II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 433 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to convene a blue ribbon panel 

to review the forest inventory and analysis program of the Forest Service, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2023 

Mr. KING (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to convene a blue 

ribbon panel to review the forest inventory and analysis 

program of the Forest Service, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS PROGRAM 

4 BLUE RIBBON PANEL. 

5 Section 3 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 

6 Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(f) FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS PROGRAM

9 BLUE RIBBON PANEL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

3 Secretary, in consultation with the National Associa4 tion of State Foresters, shall convene a blue ribbon 

5 panel (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Panel’) 

6 to review the forest inventory and analysis program 

7 established under this section (referred to in this 

8 subsection as the ‘program’). 

9 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) NUMBER.—The Panel shall be com11 posed of not fewer than 10, and not more than 

12 20, members. 

13 ‘‘(B) MEMBERS.—Members of the Panel 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) include recognized national lead16 ers from across State and Federal agen17 cies, universities, industry, and nongovern18 mental organizations; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) have knowledge of and expertise 

20 in forest biometrics, inventory, and remote 

21 sensing technology. 

22 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) REVIEW.—The Panel shall conduct a 

24 review of the past progress, current priorities, 

25 and future needs of the program with respect to 


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1 national monitoring of forest carbon, climate 

2 change, forest health, and sustainable wood 

3 products. 

4 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—The review under 

5 subparagraph (A) shall include consideration 

6 of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the modernization of the pro8 gram— 

9 ‘‘(I) broadly; and 

10 ‘‘(II) specifically relating to the 

11 integration of advanced remote sens12 ing technologies and methods such as 

13 small area estimation; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the possibility of more public-pri15 vate-academic partnerships under the pro16 gram to help meet the goals of the pro17 gram and external needs, particularly re18 lating to research priorities, operational 

19 implementation of current or ongoing 

20 science, and decision support. 

21 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than March 31, 

22 2024, the Panel shall submit to the Secretary, 

23 the Secretary of the Interior, and Congress a 

24 report describing the review conducted under 

25 subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR3 PERSON.—The Panel shall select a Chairperson 

4 and Vice Chairperson from among the non5 governmental members of the Panel. 

6 ‘‘(B) COMMITTEES.—The Panel may es7 tablish 1 or more committees within the Panel 

8 as the Panel determines to be appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(C) COMPENSATION.—A member of the 

10 Panel shall serve without compensation. 

11 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The 

12 Secretary shall provide such administrative sup13 port as is necessary for the Panel to carry out 

14 its duties. 

15 ‘‘(E) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

16 ACT.—The Panel shall be exempt from chapter 

17 10 of title 5, United States Code (commonly re18 ferred to as the ‘Federal Advisory Committee 

19 Act’).’’. 

Æ 


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