I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 460
To establish Institutes to conduct research on the prevention of, and restora-
tion from, wildfires in forest and woodland ecosystems of the interior 
West. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2003
Mr. HAYWORTH (for himself, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. 
RENZI, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. 
KOLBE, and Mr. TANCREDO) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee 
on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish Institutes to conduct research on the prevention 
of, and restoration from, wildfires in forest and woodland 
ecosystems of the interior West.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Prevention 
Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) there is an increasing threat of wildfire to 
millions of acres of forest land and rangeland 
throughout the United States; 
(2) forest land and rangeland are degraded as 
a direct consequence of land management practices 
(including practices to control and prevent wildfires 
and the failure to harvest subdominant trees from 
overstocked stands) that disrupt the occurrence of 
frequent low-intensity fires that have periodically re-
moved flammable undergrowth; 
(3) at least 39,000,000 acres of land of the Na-
tional Forest System in the interior West are at 
high risk of wildfire; 
(4) an average of 95 percent of the expendi-
tures by the Forest Service for wildfire suppression 
during fiscal years 1990 through 1994 were made to 
suppress wildfires in the interior West; 
(5) the number, size, and severity of wildfires in 
the interior West are increasing; 
(6) of the timberland in National Forests in the 
States of Arizona and New Mexico, 59 percent of 
such land in Arizona, and 56 percent of such land 
in New Mexico, has an average diameter of 9 to 12 
inches diameter at breast height;
(7) the population of the interior West grew 
twice as fast as the national average during the 
1990s; 
(8) efforts to prioritize forests and communities 
for wildfire risk reduction have been inconsistent 
and insufficient and have resulted in funding to 
areas that are not prone to severe wildfires; 
(9) catastrophic wildfires—
(A) endanger homes and communities; 
(B) damage and destroy watersheds and 
soils; and 
(C) pose a serious threat to the habitat of 
threatened and endangered species; 
(10) a 1994 assessment of forest health in the 
interior West estimated that only a 15- to 30-year 
window of opportunity exists for effective manage-
ment intervention before damage from uncontrollable 
wildfire becomes widespread, with 8 years having al-
ready elapsed since the assessment; 
(11) following a catastrophic wildfire, certain 
forests in the interior West do not return to their 
former grandeur; 
(12) healthy forest and woodland ecosystems—
(A) reduce the risk of wildfire to forests 
and communities;
(B) improve wildlife habitat and biodiver-
sity; 
(C) increase tree, grass, forb, and shrub 
productivity; 
(D) enhance watershed values; 
(E) improve the environment; and 
(F) provide a basis in some areas for eco-
nomically and environmentally sustainable uses; 
(13) sustaining the long-term ecological and 
economic health of interior West forests and wood-
land, and their dependent human communities, re-
quires preventing severe wildfires before the wildfires 
occur and permitting natural, low-intensity ground 
fires; 
(14) more natural fire regimes cannot be ac-
complished without the reduction of excess fuels and 
thinning of subdorminant trees (which fuels and 
trees may be of commercial value); 
(15) ecologically-based forest and woodland eco-
system restoration on a landscape scale will—
(A) improve long-term community protec-
tion; 
(B) minimize the need for wildfire suppres-
sion; 
(C) improve resource values;
(D) reduce rehabilitation costs; 
(E) reduce loss of critical habitat; and 
(F) protect forests for future generations; 
(16) although the National Fire Plan, and the 
report entitled ‘‘Protecting People and Sustaining 
Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems—A Cohesive 
Strategy’’ (65 Fed. Reg. 67480), advocate a shift in 
wildfire policy from suppression to prevention (in-
cluding restoration and hazardous fuels reduction), 
Federal land managers are not dedicating sufficient 
attention and financial resources to restoration ac-
tivities that simultaneously restore forest health and 
reduce the risk of severe wildfire; 
(17) although landscape scale restoration is 
needed to effectively reverse degradation, scientific 
understanding of landscape scale treatments is lim-
ited; 
(18) the Federal wildfire research program is 
funded at approximately 1/3 of the amount that is 
required to address emerging wildfire problems, re-
sulting in the lack of a cohesive strategy to address 
the threat of catastrophic wildfires; and 
(19) rigorous, understandable, and applied sci-
entific information is needed for—
risk of severe wildfires across the forest land-
scape; 
(B) to ensure that sufficient funds are 
dedicated to wildlife prevention activities, in-
cluding restoration treatments; and 
(C) to monitor and use wildfire treatments 
based on the use of adaptive ecosystem manage-
ment; 
(5) to develop, transfer, and assist land man-
agers in treating acres with restoration-based treat-
ments and use new management technologies (in-
cluding the transfer of understandable information, 
assistance with environmental review, and field and 
classroom training and collaboration) to accomplish 
the goals identified in—
(A) the National Fire Plan; 
(B) the report entitled ‘‘Protecting People 
and Sustaining Resources in Fire-Adapted Eco-
systems—A Cohesive Strategy’’ (65 Fed. Reg. 
67480); and 
(C) the report entitled ‘‘10-Year Com-
prehensive Strategy: A Collaborative Approach 
for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Commu-
nities and the Environment’’ of the Western 
Governors’ Association; and
(6) to provide technical assistance to collabo-
rative efforts by affected entities to develop, imple-
ment, and monitor adaptive ecosystem management 
restoration treatments that are ecologically sound, 
economically viable, and socially responsible. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADAPTIVE ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT.—The 
term ‘‘adaptive ecosystem management’’ means a 
natural resource management process under which 
planning, implementation, monitoring, research, 
evaluation, and incorporation of new knowledge are 
combined into a management approach that is—
(A) based on scientific findings and the 
needs of society; and 
(B) used to modify future management 
methods and policy. 
(2) AFFECTED ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘affected 
entities’’ includes—
(A) land managers; 
(B) stakeholders; and 
(C) concerned citizens. 
(3) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means 
an Institute established under section 5(a).
(4) INTERIOR
WEST.—The term ‘‘interior 
West’’ means the States of Arizona, Colorado, 
Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. 
(5) LAND MANAGER.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘land man-
ager’’ means a person or entity that practices 
or guides natural resource management. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘land man-
ager’’ includes a Federal, State, local, or tribal 
land management agency. 
(6) RESTORATION.—The term ‘‘restoration’’ 
means a process undertaken to return an ecosystem 
or habitat toward—
(A) the original condition of the ecosystem 
or habitat; or 
(B) a condition that supports a related 
species, natural function, or ecological process 
(including a low intensity fire). 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Chief of the Forest Service. 
(8) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 
means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 
through the Chief of the Forest Service; and
(B) the Secretary of the Interior. 
(9) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’ 
means any person interested in or affected by man-
agement of forest or woodland ecosystems. 
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Interior, shall—
(1) not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, establish 3 Institutes to pro-
mote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to 
reduce the risk of wildfires, and improve the health 
of forest and woodland ecosystems, in the interior 
West; and 
(2) provide assistance to the Institutes to pro-
mote the use of adaptive ecosystem management in 
accordance with paragraph (1). 
(b) LOCATION.—
(1) EXISTING INSTITUTES.—The Secretary may 
designate an institute in existence on the date of en-
actment of this Act to serve as an Institute estab-
lished under this Act. 
(2) STATES.—Of the Institutes established 
under this Act, the Secretary shall establish 1 Insti-
tute in each of—
(A) the State of Arizona, to be located at 
Northern Arizona University; 
(B) the State of New Mexico; and 
(C) the State of Colorado. 
(c) DUTIES.—Each Institute shall—
(1) plan, conduct, or promote research on the 
use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the 
risk of wildfires, and improve the health of forest 
and woodland ecosystems, in the interior West, in-
cluding—
(A) research that assists in providing in-
formation on the use of adaptive ecosystem 
management practices to affected entities; and 
(B) research that will be useful in the de-
velopment and implementation of practical, 
science-based, ecological restoration treatments 
for forest and woodland ecosystems affected by 
wildfires; and 
(2) provide the results of research described in 
paragraph (1) to affected entities. 
(d) COOPERATION.—To increase and accelerate ef-
forts to restore forest ecosystem health and abate unnatu-
ral and unwanted wildfires in the interior West, each In-
stitute shall cooperate with—