I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4932

To establish management priorities for Federal forest lands in Oregon and 

Washington located west of the Cascade Crest that will protect old 

growth timber while improving the health of young managed stands, 

increasing the volume of commercial timber available from these lands, 

and providing economic opportunities in local communities, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2004

Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, 

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 establish management priorities for Federal forest lands 

in Oregon and Washington located west of the Cascade 

Crest that will protect old growth timber while improving 

the health of young managed stands, increasing the volume of commercial timber available from these lands, 

and providing economic opportunities in local communities, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northwest Rural Em3 ployment and Forest Restoration Act of 2004’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this section: 

6 (1) NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN.—The term 

7 ‘‘Northwest Forest Plan’’ means the collection of 

8 documents issued in 1994 and entitled ‘‘Final Sup9 plemental Environmental Impact Statement and 

10 Record of Decision for Amendments to Forest Serv11 ice and Bureau of Land Management Planning Doc12 uments within the Range of the Northern Spotted 

13 Owl’’ and ‘‘Standards and Guidelines for Manage14 ment of Habitat for Late-Successional and Old15 Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of 

16 the Northern Spotted Owl’’. 

17 (2) WESTSIDE FOREST LAND.—The term 

18 ‘‘Westside Forest land’’ refers to the publicly owned 

19 Douglas fir and western hemlock forests in Oregon 

20 and Washington that are covered by the Northwest 

21 Forest Plan, located west of the Cascade Crest, and 

22 administered by the Bureau of Land Management or 

23 the Forest Service. These forests generally belong to 

24 the western hemlock and pacific silver fir plant asso25 ciations and have their geographic center north of 

26 the mixed conifer and pine series characteristic of 
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1 Southern Oregon. These forests are found within the 

2 boundaries of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National 

3 Forests, Olympic National Forest, Gifford Pinchot 

4 National Forest, Siuslaw National Forest, Mount 

5 Hood National Forest, Willamette National Forest, 

6 Umpqua National Forest, Rogue River National 

7 Forest, Salem Bureau of Land Management Dis8 trict, Eugene Bureau of Land Management District, 

9 Roseburg Bureau of Land Management District, 

10 Coos Bay Bureau of Land Management District, 

11 and Medford Bureau of Land Management District. 

12 (3) FOREST HEALTH.—The term ‘‘forest 

13 health’’, with respect to an area of Westside Forest 

14 land, refers to the ability of the land to support via15 ble native species assemblages or to have, or be de16 veloping, historic species composition, function, and 

17 structure and hydrologic function. 

18 (4) LATE-SUCCESSIONAL RESERVE.—The term 

19 ‘‘late-successional reserve’’ means land area des20 ignated as a ‘‘late-successional reserve’’ pursuant to 

21 the Northwest Forest Plan. 

22 (5) OLD GROWTH.—The term ‘‘old growth’’ 

23 means late-successional and mature multi-storied 

24 conifer forest stands, more than 120 years old as of 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, that provide, 
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1 or are likely to provide, complex habitat for associ2 ated species assemblages. 

3 (6) YOUNG MANAGED STANDS.—The term 

4 ‘‘young managed stand’’ means a stand of trees 

5 where the overstory has been mechanically removed 

6 and the stand has been artificially regenerated. 

7 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Northwest Forest Plan can be better 

10 implemented. Better implementation and funding of 

11 the Northwest Forest Plan could significantly im12 prove protection for native forest ecosystems and 

13 wildlife and substantially increase timber production 

14 and economic opportunities for rural communities. 

15 (2) Logging of old-growth forests diminishes a 

16 unique natural heritage, as well as habitat for rare, 

17 threatened and endangered species. Old-growth log18 ging creates intense public controversy that has pre19 vented attainment of the social and economic goals 

20 of the Northwest Forest Plan. Thinning in younger, 

21 previously managed forests, on the contrary, can 

22 help recover habitat, reduce controversy, and create 

23 certainty and stability in wood fiber production. 

24 (3) To improve habitat and to capture future 

25 commodity production potential, the Forest Service 
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1 and Bureau of Land Management should implement 

2 an accelerated thinning regime across a wide land3 scape, primarily in young managed stands. 

4 (4) There are vast unmet thinning needs on 

5 Westside Forest lands. Currently there are over 

6 1,000,000 acres of young managed stands des7 ignated as late-successional reserves within the 

8 range of the Northwest Forest Plan that need imme9 diate thinning or will need thinning in the near fu10 ture. Additionally, there are approximately 

11 1,000,000 acres of young managed stands des12 ignated as matrix on these lands that are also in im13 mediate need of thinning or will need thinning in the 

14 near future. 

15 (5) The Forest Service estimates that thinning 

16 the millions of acres of young managed stands on 

17 Westside Forest lands could produce approximately 

18 6,000,000,000 board-feet of commercial timber over 

19 the next couple of decades. 

20 (6) The timber industry in Oregon and Wash21 ington has largely re-tooled its existing mills to proc22 ess the smaller-diameter commercial timber gen23 erated from thinning young managed stands and is 

24 no longer dependent on large-diameter old-growth 

25 trees. 
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1 (7) A program of intensive and accelerated 

2 thinning in young managed stands could annually 

3 yield twice the volume of commercial timber prod4 ucts than the volume currently being produced from 

5 Federal lands under the Northwest Forest Plan. 

6 (8) The Olympic and Siuslaw National Forests 

7 represent nine percent of the National Forest land 

8 base in Oregon and Washington under the North9 west Forest Plan, but in 2003 produced almost 20 

10 percent of the volume in this area. A number of fac11 tors account for this fact, but the primary reason for 

12 these forests’ productivity is the absence of appeals 

13 and litigation due to an emphasis on thinning young 

14 managed stands. 

15 (9) The Siuslaw National Forest generates ap16 proximately 20,000,000 board-feet annually, with 

17 the potential to generate 50,000,000 board-feet, 

18 from young managed stands, resulting in millions of 

19 dollars for additional restoration projects, other for20 est accounts, payments to local counties, and the 

21 Federal Treasury. 

22 (10) The Gifford Pinchot National Forest was 

23 once the top producing forest in Washington. Har24 vest volumes dropped substantially, to approximately 

25 2,000,000 board-feet of timber per year, due to con-
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1 troversy over old-growth logging. Since shifting to 

2 an emphasis on thinning young managed stands, the 

3 Gifford Pinchot National Forest can now produce 

4 nearly 18,000,000 board-feet of commercial timber 

5 annually with virtually no controversy, appeals, or 

6 litigation. 

7 (11) Thinning young managed stands could sig8 nificantly contribute to improved forest health, water 

9 quality, wildlife and vegetation diversity, and the de10 velopment of vital old growth forest ecosystems, 

11 while providing thousands of jobs and much-needed 

12 economic activity in depressed rural communities of 

13 Western Oregon and Washington. 

14 SEC. 4. INVENTORY OF WESTSIDE FOREST LAND. 

15 (a) WESTSIDE FOREST INVENTORY.—Not later than 

16 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 

17 Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management adminis18 trative unit containing Westside Forest land shall—

19 (1) identify different forest land management 

20 allocations, as amended by the Northwest Forest 

21 Plan; and 

22 (2) identify the location, acreage, and age of old 

23 growth stands, young managed stands, and other 

24 naturally occuring stands, regardless of land man25 agement allocation. 
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1 (b) EXISTING INVENTORIES.—Existing forest inven2 tories may be used to satisfy the requirements of this sec3 tion, subject to an internal review confirming the accuracy 

4 of the inventory. 

5 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES FOR WESTSIDE FOREST 

6 LAND. 

7 (a) FOREST HEALTH PROJECTS; PRIORITIZATION.—

8 Upon completion of the forest inventory required by sec9 tion 4 for a Forest Service or Bureau of Land Manage10 ment administrative unit, the administrative unit shall 

11 plan and implement projects described in subsection (b) 

12 through (e) to enhance the forest health of Westside For13 est land managed by the administrative unit. In selecting 

14 such projects, resources of the administrative unit shall 

15 be prioritized so that significant acreage identified in the 

16 inventory in the two categories described in subsections 

17 (b) and (c) are planned for treatment, and treatment has 

18 begun, before planning of projects described in subsections 

19 (d) and (e) is commenced. 

20 (b) ENHANCEMENT OF LATE-SUCCESSIONAL FOREST

21 DEVELOPMENT.—The highest priority shall be given to 

22 projects involving variable density thinning treatments to 

23 enhance late-successional forest development in young 

24 managed stands in late-successional reserves. Projects 

25 shall avoid impacts to unstable slopes, and avoid disturb-
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1 ance to aquatic systems and soils. All projects shall comply 

2 with the management guidelines for late-successional re3 serves contained in the Northwest Forest Plan, except, 

4 notwithstanding the 80-year age limit for late-successional 

5 reserve management, active management to improve forest 

6 health in young managed stands may occur up to 120 

7 years of age in a late-successional reserve. Appropriate 

8 thinning prescriptions for a late-successional reserve shall 

9 be site-specific to individual young managed stands, tak10 ing into account factors such as the slope aspect, soil type, 

11 hydrology, geomorphology, and vegetation composition of 

12 the site. 

13 (c) IMPROVEMENT OF YOUNG MANAGED STANDS.—

14 The second highest priority shall be given to projects in15 volving thinning in young managed stands designated for 

16 timber production in the matrix designed to increase the 

17 objectives of future timber production or enhanced habi18 tat, or both objectives. 

19 (d) TESTING OF INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT TECH20 NIQUES AND STRATEGIES.—An administrative unit may 

21 plan and implement silvicultural projects under this sec22 tion that test new and innovative management techniques 

23 and strategies in adaptive management areas under the 

24 Northwest Forest Plan. Projects shall avoid impacts to 

25 unstable slopes, streams, and soils, as defined in the 
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1 Northwest Forest Plan, as well as identified old growth 

2 forests. 

3 (e) PROJECTS ON MATRIX LAND.—For matrix land 

4 containing old growth stands, an administrative unit shall 

5 not plan, advertise, contract, or implement any harvest of 

6 timber, except for noncommercial use, or noncommercial 

7 purposes in an emergency situation such as wildland fire8 fighting. Other projects may include any management ac9 tivity allowed by the Northwest Forest Plan. 

10 SEC. 6. PREPARATION OF PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRON11 MENTAL DOCUMENTATION. 

12 (a) NEPA DOCUMENTATION.—Based on the forest 

13 inventory required by section 4 for a Forest Service or 

14 Bureau of Land Management administrative unit, the ad15 ministrative unit may prepare programmatic environ16 mental documentation pursuant to the National Environ17 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) at 

18 the appropriate scale (District, watershed, or subwater19 shed) to study the significant environmental effects of the 

20 major Federal actions contemplated in projects authorized 

21 by section 5. 

22 (b) ELIMINATION OF REPETITIVE DISCUSSIONS OF

23 ISSUES.—If programmatic environmental documentation 

24 is prepared under subsection (a), the Forest Service or 

25 Bureau of Land Management administrative unit may 
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1 eliminate repetitive discussions of the same issues and 

2 focus on the actual issues ripe for decision at subsequent 

3 levels of environmental review. Subsequent levels of envi4 ronmental review may tier to the programmatic environ5 mental document by summarizing the issues discussed in 

6 the broader statement and incorporate discussions from 

7 the broader statement by reference. 

8 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS AND AUTHOR9 IZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) RELATION TO NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN.—This 

11 Act is intended to supplement the requirements of the 

12 Northwest Forest Plan. Except as provided in section 5, 

13 all projects on Westside Forest lands shall be planned and 

14 implemented in compliance with the Northwest Forest 

15 Plan and all other applicable laws. 

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each 

18 fiscal year to plan and implement projects under section 

19 5. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this authorization 

20 of appropriation shall remain available until expended. 

21 This authorization of appropriations is in addition to any 

22 other authorization of appropriations for the Forest Serv23 ice or the Bureau of Land Management. 

24 (c) TREATMENT OF PROCEEDS FROM CERTAIN

25 PROJECTS.—
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1 (1) RETAINED PROCEEDS.—Subject to para2 graph (2), an administrative unit of the Forest Serv3 ice or the Bureau of Land Management may retain 

4 proceeds from the sale of commercial timber result5 ing from a project described in section 5(b) for use 

6 in planning and implementing other projects under 

7 such section and other projects to improve forest 

8 health on Westside Forest lands. 

9 (2) RELATION TO OTHER FOREST RECEIPT

10 LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall affect deposits to 

11 the Knudsen-Vanderburg Reforestation Trust Fund 

12 established under section 3 of the Act of June 9, 

13 1930 (16 U.S.C. 576b), the requirement to make 

14 payments to States or counties under any provision 

15 of law, or other obligations related to receipts ob16 tained from the sale of forest products from 

17 Westside Forest lands.

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