I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9602 
To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize 
States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage 
conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 
Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. HUFFMAN, and 
Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 
to authorize States to approve certain organizations to 
acquire, hold, and manage conservation easements under 
the Forest Legacy Program, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Forest Legacy Man-
agement Flexibility Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED OR-
GANIZATIONS TO ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MAN-
AGE 
CONSERVATION 
EASEMENTS 
UNDER 
THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM. 
(a) STATE AUTHORIZATION.—Section 7 of the Coop-
erative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 
2103c) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (l)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (m)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (o)’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘the State of Vermont’’ and inserting ‘‘any 
State’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), in the 
matter preceding subclause (I), by striking 
‘‘of Vermont’’ and inserting ‘‘involved’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (m) as sub-
section (o); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (l) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(m) THIRD-PARTY CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a State, 
the Secretary shall authorize the State to approve el-
igible qualified organizations to acquire, hold, and 
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manage conservation easements to carry out activi-
ties under the Forest Legacy Program. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to acquire, 
hold, and manage a conservation easement under 
this subsection, a qualified organization shall dem-
onstrate to the Secretary the abilities necessary to 
acquire, 
monitor, 
and 
enforce 
interests 
in 
forestland— 
‘‘(A) consistent with the Forest Legacy 
Program; and 
‘‘(B) in accordance with the applicable as-
sessment of need submitted to the Secretary by 
the State in which the conservation easement is 
located. 
‘‘(3) REVERSION.—If the Secretary or a State 
determines a condition described in paragraph (4) is 
met with respect to a conservation easement— 
‘‘(A) all right, title, and interest of the 
qualified organization in and to the conserva-
tion easement shall terminate; and 
‘‘(B) all right, title, and interest in and to 
the conservation easement shall revert to the 
State or, if approved by the State, another 
qualified organization determined eligible by the 
Secretary under paragraph (2). 
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‘‘(4) CONDITIONS FOR REVERSION.—A condi-
tion described in this paragraph is, with respect to 
a conservation easement acquired, held, and man-
aged by a qualified organization, any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) The qualified organization is unable 
to carry out the responsibilities of the qualified 
organization under the Forest Legacy Program 
with respect to the conservation easement. 
‘‘(B) The conservation easement has been 
modified in a way that is inconsistent with the 
purposes of the Forest Legacy Program or the 
applicable assessment of need described in para-
graph (2)(B). 
‘‘(C) The conservation easement has been 
conveyed to another person (other than a quali-
fied organization determined eligible by the Sec-
retary under paragraph (2) and approved by 
the State). 
‘‘(n) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘qualified organization’ means an organi-
zation that— 
‘‘(1) is a qualified organization, as defined in 
section 170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986; 
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‘‘(2) is organized for, and at all times since the 
formation of the organization, has been operated 
principally for one or more of the conservation pur-
poses described in section 170(h)(4)(A) of such 
Code; 
‘‘(3) has not been the subject of any criminal 
or civil enforcement action taken by the Attorney 
General of the United States or the Commissioner of 
the Internal Revenue Service pertaining to the chari-
table donation of conservation easements under such 
Code; and 
‘‘(4) has been awarded, and at all times there-
after maintained, accredited status by the Land 
Trust Accreditation Commission, or if such Commis-
sion ceases to exist, a successor organization that of-
fers substantially similar accreditation and is ap-
proved by the Secretary for purposes of this sec-
tion.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 7 of the Co-
operative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 
2103c) is further amended— 
(1) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 
(2) in subsection (l)(3)(B)(i)(II), by inserting 
‘‘and’’ after the semi-colon at the end; and 
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(3) in the header of subsection (o), as redesig-
nated by this section, by striking ‘‘APPROPRIATION’’ 
and inserting ‘‘AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIA-
TIONS’’. 
Æ 
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