‘‘(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Chief of the Forest Service. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—There is es-
tablished within the Forest Service a program to be known 
as the ‘Suburban and Community Forestry and Open 
Space Program’. The purpose of the program is to provide 
assistance to eligible entities to carry out eligible projects 
in States in which less than 25 percent of the land is 
owned by the United States to— 
‘‘(1) conserve private forest land and maintain 
working forests in suburban areas; 
‘‘(2) provide communities a means by which to 
create community forests; and 
‘‘(3) support primary and secondary value- 
added forest products industries and employment in 
areas threatened by conversion of forest land to non-
forest uses. 
‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE PRIVATE FOREST 
LAND AND ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) NATIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall 
establish national criteria— 
‘‘(A) for the identification of private forest 
land eligible for conservation under the pro-
gram; and 
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‘‘(B) for the identification of eligible enti-
ties. 
‘‘(2) CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBLE PRIVATE FOR-
EST LAND.—Private forest land identified for con-
servation using the criteria established under para-
graph (2)(A) shall be land that— 
‘‘(A) is located in a State in which less 
than 25 percent of the land is owned by the 
United States; 
‘‘(B) is appropriate for conservation under 
a comprehensive plan for development adopted 
by the relevant local government; and 
‘‘(C) is determined by the relevant local 
government to be located in an area threatened 
by conversion of forest land to nonforest uses. 
‘‘(d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS
FOR
ELIGIBLE
PROJECTS.—In 
carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award 
competitive grants to eligible entities to carry out el-
igible projects. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Eligible entities are en-
couraged to provide public access to land on which 
an eligible project is carried out, consistent with 
State law and preexisting access agreements. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION AND STEWARDSHIP PLAN.— 
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‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.—An eligible entity that seeks 
to receive a grant under the program shall submit 
to the appropriate State forester and relevant local 
government— 
‘‘(A) at such time and in such form as the 
Secretary shall prescribe, an application for the 
grant (including a description of any private 
forest land to be conserved using funds from 
the grant and a description of the extent of the 
threat of conversion of the land to nonforest 
use); and 
‘‘(B) a stewardship plan that describes— 
‘‘(i) the manner in which any private 
forest land to be conserved using funds 
from the grant will be managed in accord-
ance with this section; 
‘‘(ii) the manner in which the stew-
ardship plan will be implemented; and 
‘‘(iii) the public benefits, including 
economic and noneconomic benefits, to be 
achieved from implementation of the stew-
ardship plan. 
‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT OF NEED.—With respect to 
an application submitted under paragraph (1)(A), 
the State forester shall— 
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‘‘(A) assess the need for preserving work-
ing suburban forest land and open space and 
community forests in the State, taking into ac-
count the housing needs of the area in which 
the eligible project is to be carried out; 
‘‘(B) certify that the preservation of subur-
ban forest land as contemplated by the applica-
tion is consistent with any comprehensive plan 
for development adopted by the relevant local 
government; and 
‘‘(C) if approved by the relevant local gov-
ernment, submit the application and the assess-
ment of need to the Secretary. 
‘‘(f) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 
after the date on which the Secretary receives an ap-
plication under subsection (e), or a resubmission of 
an application under subparagraph (B), the Sec-
retary shall review the application and— 
‘‘(A) award a grant to the applicant; or 
‘‘(B) disapprove the application and pro-
vide the applicant with a statement that de-
scribes the reasons why the application was dis-
approved and specifies a deadline by which the 
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