means

21 the growing of commercial timber so that all trees

22 in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of

23 the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or

24 clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com25 pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by
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1 clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or

2 shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec3 tion management.

4 ‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell5 ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,

6 of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre

7 of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination

8 of such trees.

9 ‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even10 age logging operation that leaves a small minority of

11 seed trees in a stand for any period of time.

12 ‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means

13 the application of logging and other actions needed

14 to maintain continuous high forest cover where such

15 cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera16 tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly

17 growth and development of trees through a range of

18 diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield

19 of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and

20 maintain selection stands are individual-tree and

21 group selection. A goal of selection is improvement

22 of quality by continuously harvesting trees less likely

23 to contribute to the long-range health of the stand.

24 ‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an

25 even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority
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1 (larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a

2 seed source or protection cover remaining standing

3 for any period of time.

4 ‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include

5 the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the

6 felling of trees or portions of trees except to create

7 land space for a structure or other use.

8 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster

9 the widest possible enforcement of subsection (c)(8) and

10 this subsection.

11 ‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United

12 States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection

13 (c)(8) and this subsection apply.

14 ‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (c)(8) and this sub15 section shall be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior

16 and the Attorney General of the United States against any

17 person who violates either of them.

18 ‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act

19 may enforce any provision of subsection (c)(8) and this

20 subsection by bringing an action for declaratory judgment,

21 temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and

22 other remedies against any alleged violator including the

23 United States, in any district court of the United States.

24 ‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either

25 of such subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than
21

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1 $5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall

2 issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief

3 and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga4 tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other

5 necessary expenses.

6 ‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought

7 under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the

8 evidence and the trial shall be de novo.

9 ‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C) (ii)

10 shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the

11 court. If that violator is the United States of America or

12 a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to

13 the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under

14 section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.

15 ‘‘(E) The penalty shall be paid from the Judgment

16 Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per17 sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting

18 or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal

19 land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of

20 attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.

21 ‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em22 ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in

23 all actions under subsection (c)(8) and this subsection. No

24 notice is required to enforce this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(5) No roads shall be constructed or reconstructed

2 in any Bureau of Land Management roadless areas

3 inventoried pursuant to this Act.’’.

4 (c) REPEAL.—Subsection (b) of section 701 of the

5 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

6 U.S.C. 1701 note) is hereby repealed.

7 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYS8 TEM ADMINISTRATION ACT OF 1966 RELAT9 ING TO THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

10 SYSTEM.

11 Section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge System Ad12 ministration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd) is amended

13 by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(j) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—Re15 gardless of any other provision in this Act, in each stand

16 and each watershed throughout each forested area within

17 the System, the Secretary shall provide for the conserva18 tion or restoration of native biodiversity, except during the

19 extraction stage of authorized mineral development or dur20 ing authorized construction projects, in which events the

21 Secretary shall conserve native biodiversity to the extent

22 possible.

23 ‘‘(k) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

24 PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout

25 each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
23

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1 age logging and any even-age management after the date

2 of enactment of this subsection.

3 ‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage4 ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection

5 management within one year, or (B) cease managing for

6 timber purposes and actively restore the native

7 biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native

8 biodiversity.

9 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this subsection:

10 ‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the

11 full range of variety and variability within and

12 among living organisms and the ecological complexes

13 in which they would have occurred in the absence of

14 significant human impact, and encompasses diversity

15 within a species (genetic or species), within a com16 munity of species (within-community), between com17 munities of species (between-communities), within a

18 total area such as a watershed (total area), along a

19 plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the

20 plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and

21 horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of

22 diversity.

23 ‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’

24 refer to protective measures for maintaining existing

25 native biological diversity and active and passive
24

•HR 2407 IH

1 measures for restoring diversity through manage2 ment efforts, in order to protect, restore, and en3 hance as much of the variety of species and commu4 nities as possible in abundances and distributions

5 that provide for their continued existence and nor6 mal functioning, including the viability of popu7 lations throughout their natural geographic distribu8 tions.

9 ‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’

10 means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec11 ological processes that occur in different physical

12 settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the

13 world.

14 ‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif15 ferences in genetic composition within and among

16 populations of a given species.

17 ‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the

18 richness and variety of native species in a particular

19 location of the world.

20 ‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form

21 of selection management that emphasizes the peri22 odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,

23 and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that

24 way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex25 ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall-
25

•HR 2407 IH

1 est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of

2 the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age

3 groups in a given stand. In no event will more than

4 30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled

5 within 40 years. The foregoing limitation shall not

6 be deemed to establish a 100-year projected felling

7 age as the standard at which individual trees in a

8 stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be

9 limited to that which occurs within the context of a

10 100-year projected felling age.

11 ‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com12 munity with enough identity by location, topography,

13 or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to

14 exceed 100 acres.

15 ‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging

16 of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a

17 patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph

18 (F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of

19 time.

20 ‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means

21 the growing of commercial timber so that all trees

22 in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of

23 the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or

24 clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com25 pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by
26

•HR 2407 IH

1 clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or

2 shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec3 tion management.

4 ‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell5 ing or further damaging, within a 30-year period, of

6 a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre of

7 dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination

8 of such trees.

9 ‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even10 age logging operation that leaves a small minority of

11 seed trees in a stand for any period of time.

12 ‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means

13 the application of logging and other actions needed

14 to maintain continuous high forest cover where such

15 cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera16 tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly

17 growth and development of trees through a range of

18 diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield

19 of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and

20 maintain selection stands are individual-tree and

21 group selection. A goal of selection is improvement

22 of quality by continuously harvesting trees less likely

23 to contribute to the long-range health of the stand.

24 ‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an

25 even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority
27

•HR 2407 IH

1 (larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a

2 seed source or protection cover remaining standing

3 for any period of time.

4 ‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include

5 the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the

6 felling of trees or portions of trees except to create

7 land space for a structure or other use.

8 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster

9 the widest possible enforcement of subsection (j) and this

10 subsection.

11 ‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United

12 States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection

13 (j) and this subsection apply.

14 ‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (j) and this sub15 section shall be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior

16 and the Attorney General of the United States against any

17 person who violates either of them.

18 ‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act

19 may enforce any provision of this subsection by bringing

20 an action for declaratory judgment, temporary restraining

21 order, injunction, civil penalty, and other remedies against

22 any alleged violator including the United States, in any

23 district court of the United States.

24 ‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either

25 of such subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than
28

•HR 2407 IH

1 $5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall

2 issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief

3 and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga4 tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec5 essary expenses.

6 ‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought

7 under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the

8 evidence and the trial shall be de novo.

9 ‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)

10 shall be paid by the violator or violators designed by the

11 court. If that violator is the United States of America or

12 a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to

13 the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec14 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.

15 ‘‘(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment

16 Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per17 sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting

18 or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal

19 land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of

20 attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.

21 ‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em22 ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in

23 all actions under subsection (j) and this subsection. No

24 notice is required to enforce this subsection.’’.
29

•HR 2407 IH

1 SEC. 6. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL INDIAN FOREST RE2 SOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT RELATING TO

3 INDIAN LANDS.

4 Section 305 of the National Indian Forest Resources

5 Management Act (25 U.S.C. 4535) is amended by adding

6 at the end the following new subsections:

7 ‘‘(c) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—

8 Regardless of any other provision in this Act, in each

9 stand and each watershed throughout each stand that is

10 managed or operated for timber purposes in each forested

11 area on Indian lands except during the extraction stage

12 of authorized mineral development or during authorized

13 construction projects in which events the Secretary shall

14 conserve native biodiversity to the extent possible.

15 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

16 PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout

17 each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even18 age logging and any even-age management after the date

19 of enactment of this subsection.

20 ‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage21 ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection

22 management within one year, or (B) cease managing for

23 timber purposes and actively restore the native

24 biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native

25 biodiversity.

26 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this section:
30

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the

2 full range of variety and variability within and

3 among living organisms and the ecological complexes

4 in which they would have occurred in the absence of

5 significant human impact, and encompasses diversity

6 within a species (genetic or species), within a com7 munity of species (within-community), between com8 munities of species (between-communities), within a

9 total area such as a watershed (total area), along a

10 plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the

11 plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and

12 horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of

13 diversity.

14 ‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’

15 refer to protective measures for maintaining existing

16 native biological diversity and active and passive

17 measures for restoring diversity through manage18 ment efforts, in order to protect, restore, and en19 hance as much of the variety of species and commu20 nities as possible in abundances and distributions

21 that provide for their continued existence and nor22 mal functioning, including the viability of popu23 lations throughout their natural geographic distribu24 tions.
31

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’

2 means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec3 ological processes that occur in different physical

4 settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the

5 world.

6 ‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif7 ferences in genetic composition within and among

8 populations of a given species.

9 ‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the

10 richness and variety of native species in a particular

11 location of the world.

12 ‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form

13 of selection management that emphasizes the peri14 odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,

15 and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that

16 way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex17 ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall18 est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of

19 the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age

20 groups in a given stand. In no event will more than

21 30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled

22 within 40 years. The foregoing limitation shall not

23 be deemed to establish a 100-year projected felling

24 age as the standard at which individual trees in a

25 stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be
32

•HR 2407 IH

1 limited to that which occurs within the context of a

2 100-year projected felling age.

3 ‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com4 munity with enough identity by location, topography,

5 or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to

6 exceed 100 acres.

7 ‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging

8 of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a

9 patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph

10 (F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of

11 time.

12 ‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means

13 the growing of commercial timber so that all trees

14 in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of

15 the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or

16 clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com17 pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by

18 clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or

19 shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec20 tion management.

21 ‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell22 ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,

23 of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre

24 of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination

25 of such trees.
33

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even2 age logging operation that leaves a small minority of

3 seed trees in a stand for any period of time.

4 ‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means

5 the application of logging and other actions needed

6 to maintain continuous high forest cover where such

7 cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera8 tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly

9 growth and development of trees through a range of

10 diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield

11 of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and

12 maintain selection stands are individual-tree and

13 group selection. A goal of selection is improvement

14 of quality by continuously harvesting trees less likely

15 to contribute to the long-range health of the stand.

16 ‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an

17 even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority

18 (larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a

19 seed source or protection cover remaining standing

20 for any period of time.

21 ‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include

22 the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the

23 felling of trees or portions of trees except to create

24 land space for a structure or other use.
34

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster

2 the widest possible enforcement of subsection (c) and this

3 subsection.

4 ‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United

5 States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection

6 (c) and this subsection apply.

7 ‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (c) and this sub8 section shall be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior

9 and the Attorney General of the United States against any

10 person who violates either of them.

11 ‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act

12 may enforce any provision of subsection (c) and this sub13 section by bringing an action for declaratory judgment,

14 temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and

15 other remedies against any alleged violator including the

16 United States, in any district court of the United States.

17 ‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either

18 of such subsections shall impose a penalty of not less than

19 $5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall

20 issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief

21 and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga22 tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec23 essary expenses.
35

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought

2 under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the

3 evidence and the trial shall be de novo.

4 ‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)

5 shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the

6 court. If that violator is the United States of America or

7 a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to

8 the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec9 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.

10 ‘‘(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment

11 Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per12 sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting

13 or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal

14 land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of

15 attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.

16 ‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em17 ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in

18 all actions under subsection (c) and this subsection. No

19 notice is required to enforce this subsection.’’.

20 SEC. 7. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 10, UNITED STATES CODE,

21 RELATING TO FOREST MANAGEMENT ON

22 MILITARY LANDS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 159 of title 10, United

24 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow25 ing new section:
36

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘§ 2694. Conservation of native biodiversity

2 ‘‘(a) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—

3 Regardless of any other provision in this Act, in each

4 stand and each watershed throughout each forested area

5 on a military installation or projects administered by the

6 Army Corps of Engineers, the Secretary concerned shall

7 provide for the conservation or restoration of native

8 biodiversity, except during authorized construction

9 projects in which events the Secretary shall conserve na10 tive biodiversity to the extent possible.

11 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING

12 PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout

13 each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even14 age logging and any even-age management after the date

15 of enactment of this subsection.

16 ‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage17 ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection

18 management within one year, or (B) cease managing for

19 timber purposes and actively restore the native

20 biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native

21 biodiversity.

22 ‘‘(3) In this section:

23 ‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the

24 full range of variety and variability within and

25 among living organisms and the ecological complexes

26 in which they would have occurred in the absence of
37

•HR 2407 IH

1 significant human impact, and encompasses diversity

2 within a species (genetic or species), within a com3 munity of species (within-community), between com4 munities of species (between-communities), within a

5 total area such as a watershed (total area), along a

6 plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the

7 plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and

8 horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of

9 diversity.

10 ‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’

11 refer to protective measures for maintaining existing

12 native biological diversity and active and passive

13 measures for restoring diversity through manage14 ment efforts, in order to protect, restore, and en15 hance as much of the variety of species and commu16 nities as possible in abundances and distributions

17 that provide for their continued existence and nor18 mal functioning, including the viability of popu19 lations throughout their natural geographic distribu20 tions.

21 ‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’

22 means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec23 ological processes that occur in different physical

24 settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the

25 world.
38

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif2 ferences in genetic composition within and among

3 populations of a given species.

4 ‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the

5 richness and variety of native species in a particular

6 location of the world.

7 ‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form

8 of selection management that emphasizes the peri9 odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,

10 and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that

11 way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex12 ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall13 est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of

14 the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age

15 groups in a given stand. In no event will more than

16 30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled

17 within 40 years. The foregoing limitation shall not

18 be deemed to establish a 100-year projected felling

19 age as the standard at which individual trees in a

20 stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be

21 limited to that which occurs within the context of a

22 100-year projected felling age.

23 ‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com24 munity with enough identity by location, topography,
39

•HR 2407 IH

1 or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to

2 exceed 100 acres.

3 ‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging

4 of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a

5 patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph

6 (F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of

7 time.

8 ‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means

9 the growing of commercial timber so that all trees

10 in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of

11 the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or

12 clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged com13 pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by

14 clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or

15 shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec16 tion management.

17 ‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell18 ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,

19 of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre

20 of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination

21 of such trees.

22 ‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even23 age logging operation that leaves a small minority of

24 seed trees in a stand for any period of time.
40

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means

2 the application of logging and other actions needed

3 to maintain continuous high forest cover where such

4 cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera5 tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly

6 growth and development of trees through a range of

7 diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield

8 of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and

9 maintain selection stands are individual-tree and

10 group selection. A goal of selection is improvement

11 of quality by continuously harvesting trees less likely

12 to contribute to the long-range health of the stand.

13 ‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an

14 even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority

15 (larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a

16 seed source or protection cover remaining standing

17 for any period of time.

18 ‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include

19 the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the

20 felling of trees or portions of trees except to create

21 land space for a structure or other use.

22 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster

23 the widest possible enforcement of this section.
41

•HR 2407 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United

2 States are injured by actions on lands to which this section

3 applies.

4 ‘‘(B) The provisions of this section shall be enforced

5 by the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General of

6 the United States against any person who violates this sec7 tion.

8 ‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act

9 may enforce any provision of this section by bringing an

10 action for declaratory judgment, temporary restraining

11 order, injunction, civil penalty, and other remedies against

12 any alleged violator including the United States, in any

13 district court of the United States.

14 ‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of this

15 section, shall impose a penalty of not less than $5,000 and

16 not more than $50,000 per violation, shall issue one or

17 more injunctions and other equitable relief and shall

18 award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litigation in19 cluding attorney’s fees, witness fees and other necessary

20 expenses.

21 ‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought

22 under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the

23 evidence and the trial shall be de novo.

24 ‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)

25 shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the
42

•HR 2407 IH

1 court. If that violator is the United States of America or

2 a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to

3 the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec4 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.

5 ‘‘(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment

6 Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per7 sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting

8 or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal

9 land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of

10 attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.

11 ‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em12 ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in

13 all actions under this section. No notice is required to en14 force this section.’’.

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions for chapter 159 of title 10, United States Code, is

17 amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘2694. Conservation of native biodiversity.’’.

18 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this

20 Act shall not apply with respect to any contract to sell

21 timber which was awarded on or before the date of enact22 ment of this Act.

23 (b) APPLICATION TO EMERGENCY SALVAGE TIMBER

24 SALE PROGRAM.—The amendments made by this Act

25 shall apply with respect to any timber salvage sale under
43

•HR 2407 IH

1 section 2001 of Public Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 240) which

2 has not been awarded as of the date of the enactment of

3 this Act, notwithstanding any provision of that section

4 2001.

Æ

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