I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5381 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance in support of 

nurseries and seed orchards, to establish a grant program in support 

of nurseries and seed orchards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 

Ms. SCHRIER (for herself and Mr. DUARTE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance 

in support of nurseries and seed orchards, to establish 

a grant program in support of nurseries and seed orchards, 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 ‘‘Reforestation, Nurs5 eries, and Genetic Resources Support Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘RNGR Support Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NURSERY AND SEED ORCHARD SUPPORT. 

2 (a) PARTNERSHIPS, COLLABORATION, AND OTHER

3 ASSISTANCE IN SUPPORT OF NURSERIES AND SEED OR4 CHARDS.—The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

5 the Chief of the Forest Service, shall— 

6 (1) partner with Federal and State agencies, 

7 Indian Tribes, and private nurseries to provide 

8 training, technical assistance, and research to nurs9 ery and tree establishment programs that support 

10 natural regeneration, reforestation, agroforestry, and 

11 afforestation; 

12 (2) promote information sharing to improve 

13 technical knowledge and practices and understand 

14 demands, climate change impacts, and other issues 

15 as necessary to address all facets of the reforestation 

16 pipeline; 

17 (3) provide technical and financial assistance to 

18 international nursery and tree establishment pro19 grams through the Forest Service International Pro20 grams, the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, and 

21 the International Institute of Tropical Forestry; 

22 (4) collaborate with other relevant Federal de23 partments and agencies, including the Foreign Agri24 cultural Service of the Department of Agriculture, 

25 the United States Agency for International Develop26 ment, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service of 


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1 the Department of the Interior, and international or2 ganizations, including the Food and Agriculture Or3 ganization of the United Nations, to provide tech4 nical and financial assistance related to nurseries 

5 and reforestation; 

6 (5) coordinate the efforts of the Department of 

7 Agriculture to— 

8 (A) address the challenges associated with 

9 the reforestation pipeline; and 

10 (B) leverage economic development assist11 ance for work with private nurseries; and 

12 (6) expand climate-informed reforestation sup13 ply chains through science and research, seed collec14 tion and storage, and nursery infrastructure and op15 erations. 

16 (b) NURSERY AND SEED ORCHARD GRANTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

19 of Agriculture shall establish a program to provide 

20 grants to eligible recipients to support nurseries and 

21 seed orchards. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may 

23 make a grant under this section to an eligible recipi24 ent for a project to do at least one of the following: 


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1 (A) Develop, expand, enhance, or improve 

2 nursery production capacity or other infrastruc3 ture to— 

4 (i) improve seed collection and stor5 age; 

6 (ii) increase seedling production, stor7 age, and distribution; or 

8 (iii) enhance seedling survival and 

9 properly manage tree genetic resources. 

10 (B) Establish or expand a nursery or seed 

11 orchard, including by acquiring equipment for 

12 such nursery or seed orchard. 

13 (C) Develop or implement quality control 

14 measures at nurseries or seed orchards. 

15 (D) Promote workforce development within 

16 any facet of the reforestation pipeline. 

17 (E) Carry out such other activity as the 

18 Secretary determines appropriate. 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

21 recipient’’ means— 

22 (A) a State forestry agency; 

23 (B) an Indian Tribe; and 

24 (C) a private nursery that has experience 

25 growing high-quality native trees of appropriate 


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1 genetic sources in bareroot or container 

2 stocktypes specific for reforestation, restoration, 

3 or conservation, including native plants and 

4 seeds that are of cultural significance to Indian 

5 Tribes. 

6 (2) NURSERY.—The term ‘‘nursery’’ means a 

7 tree or native plant nursery. 

8 (3) SEED ORCHARD.—The term ‘‘seed orchard’’ 

9 means a tree or native plant seed orchard. 

10 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

11 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or 

13 possession of the United States. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

Æ 


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