II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3856 

To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National Forest System 

to submit to the Chief of the Forest Service a harvesting improvement 

report, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 

Mr. ROUNDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National 

Forest System to submit to the Chief of the Forest 

Service a harvesting improvement report, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Timber Harvesting 

5 Restoration Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HARVESTING IMPROVEMENT ON NATIONAL FOREST 

7 SYSTEM LAND. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ALLOWABLE SALE QUANTITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘allowable sale quantity’’ means the maximum vol3 ume of timber potentially available in a unit of the 

4 National Forest System as part of regularly sched5 uled timber sales from land suitable for timber pro6 duction over a 10-year period. 

7 (2) COVERED NFS UNIT.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 NFS unit’’ means a unit of the National Forest Sys9 tem with respect to which, as determined by the Sec10 retary, the actual volume of timber sold from the 

11 unit during the fiscal year preceding the date of enactment of this Act is not more than 2 12 ⁄3 of the allow13 able sale quantity. 

14 (3) FOREST SUPERVISOR.—The term ‘‘forest 

15 supervisor’’ means a forest supervisor of a unit of 

16 the National Forest System. 

17 (4) HARVESTING IMPROVEMENT REPORT.—The 

18 term ‘‘harvesting improvement report’’ means a har19 vesting improvement report described in subsection 

20 (b)(1). 

21 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

23 Chief of the Forest Service. 

24 (b) HARVESTING IMPROVEMENT REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, each forest 

3 supervisor of a covered NFS unit shall submit to the 

4 Secretary a harvesting improvement report that 

5 identifies areas of the covered NFS unit that could 

6 be used, and any actionable steps that may be taken, 

7 to increase the volume of timber sold from the cov8 ered NFS unit. 

9 (2) CONSULTATION.—In preparing a harvesting 

10 improvement report, a forest supervisor shall consult 

11 with— 

12 (A) relevant members of private industry; 

13 (B) relevant advisory committees; 

14 (C) State, local, and Tribal governments; 

15 and 

16 (D) relevant stakeholder groups. 

17 (3) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary shall notify each forest supervisor of whether 

20 that forest supervisor is required to file a harvesting 

21 improvement report. 

22 (c) ACTIONABLE STEPS.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor 

24 required to submit a harvesting improvement report shall 

25 demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that the 


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1 forest supervisor has taken actionable steps toward in2 creasing the volume of timber sold from the applicable cov3 ered NFS unit. 

4 (d) MEASURING PERFORMANCE.— 

5 (1) REVIEW OF PROGRESS.—1 year after the 

6 date on which a forest supervisor submits a har7 vesting improvement report, the Secretary shall re8 view the progress made toward increasing the vol9 ume of timber sold from the applicable covered NFS 

10 unit. 

11 (2) IMPROVEMENT.—If the Secretary deter12 mines, after a review under paragraph (1), that the 

13 actual volume of timber sold from the unit is more 

than 3 14 ⁄4 of the allowable sale quantity for the unit, 

15 the forest supervisor of that unit shall not be re16 quired to submit any additional harvesting improve17 ment reports under this section. 

18 (3) LACK OF IMPROVEMENT.—If the Secretary 

19 determines, after a review under paragraph (1), that 

20 the actual volume of timber sold from the unit is not 

more than 3 21 ⁄4 of the allowable sale quantity for the 

22 unit, the forest supervisor of that unit shall, not 

23 later than 180 days after the review under para24 graph (1), submit to the Secretary another har25 vesting improvement report. 


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1 (e) SUPPORTING HARVESTING IMPROVEMENTS.— 

2 With respect to a unit described in subsection (d)(3), the 

3 Secretary shall allocate any available resources to that 

4 unit for the purpose of increasing the volume of timber 

5 sold, which resources may include— 

6 (1) providing additional personnel; 

7 (2) expanding the use of good neighbor agree8 ments under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 

9 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a); and 

10 (3) using any feasible actions and authorities to 

11 expedite environmental review processes. 

12 (f) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive a require13 ment to submit a harvesting improvement report under 

14 this section with respect to a unit of the National Forest 

15 System if the Secretary determines that there is a plau16 sible reason, such as a natural disaster, for the lack of 

17 progress toward increasing the volume of timber sold. 

Æ 


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