I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5263 

To encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority 

forest landscapes on Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau 

of Land Management and the Forest Service through a joint Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2008 

Mr. GRIJALVA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 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 

A BILL 

To encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes on Federal lands 

under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service through a joint Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, 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 ‘‘Forest Landscape Res5 toration Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to encourage the collabo3 rative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority for4 est landscapes through a process that— 

5 (1) encourages ecological, economic, and social 

6 sustainability; 

7 (2) leverages local resources with national and 

8 private resources; 

9 (3) facilitates the reduction of wildfire manage10 ment costs, including through reestablishing natural 

11 fire regimes and reducing the risk of 

12 uncharacteristic wildfire; and 

13 (4) demonstrates the degree to which— 

14 (A) various ecological restoration tech15 niques— 

16 (i) achieve ecological health objectives; 

17 and 

18 (ii) affect wildfire activity and man19 agement costs; and 

20 (B) the use of forest restoration byprod21 ucts can offset treatment costs while benefitting 

22 rural economies and improving forest health. 

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 

25 (1) COVERED FEDERAL LANDS.—The term 

26 ‘‘covered Federal lands’’ means Federal lands under 


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1 the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management 

2 and National Forest System lands. 

3 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Col4 laborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund es5 tablished by section 4(g). 

6 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

7 the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Pro8 gram established under section 4(a). 

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

10 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec11 retary of Agriculture, acting jointly. 

12 SEC. 4. COLLABORATIVE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORA13 TION PROGRAM. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

15 and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting jointly, shall es16 tablish a Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Pro17 gram to select and fund ecological restoration treatments 

18 for priority forest landscapes in accordance with applicable 

19 law. 

20 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH EXISTING LAWS.—All activi21 ties carried out under the program shall be carried out 

22 in compliance with section 7 of the Endangered Species 

23 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) and the National Environ24 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.). 


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1 (c) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To be eligible for nomi2 nation under subsection (d) for selection and funding 

3 under the program, a collaborative forest landscape res4 toration proposal shall— 

5 (1) be based on a landscape restoration strategy 

6 that— 

7 (A) is complete or substantially complete; 

8 (B) identifies and prioritizes ecological res9 toration treatments for a 10-year period across 

10 a landscape that is— 

11 (i) at least 50,000 acres; 

12 (ii) comprised primarily of forested 

13 covered Federal lands, but may also in14 clude other Federal, State, tribal, or pri15 vate land; 

16 (iii) in need of active ecosystem res17 toration; and 

18 (iv) accessible by existing or proposed 

19 wood-processing infrastructure at an ap20 propriate scale to use woody biomass and 

21 small-diameter wood removed in ecological 

22 restoration treatments; 

23 (C) incorporates— 


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1 (i) the best available science and sci2 entific application tools in ecological res3 toration strategies; and 

4 (ii) the requirements for old-growth 

5 maintenance, restoration, and management 

6 direction of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of 

7 subsection (f) and the requirements for 

8 large-tree retention of subsection (f) of sec9 tion 102 of Public Law 108–148 (16 

10 U.S.C. 6512); and 

11 (D) does not include the establishment of 

12 permanent roads; 

13 (2) be developed and implemented through a 

14 collaborative process that— 

15 (A) includes multiple interested persons 

16 representing diverse interests; 

17 (B) is transparent and nonexclusive or 

18 meets the requirements for a resource advisory 

19 committee under section 205 of Public Law 

20 106–393 (16 U.S.C. 500 note); and 

21 (C) has an established record of successful 

22 planning and implementation of ecological res23 toration projects on covered Federal lands; 

24 (3) describe plans to— 


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1 (A) use fire for ecological restoration and 

2 maintenance, where appropriate; 

3 (B) improve fish and wildlife habitat, in4 cluding for endangered, threatened, and sen5 sitive species; 

6 (C) maintain or improve water quality; 

7 (D) prevent, remediate, or control inva8 sions of exotic species; 

9 (E) maintain or decommission roads; 

10 (F) use woody biomass and small-diameter 

11 trees produced from projects implementing the 

12 landscape restoration strategy; 

13 (G) report annually on performance, in14 cluding through performance measures from the 

15 plan entitled the ‘‘10 Year Comprehensive 

16 Strategy Implementation Plan’’ and dated De17 cember 2006; 

18 (H) develop small business incubators and 

19 provide employment and training opportunities 

20 to people in rural communities, including con21 tracts for monitoring activities, through— 

22 (i) local private, nonprofit, or coopera23 tive entities; 


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1 (ii) Youth Conservation Corps crews 

2 or related partnerships, with State, local, 

3 and non-profit youth groups; 

4 (iii) small or micro-businesses; or 

5 (iv) other entities that will hire or 

6 train a significant percentage of local peo7 ple to complete such contracts; and 

8 (I) take into account any applicable com9 munity wildfire protection plan (as defined in 

10 section 101 of Public Law 108–148 (16 U.S.C. 

11 6511)); 

12 (4) analyze the anticipated cost savings result13 ing from— 

14 (A) reduced wildfire management costs; 

15 and 

16 (B) a decrease in the unit costs of imple17 menting ecological restoration treatments over 

18 time; 

19 (5) estimate— 

20 (A) the annual Federal funding necessary 

21 to implement the proposal; and 

22 (B) the amount of new non-Federal invest23 ment for carrying out the proposal that would 

24 be leveraged by Federal funding for ecological 

25 restoration treatments; and 


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1 (6) be subject to any other requirements that 

2 the Secretaries determines to be necessary for the 

3 efficient and effective administration of the program. 

4 (d) NOMINATION PROCESS.— 

5 (1) SUBMISSION.—A collaborative forest land6 scape restoration proposal shall be submitted to the 

7 Director of the Bureau of Land Management for 

8 each State in which the covered Federal lands in9 cluded in the proposal are located and to the Re10 gional Forester for the Forest Service Region in 

11 which the covered Federal lands included in the pro12 posal are located. 

13 (2) NOMINATION.—A State Director of the Bu14 reau of Land Management or a Regional Forester 

15 may nominate collaborative forest landscape restora16 tion proposals for selection by the Secretaries. 

17 (3) DOCUMENTATION.—With respect to each 

18 collaborative forest landscape restoration proposal 

19 that is nominated under paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) the State Director of the Bureau of 

21 Land Management or Regional Forester mak22 ing the nomination shall— 

23 (i) include a proposal to use Federal 

24 funds allocated to the State Director of the 

25 Bureau of Land Management or Regional 


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1 Forester to fund those costs of planning 

2 and carrying out ecological restoration 

3 treatments on covered Federal lands con4 sistent with the landscape restoration 

5 strategy that would not be covered by 

6 amounts transferred to the Secretaries 

7 from the Fund; and 

8 (ii) provide evidence that amounts 

9 proposed to be transferred to the Secre10 taries from the Fund during the first 2 

11 years following selection would be used to 

12 carry out ecological restoration treatments 

13 consistent with the landscape restoration 

14 strategy during the same fiscal year in 

15 which the funds are transferred to the Sec16 retaries; and 

17 (B) if the collaborative forest landscape 

18 restoration proposal includes activities that 

19 would be carried out on land that is not under 

20 the jurisdiction of the Secretaries, the State Di21 rector of the Bureau of Land Management or 

22 Regional Forester making the nomination shall 

23 provide evidence that the owner of the non-cov24 ered Federal land intends to participate in, and 


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1 provide appropriate funding to carry out, the 

2 activities on the non-covered Federal land. 

3 (e) SELECTION PROCESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—After consulting with any 

5 scientific and technical advisory panels established 

6 under subsection (f), the Secretaries shall, subject to 

7 paragraph (2), select the best collaborative forest 

8 landscape restoration proposals that— 

9 (A) have been nominated under subsection 

10 (d)(2); and 

11 (B) meet the eligibility criteria established 

12 by subsection (c). 

13 (2) CRITERIA.—In selecting collaborative forest 

14 landscape restoration proposals under paragraph 

15 (1), the Secretaries shall give special consideration 

16 to— 

17 (A) the strength of the ecological case of 

18 the proposal for landscape restoration and the 

19 proposed restoration strategies; 

20 (B) the strength of the collaborative proc21 ess; 

22 (C) whether the proposal would reduce the 

23 relative costs of carrying out treatments as a 

24 result of the use of woody biomass and small25 diameter trees; 


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1 (D) whether the proposal is likely to 

2 achieve reductions in long-term wildfire man3 agement costs; 

4 (E) the strength of the landscape restora5 tion proposal and strategy; and 

6 (F) whether an appropriate level of non7 Federal investment would be leveraged in car8 rying out the proposal. 

9 (3) LIMITATION.—The Secretaries may select 

10 not more than— 

11 (A) 10 collaborative forest landscape res12 toration proposals to be funded during any fis13 cal year; and 

14 (B) 2 collaborative forest landscape res15 toration proposals in any 1 region of the Na16 tional Forest System to be funded during any 

17 fiscal year. 

18 (f) ADVISORY PANELS.— 

19 (1) SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL.—The Secre20 taries shall establish a scientific advisory panel com21 prised of not more than 12 experts in ecological for22 est restoration and fire ecology to evaluate, and pro23 vide recommendations on, any proposal that has 

24 been nominated under subsection (d)(2) and meets 


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1 the eligibility criteria established by subsection (c) 

2 with respect to— 

3 (A) the strength of the ecological case of 

4 the proposal for landscape restoration and the 

5 proposed restoration strategies; and 

6 (B) whether the proposal is likely to 

7 achieve reductions in long-term wildfire man8 agement costs. 

9 (2) TECHNICAL ADVISORY PANEL.—The Secre10 taries may establish a technical advisory panel com11 prised of experts in rural business development and 

12 the use of woody biomass and small-diameter trees 

13 to evaluate, and provide recommendations on, any 

14 proposal that has been nominated under subsection 

15 (d)(2) and meets the eligibility criteria established 

16 by subsection (c) with respect to whether the pro17 posal is likely to reduce the relative costs of carrying 

18 out treatments as a result of the use of woody bio19 mass and small-diameter trees and provide local eco20 nomic benefit. 

21 (g) COLLABORATIVE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORA22 TION FUND.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

24 the Treasury of the United States a fund, to be 

25 known as the ‘‘Collaborative Forest Landscape ResVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:27 Feb 08, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5263.IH H5263

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1 toration Fund’’, to be used to pay up to 50 percent 

2 of the cost of carrying out ecological restoration 

3 treatments on covered Federal lands for each col4 laborative forest landscape restoration proposal se5 lected to be carried out under subsection (e), con6 sisting of— 

7 (A) such amounts as are appropriated to 

8 the Fund under paragraph (5); and 

9 (B) any interest earned on investment of 

10 amounts in the Fund under paragraph (3). 

11 (2) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—On request 

12 by the Secretaries, the Secretary of the Treasury 

13 shall transfer from the Fund to the Secretaries such 

14 amounts as the Secretaries determines are necessary 

15 to carry out ecological restoration treatments under 

16 paragraph (1). 

17 (3) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

18 The Secretaries shall establish an accounting and re19 porting system for the Fund. 

20 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

22 $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

23 2018, to remain available until expended. 

24 (h) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND MONI25 TORING.— 


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1 (1) WORK PLAN.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date on which a collaborative forest land3 scape restoration proposal is selected to be carried 

4 out, the Secretaries shall create, in collaboration 

5 with the interested persons, an implementation work 

6 plan and budget to implement the collaborative for7 est landscape restoration proposal that includes— 

8 (A) a description of the manner in which 

9 the proposal would be implemented to achieve 

10 ecological and community economic benefit, in11 cluding capacity building to accomplish restora12 tion; 

13 (B) a business plan that addresses— 

14 (i) the anticipated unit treatment cost 

15 reductions over 10 years; 

16 (ii) the anticipated costs for infra17 structure needed for the proposal; 

18 (iii) the projected sustainability of the 

19 supply of woody biomass and small-diame20 ter trees removed in ecological restoration 

21 treatments; and 

22 (iv) the projected local economic bene23 fits of the proposal; and 


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1 (C) documentation of the non-Federal in2 vestment in the priority landscape, including 

3 the sources and uses of the investments. 

4 (2) PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION.—Amounts 

5 transferred to the Secretaries from the Fund shall 

6 be used to carry out ecological restoration treat7 ments that are— 

8 (A) consistent with the landscape restora9 tion proposal and strategy; and 

10 (B) identified through the collaborative 

11 process described in subsection (c)(2). 

12 (3) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretaries, in col13 laboration with interested persons, shall prepare an 

14 annual report on the accomplishments of each se15 lected collaborative forest landscape restoration pro16 posal that includes— 

17 (A) a description of all acres (or other ap18 propriate unit) treated and restored through 

19 projects implementing the landscape restoration 

20 strategy; 

21 (B) an evaluation of progress, including 

22 performance measures and how prior year eval23 uations have contributed to improved project 

24 performance; 


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1 (C) a description of community benefits 

2 achieved, including any local economic benefits; 

3 (D) the results of the multiparty moni4 toring, evaluation, and accountability process 

5 under paragraph (4); and 

6 (E) a summary of the costs of— 

7 (i) treatments; and 

8 (ii) relevant fire management activi9 ties. 

10 (4) MULTIPARTY MONITORING.—The Secre11 taries, in collaboration with interested persons, shall 

12 use a multiparty monitoring, evaluation, and ac13 countability process to assess the positive or negative 

14 ecological, social, and economic effects of each 

15 project implementing a selected collaborative forest 

16 landscape restoration proposal for not less than 15 

17 years after project implementation commences. 

18 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the first 

19 fiscal year in which funding is made available to carry out 

20 ecological restoration projects under the program, and 

21 every 5 years thereafter, the Secretaries shall submit a 

22 report on the program, including an assessment of wheth23 er, and to what extent, the program is fulfilling the pur24 poses of this Act, to— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate; 

3 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

8 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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