I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 971
To implement the recommendations of the Northern Forest Lands Council.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 6, 1997
Mr. BASS (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. GIL-
MAN, Mrs. KELLY, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. QUINN, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SAXTON,
Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr.
HINCHEY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MEEHAN,
Mr. OLVER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr.
LAZIO of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To implement the recommendations of the Northern Forest
Lands Council.
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 ‘‘Northern Forest Stew-
ardship Act’’.
SEC. 2. DECLARATIONS.
Congress declares as follows:
(1) The 26,000,000-acre Northern Forest re-
gion is an extraordinary resource. The forests in the
region are rich in natural resources and values cher-
ished by residents and visitors: timber, fiber, and
wood for forest products and energy supporting suc-
cessful businesses and providing stable jobs for resi-
dents; lakes ponds, rivers, and streams unspoiled by
pollution or crowding human development; tracts of
land for wildlife habitat and recreational use, and
protected areas to help preserve the biological integ-
rity of the region. This Act is enacted to advance the
goals of the Northern Forest Lands Council and to
reaffirm the Council’s vision of the Northern Forest
as a landscape of interlocking parts and pieces, rein-
forcing each other: local communities, industrial for-
est land, family and individual ownerships, small
woodlots, recreation land, and public and private
conservation land.
(2) This Act effectuates certain recommenda-
tions of the Northern Forest Lands Council that
were developed with broad public input and the in-
volvement of Federal, State, and local governments.
The actions described in this Act to implement those
recommendations are most appropriately directed by
the Northern Forest States, with assistance from the
Federal Government, as requested by the States.
Implementation of the recommendations should be
guided by the fundamental principles laid out by the
Northern Forest Lands Council report. Those prin-
ciples provide the foundation for the intent of this
Act: to support the primary role of the Northern
Forest States in the management of their forests, to
protect the traditions of the region, to emphasize the
rights and responsibilities of the landowners, and to
advance new mechanisms for cooperative conserva-
tion of the Northern Forest lands and its resources
for future generations.
SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGE-
MENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the Governor
of the State of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, or Ver-
mont, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the
Chief of the Forest Service, may provide technical assist-
ance for a State-based initiative directed by the State, to
define the appropriate benchmarks of sustainable forest
management that address the principles of sustainability,
as recommended by the Northern Forest Lands Council.
(b) PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY.—It is the sense
of Congress that for the purposes of subsection (a), prin-
ciples of sustainability should be based on the principles
developed by the Northern Forest Lands Council, includ-
ing—
(1) maintenance of soil productivity;
(2) conservation of water quality, wetlands, and
riparian zones;
(3) maintenance or creation of a healthy bal-
ance of forest age classes;
(4) continuous flow of timber, pulpwood, and
other forest products;
(5) improvement of the overall quality of the
timber resource as a foundation for more value-
added opportunities;
(6) addressing scenic quality by limiting adverse
aesthetic impacts of forest harvesting, particularly in
high-elevation areas and vistas;
(7) conservation and enhancement of habitats
that support a full range of native flora and fauna;
(8) protection of unique or fragile natural
areas; and
(9) continuation of opportunities for traditional
recreation.
SEC. 4. NORTHERN FOREST RESEARCH COOPERATIVE.
At the request of the Governor of the State of Maine,
New Hampshire, New York, or Vermont, the Secretary of
Agriculture (acting through the Northeastern Forest Ex-
periment Station and the Chief of the Forest Service) may
work with the State, the land grant universities of the
State, natural resource and forestry schools, other Federal
agencies, and other interested parties in assisting the
State in coordinating ecological and economic research, in-
cluding—
(1) research on ecosystem health, forest man-
agement, product development, economics, and relat-
ed fields;
(2) research to help achieve the principles of
sustainability described in section 3 as recommended
by the Northern Forest Lands Council;
(3) technology transfer to the wood products in-
dustry on efficient processing, pollution prevention,
and energy conservation;
(4) dissemination of existing and new informa-
tion to landowners, public and private resource man-
agers, State forest citizen advisory committees, and
the general public through professional associations,
publications, and other information clearinghouse ac-
tivities; and
(5) analysis of strategies for the protection of
areas of outstanding ecological significance, high bio-
diversity, and the provision of important recreational
opportunities, including strategies for areas identi-
fied through State land acquisition planning proc-
esses.
SEC. 5. INTERSTATE COORDINATION STRATEGY.
At the request of the Governors of the States of
Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, the Sec-
retary of Agriculture (acting through the Chief of the For-
est Service) may make a representative of the State and
Private Forest Program available to meet with representa-
tives of the States to coordinate the implementation of
Federal and State policy recommendations issued by the
Northern Forest Lands Council and other policies agreed
to by the States.
SEC. 6. LAND CONSERVATION.
(a) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—At the request of the
Governor of the State of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver-
mont, or New York, the Secretary of Agriculture (acting
through the Chief of the Forest Service) and the Secretary
of the Interior (acting through the Director of the Na-
tional Park Service and Director of the United States Fish
and Wildlife Service) may provide technical and financial
assistance for a State-managed public land acquisition
planning process and land acquisition initiatives directed
by the State.
(b) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—The planning proc-
ess for a State described in subsection (a) shall establish
a goal-oriented land conservation program that includes—
(1) identification of, and setting of priorities for
the acquisition of, fee or less-than-fee interests in ex-
ceptional and important lands, in accordance with
criteria that include—
(A) 
places 
offering 
outstanding 
rec-
reational opportunities, including locations for
hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, camping, and
other forms of back-country recreation;
(B) recreational access to river and lake
shorelines;
(C) land supporting vital ecological func-
tions and values;
(D) habitats for rare, threatened, or en-
dangered natural communities, plants, and
wildlife;
(E) areas of outstanding scenic value and
significant geological features; and
(F) working private forest lands that are
of such significance or so threatened by conver-
sion that conservation easements should be pur-
chased;
(2) acquisition of land and interests in land
only from willing sellers, with community support
consistent with Federal, State, and local laws appli-
cable in each State on the date of enactment of this
Act;
(3) involvement of local governments and land-
owners in the planning process in a meaningful way
that acknowledges their concerns about public land
acquisition;
(4) recognition that zoning, while an important
land use mechanism, is not an appropriate substi-
tution for acquisition;
(5) assurances that unilateral eminent domain
will be used only with the consent of the landowner
to clear title and establish purchase prices;
(6) efficient use of public funds by purchasing
only the rights necessary to best identify and protect
exceptional values;
(7) consideration of the potential impacts and
benefits of land and easement acquisition on local
and regional economies;
(8) consideration of the necessity of including
costs of future public land management in the as-
sessment of overall costs of acquisition;
(9) minimization of adverse tax consequences to
municipalities by making funds available to continue
to pay property taxes based at least on current use
valuation of parcels acquired, payments in lieu of
taxes, user fee revenues, or other benefits, where ap-
propriate;
(10) identification of the potential for exchang-
ing public land for privately held land of greater
public value; and
(11) assurances that any land or interests in-
land that are acquired are used and managed for
their intended purposes.
(c) WILLING SELLER.—No Federal funds made
available to carry out this Act may be expended for acqui-
sition of private or public property unless the owner of
the property willingly offers the property for sale.
(d) LAND ACQUISITION.—
(1) FUNDING.—After completion of the plan-
ning process under subsection (b), a Federal and
State cooperative land acquisition project under this
Act may be carried out with funding provided exclu-
sively by the Federal Government or with funding
provided by both the Federal Government and a
State government.
(2) OBJECTIVES.—A cooperative land acquisi-
tion project funded under this Act shall promote
State land conservation objectives that correspond
with Federal goals and the recommendations of the
Northern Forest Lands Council.
(e) COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAM.—The Secretary of
the Interior shall conduct activities under this section as
a complement to the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recre-
ation Plan for each Northern Forest State in existence
on the date of enactment of this section.
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be
appropriated under sections 5 and 6 of the Land
and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16
U.S.C. 460l–7, 460l–8) such sums as are necessary
to carry out the purposes described in this sub-
section.
(2) EFFECT ON APPORTIONMENT.—Apportion-
ment among the States under section 5(b) of the Act
(16 U.S.C. 460l–8(b)) shall be from funds not ap-
propriated under paragraph (1).
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING FEDERAL TAX
POLICY.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) certain Federal tax policies work against
the long-term ownership, management, and con-
servation of forest land in the Northern Forest re-
gion; and
(2) Congress and the President should enact
additional legislation to address those tax policies as
soon as possible.
SEC. 8. LANDOWNER LIABILITY EXEMPTION.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) many landowners keep their land open and
available for responsible recreation; and
(2) private lands help provide important forest-
based recreation opportunities for the public in the
Northern Forest region.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that States and other interested persons should pur-
sue initiatives that—
(1) strengthen relief-from-liability laws to pro-
tect landowners that allow responsible public rec-
reational use of their lands;
(2) update relief-from-liability laws to establish
hold-harmless mechanisms for landowners that open
their land to public use, including provision for pay-
ment by the State of the costs of a landowner’s de-
fense against personal injury suits and of the costs
of repairing property damage and removing litter;
(3) provide additional reductions in property
taxes for landowners that allow responsible public
recreational use of their lands;
(4) provide for purchases by the State of land
in fee and of temporary and permanent recreation
easements and leases, including rights of access;
(5) foster State and private cooperative recre-
ation agreements;
(6) create recreation coordinator and landowner
liaison and remote ranger positions in State govern-
ment to assist in the management of public use of
private lands and provide recreation opportunities
and other similar services;
(7) 
strengthen 
enforcement 
of 
trespass,
antilittering, and antidumping laws;
(8) improve recreation user education pro-
grams; and
(9) improve capacity in State park and recre-
ation agencies to measure recreational use (including
types, amounts, locations, and concentrations of use)
and identify and address trends in use before the
trends create problems.
SEC. 9. NONGAME CONSERVATION.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) private landowners often manage their lands
in ways that produce a variety of public benefits, in-
cluding wildlife habitat; and
(2) there should be more incentives for private
landowners to exceed current forest management
standards and responsibilities under Federal laws.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that Congress should make it a priority to consider
legislation that creates a funding mechanism to support
the conservation of nongame fish and wildlife and associ-
ated recreation activities on public and private lands and
does not replace, substitute, or duplicate existing laws that
support game fish and wildlife.
SEC. 10. WATER QUALITY.
At the request of the Governor of the State of Maine,
New Hampshire, New York, or Vermont, the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in co-
operation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-
retary of the Interior, may provide technical and financial
assistance to assess water quality trends within the North-
ern Forest region.