(d) TREE REMOVAL LIMITATION.—The Secretary 
concerned, in the sole discretion of the Secretary con-
cerned, shall plan and conduct an authorized hazardous 
fuels reduction project so as to maintain species composi-
tion, size class distribution, and density of trees, including 
old and large trees appropriate for each ecosystem type 
covered by the project, consistent with the purposes of this 
title. 
(e) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS.—The 
Secretary concerned may not plan or conduct an author-
ized hazardous fuels reduction project that would occur 
on any of the following Federal lands: 
(1) A component of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System. 
(2) Federal lands where, by Act of Congress or 
Presidential proclamation, the removal of vegetation 
is prohibited or restricted. 
(3) Wilderness Study Areas. 
(f) PROTECTION OF ROADLESS AREAS.—The Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall not construct any new perma-
nent road in any Inventoried Roadless Area as part of any 
authorized hazardous fuels reduction project.
SEC. 103. PRIORITIZATION FOR COMMUNITIES AND WATER-
SHEDS. 
As provided for in the Implementation Plan, the Sec-
retary concerned shall give priority to authorized haz-
ardous fuel reduction projects that provide for the protec-
tion of communities and watersheds. 
SEC. 104. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 
this title, the Secretary concerned shall plan and conduct 
authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects in accord-
ance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) and any other applicable laws. 
(b) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY TO ELIMINATE AL-
TERNATIVES.—In the case of an authorized hazardous 
fuels reduction project, the Secretary concerned is not re-
quired to study, develop, or describe any alternative to the 
proposed agency action in the environmental assessment 
or environmental impact statement prepared for the pro-
posed agency action pursuant to section 102(2) of the Na-
tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)). 
(c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND MEETING.—
(1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary concerned 
shall provide notice of each authorized hazardous 
fuels reduction project in accordance with applicable 
regulations and administrative guidelines.
(2) PUBLIC
MEETING.—During the planning 
stage of each authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
project, the Secretary concerned shall conduct a 
public meeting at an appropriate location proximate 
to the administrative unit of the Federal lands in 
which the authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
project will be conducted. The Secretary concerned 
shall provide advance notice of the date and time of 
the meeting. 
(d) PUBLIC COLLABORATION.—In order to encourage 
meaningful public participation in the identification and 
development of authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
projects, the Secretary concerned shall facilitate collabora-
tion among governments and interested persons during 
the formulation of each authorized fuels reduction project 
in a manner consistent with the Implementation Plan. 
(e) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC COM-
MENT.—In accordance with section 102(2) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) 
and the applicable regulations and administrative guide-
lines in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary concerned shall provide an opportunity for 
public input during the preparation of any environmental 
assessment or environmental impact statement for pro-
posed agency action for an authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction project. 
(f) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The Secretary concerned 
shall sign a decision document for each authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction project and provide notice of the 
decision document. 
(g) PROJECT MONITORING.—As provided for in the 
Implementation Plan, the Secretary concerned shall mon-
itor the implementation of authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction projects. 
SEC. 105. SPECIAL FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE RE-
VIEW PROCESS. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue final 
regulations to establish an administrative process that will 
serve as the sole means by which a person described in
subsection (c) can seek administrative redress regarding 
an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 
(b) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—To be eligible to partici-
pate in the administrative process developed pursuant to 
subsection (a) regarding an authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction project, a person must have submitted specific and 
substantive written comments during the preparation 
stage of that authorized hazardous fuels reduction project.
(c) RELATION TO APPEALS REFORM ACT.—Section 
322 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agen-
cies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 102–381; 16 
U.S.C. 1612 note), does not apply to an authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction project. 
SEC. 106. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING JUDICIAL 
REVIEW OF AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS 
REDUCTION PROJECTS. 
(a) FILING DEADLINE.—
(1) TIME LIMIT ESTABLISHED FOR FILING.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to be 
timely, an action in a court of the United States 
challenging an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
project shall be filed in the court before the end of 
the 15-day period beginning on the date on which 
the Secretary concerned publishes, in the local paper 
of record, notice of the final agency action regarding 
the authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 
This time limitation supersedes any notice of intent 
to file suit requirement or filing deadline otherwise 
applicable to a challenge under any provision of law. 
(2) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The Secretary con-
cerned may not agree to, and a district court may 
not grant, a waiver of the requirements of this sub-
section.
(b) DURATION OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—
(1) DURATION; EXTENSION.—Any preliminary 
injunction granted regarding an authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction project shall be limited to 45 
days. A court may renew the preliminary injunction, 
taking into consideration the goal expressed in sub-
section (c) for the expeditious resolution of cases re-
garding 
authorized 
hazardous 
fuels 
reduction 
projects. 
(2) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—As part of 
a request to renew a preliminary injunction granted 
regarding an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
project, the parties shall present the court with an 
update on any changes that may have occurred dur-
ing the period of the injunction to the forest or 
rangeland conditions that the authorized hazardous 
fuels reduction project is intended to address. 
(3) CONGRESSIONAL
NOTIFICATION.—In the 
event of the renewal of a preliminary injunction re-
garding an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
project, the Secretary concerned shall submit notice 
of the renewal to the Committee on Resources and 
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 
(c) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION
OF JUDICIAL RE-
VIEW.—Congress intends and encourages any court in 
which is filed a lawsuit or appeal of a lawsuit concerning 
an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project to expe-
dite, to the maximum extent practicable, the proceedings 
in such lawsuit or appeal with the goal of rendering a final 
determination on jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction exists, a 
final determination on the merits, within 100 days from 
the date the complaint or appeal is filed. 
SEC. 107. STANDARD FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR AGEN-
CY ACTION TO RESTORE FIRE-ADAPTED FOR-
EST OR RANGELAND ECOSYSTEMS. 
If an action brought against the Secretary concerned 
under section 703 of title 5, United States Code, involves 
an agency action on Federal lands in which the Secretary 
concerned found that the agency action is necessary to re-
store a fire-adapted forest or rangeland ecosystem, includ-
ing an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project, the 
court reviewing the agency action, in considering a request 
for a prohibitory or mandatory injunction against the 
agency action, shall—
(1) consider the public interest in avoiding long-
term harm to the ecosystem; and
(2) give deference to any agency finding, based 
upon information in the administrative record, that 
the balance of harm and the public interest in avoid-
ing the short-term effects of the agency action is 
outweighed by the public interest in avoiding long-
term harm to the ecosystem. 
SEC. 108. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 
this title shall be construed to affect, or otherwise bias, 
the use by the Secretary concerned of other statutory or 
administrative authorities to plan or conduct a hazardous 
fuels reduction project on Federal lands, including Federal 
lands identified in section 102(e), that is not planned or 
conducted using the process authorized by section 104. 
(b) RELATION TO LEGAL ACTION.—Nothing in this 
title shall be construed to prejudice or otherwise affect the 
consideration or disposition of any legal action concerning 
the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, part 294 of title 36, 
Code of Federal Regulations, as amended in the final rule 
and record of decision published in the Federal Register 
on January 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 3244). 
TITLE II—BIOMASS 
SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following:
(1) Thousands of communities in the United 
States, many located near Federal lands, are at risk 
to wildfire. Approximately 190,000,000 acres of land 
managed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the 
Secretary of the Interior are at risk of catastrophic 
fire in the near future. The accumulation of heavy 
forest and rangeland fuel loads continues to increase 
as a result of disease, insect infestations, and 
drought, further raising the risk of fire each year. 
(2) In addition, more than 70,000,000 acres 
across all land ownerships are at risk to higher than 
normal mortality over the next 15 years from insect 
infestation and disease. High levels of tree mortality 
from insects and disease result in increased fire risk, 
loss of old growth, degraded watershed conditions, 
and changes in species diversity and productivity, as 
well as diminished fish and wildlife habitat and de-
creased timber values.
(3) Preventive treatments such as removing fuel 
loading, ladder fuels, and hazard trees, planting 
proper species mix and restoring and protecting 
early successional habitat, and other specific restora-
tion treatments designed to reduce the susceptibility 
of forest and rangeland to insect outbreaks, disease, 
and catastrophic fire present the greatest oppor-
tunity for long-term forest and rangeland health by 
creating a mosaic of species-mix and age distribu-
tion. Such prevention treatments are widely acknowl-
edged to be more successful and cost effective than 
suppression treatments in the case of insects, dis-
ease, and fire. 
(4) The by-products of preventive treatment 
(wood, brush, thinnings, chips, slash, and other haz-
ardous fuels) removed from forest and rangelands 
represent an abundant supply of biomass for bio-
mass-to-energy facilities and raw material for busi-
ness. There are currently few markets for the ex-
traordinary volumes of by-products being generated 
as a result of the necessary large-scale preventive 
treatment activities. 
(5) The United States should—
(A) promote economic and entrepreneurial 
opportunities in using by-products removed 
through preventive treatment activities related 
to hazardous fuels reduction, disease, and insect 
infestation; and 
(B) develop and expand markets for tradi-
tionally underused wood and biomass as an out-
let for by-products of preventive treatment ac-
tivities.
SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) BIOMASS.—The term ‘‘biomass’’ means 
trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, nee-
dles, and other woody parts, and by-products of pre-
ventive treatment, such as wood, brush, thinnings, 
chips, and slash, that are removed—
(A) to reduce hazardous fuels; or 
(B) to reduce the risk of or to contain dis-
ease or insect infestation. 
(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4(e) of 
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist-
ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)). 
(3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes—
(A) an individual; 
(B) a community (as determined by the 
Secretary concerned); 
(C) an Indian tribe; 
(D) a small business, micro-business, or a 
corporation that is incorporated in the United 
States; and 
(E) a nonprofit organization. 
(4) PREFERRED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘pre-
ferred community’’ means—
(A) any town, township, municipality, or 
other similar unit of local government (as deter-
mined by the Secretary concerned) that—
(i) has a population of not more than 
50,000 individuals; and 
(ii) the Secretary concerned, in the 
sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, 
determines contains or is located near 
land, the condition of which is at signifi-
cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, 
or insect infestation or which suffers from 
disease or insect infestation; or 
(B) any county that—
(i) is not contained within a metro-
politan statistical area; and 
(ii) the Secretary concerned, in the 
sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, 
determines contains or is located near 
land, the condition of which is at signifi-
cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, 
or insect infestation or which suffers from 
disease or insect infestation. 
(5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re-
spect to National Forest System lands; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior with re-
spect to Federal lands under the jurisdiction of 
the Secretary of the Interior and Indian lands. 
SEC. 203. GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE COMMERCIAL VALUE 
OF FOREST BIOMASS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY, 
USEFUL 
HEAT, 
TRANSPORTATION 
FUELS, 
AND 
PETROLEUM-BASED 
PRODUCT 
SUB-
STITUTES. 
(a) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL USE GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 
may make grants to any person that owns or oper-
ates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material 
to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transpor-
tation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based prod-
ucts to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass 
for use by such facility. 
(2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub-
section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass 
delivered. 
(3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI-
TIES.—As a condition of a grant under this sub-
section, the grant recipient shall keep such records 
as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and
correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all 
transactions involved in the purchase of biomass. 
Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary 
concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the rep-
resentative reasonable access to the facility that pur-
chases or uses biomass and an opportunity to exam-
ine the inventory and records of the facility. 
(b) VALUE ADDED GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 
may make grants to persons to offset the cost of 
projects to add value to biomass. In making such 
grants, the Secretary concerned shall give preference 
to persons in preferred communities. 
(2) SELECTION.—The Secretary concerned shall 
select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after 
giving consideration to the anticipated public bene-
fits of the project, opportunities for the creation or
expansion of small businesses and micro-businesses, 
and the potential for new job creation. 
(3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub-
section may not exceed $100,000. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry out this section.
SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than October 1, 
2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 
the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agri-
culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report 
describing the results of the grant programs authorized 
by section 203. 
(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall include 
the following: 
(1) An identification of the size, type, and the 
use of biomass by persons that receive grants under 
section 203. 
(2) The distance between the land from which 
the biomass was removed and the facility that used 
the biomass. 
(3) The economic impacts, particularly new job 
creation, resulting from the grants to and operation 
of the eligible operations. 
TITLE III—WATERSHED 
FORESTRY ASSISTANCE 
SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) There has been a dramatic shift in public 
attitudes and perceptions about forest management, 
particularly in the understanding and practice of 
sustainable forest management. 
(2) It is commonly recognized that the proper 
stewardship of forest lands is essential to sustaining 
and restoring the health of watersheds. 
(3) Forests can provide essential ecological 
services in filtering pollutants, buffering important 
rivers and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which 
makes its restoration worthy of special focus. 
(4) Strengthened education, technical assist-
ance, and financial assistance to nonindustrial pri-
vate forest landowners and communities, relating to 
the protection of watershed health, is needed to real-
ize the expectations of the general public. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to—
(1) improve landowner and public under-
standing of the connection between forest manage-
ment and watershed health; 
(2) encourage landowners to maintain tree 
cover on their property and to utilize tree plantings 
and vegetative treatments as creative solutions to 
watershed problems associated with varying land 
uses;
(3) enhance and complement forest manage-
ment and buffer utilization for watersheds, with an 
emphasis on urban watersheds; 
(4) establish new partnerships and collaborative 
watershed approaches to forest management, stew-
ardship, and conservation; 
(5) provide technical and financial assistance to 
States to deliver a coordinated program that en-
hances State forestry best-management practices 
programs, as well as conserves and improves for-
ested lands and potentially forested lands through 
technical, financial, and educational assistance to 
qualifying individuals and entities; and 
(6) maximize the proper management and con-
servation of wetland forests and to assist in their 
restoration as necessary. 
SEC. 302. ESTABLISHMENT OF WATERSHED FORESTRY AS-
SISTANCE PROGRAM. 
The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is 
amended by inserting after section 5 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 6. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY
AND PURPOSE.—The 
Secretary, acting through the Forest Service, may provide 
technical, financial, and related assistance to State for-
esters and equivalent State officials for the purpose of ex-
panding State forest stewardship capacities and activities 
through State forestry best-management practices and 
other means at the State level to address watershed issues 
on non-Federal forested lands and potentially forested 
lands. 
‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER 
QUALITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera-
tion with State foresters or equivalent State officials, 
shall engage interested members of the public, in-
cluding nonprofit organizations and local watershed 
councils, to develop a program of technical assist-
ance to protect water quality, as described in para-
graph (2). 
‘‘(2) PURPOSE
OF
PROGRAM.—The program 
under this subsection shall be designed—
‘‘(A) to build and strengthen watershed 
partnerships that focus on forested landscapes 
at the local, State, and regional levels; 
‘‘(B) to provide State forestry best-man-
agement practices and water quality technical 
assistance directly to nonindustrial private for-
est landowners;
management practices programs and watershed for-
estry projects. 
‘‘(2) WATERSHED FORESTRY PROJECTS.—The 
State forester or equivalent State official of a State, 
in coordination with the State Forest Stewardship 
Coordinating Committee established under section 
19(b) for that State, shall annually make awards to 
communities, nonprofit groups, and nonindustrial 
private forest landowners under the program for wa-
tershed forestry projects described in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(3) PROJECT ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES.—A 
watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical 
forest stewardship, watershed protection, and res-
toration needs within a State by demonstrating the 
value of trees and forests to watershed health and 
condition through—
‘‘(A) the use of trees as solutions to water 
quality problems in urban and rural areas; 
‘‘(B) community-based planning, involve-
ment, and action through State, local and non-
profit partnerships; 
‘‘(C) application of and dissemination of 
monitoring information on forestry best-man-
agement practices relating to watershed for-
estry;
‘‘(D) watershed-scale forest management 
activities and conservation planning; and 
‘‘(E) the restoration of wetland (as defined 
by the States) and stream-side forests and the 
establishment of riparian vegetative buffers. 
‘‘(4) COST-SHARING.—Funds provided under 
this subsection for a watershed forestry project may 
not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the project. 
Other Federal funding sources may be used to cover 
a portion of the remaining project costs, but the 
total Federal share of the costs may not exceed 90 
percent. The non-Federal share of the costs of a 
project may be in the form of cash, services, or other 
in-kind contributions. 
‘‘(5) PRIORITIZATION.—The State Forest Stew-
ardship Coordinating Committee for a State shall 
prioritize watersheds in that State to target water-
shed forestry projects funded under this subsection. 
‘‘(6) WATERSHED
FORESTER.—Financial and 
technical assistance shall be made available to the 
State Forester or equivalent State official to create 
a State best-management practice forester to lead 
statewide programs and coordinate small watershed-
level projects. 
‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall devote 
at least 75 percent of the funds appropriated for a 
fiscal year pursuant to the authorization of appro-
priations in subsection (e) to the cost-share program 
under subsection (c) and the remainder to the task 
of delivering technical assistance, education, and 
planning on the ground through the State Forester 
or equivalent State official. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL
CONSIDERATIONS.—Distribution 
of these funds by the Secretary among the States 
shall be made only after giving appropriate consider-
ation to—
‘‘(A) the acres of nonindustrial private 
forestland and highly erodible land in each 
State; 
‘‘(B) each State’s efforts to conserve for-
ests; 
‘‘(C) the acres of forests in each State that 
have been lost or degraded or where forests can 
play a role in restoring watersheds; and 
‘‘(D) the number of nonindustrial private 
forest landowners in each State. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 
2008.’’. 
TITLE IV—INSECT 
INFESTATIONS 
SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 
(1) APPLIED
SILVICULTURAL
ASSESSMENT.—
The term ‘‘applied silvicultural assessment’’ means 
any vegetative or other treatment, for the purposes 
described in section 402, including timber harvest, 
thinning, prescribed burning, and pruning, as single 
treatment or any combination of these treatments. 
(2) FEDERAL
LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal 
lands’’ means—
(A) National Forest System lands; and 
(B) public lands administered by the Sec-
retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu-
reau of Land Management. 
(3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 
through the Forest Service, with respect to Na-
tional Forest System lands; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through appropriate offices of the United States
Geological Survey, with respect to federally 
owned land administered by the Secretary of 
the Interior. 
(4) 1890 INSTITUTIONS.—The term ‘‘1890 In-
stitution’’ means a college or university eligible to 
receive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 
U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) High levels of tree mortality due to insect 
infestation result in—
(A) increased fire risk; 
(B) loss of old growth; 
(C) loss of threatened and endangered spe-
cies; 
(D) loss of species diversity; 
(E) degraded watershed conditions;
(F) increased potential for damage from 
other agents of disturbance, including exotic, 
invasive species; and 
(G) decreased timber values. 
(2) Bark beetles destroy hundreds of thousands 
of acres of trees each year. In the West, over 
21,000,000 acres are at high risk of bark beetle in-
festation and in the South over 57,000,000 acres are 
at risk across all land ownerships. Severe drought
conditions in many areas of the South and West will 
increase risk of bark beetle infestations. 
(3) The hemlock woolly adelgid is destroying 
streamside forests throughout the mid-Atlantic and 
Appalachian region, threatening water quality and 
sensitive aquatic species, and posing a potential 
threat to valuable commercial timber lands in North-
ern New England. 
(4) The emerald ash borer is a nonnative, 
invasive pest that has quickly become a major threat 
to hardwood forests as a emerald ash borer infesta-
tion is almost always fatal to the affected trees. This 
pest threatens to destroy over 692,000,000 ash trees 
in forests in Michigan and Ohio alone, and between 
five and ten percent of urban street trees in the 
Upper Midwest. 
(5) Epidemic populations of Southern pine bee-
tle are ravaging forests in Alabama, Arkansas, Flor-
ida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In 2001, 
Florida and Kentucky experienced 146 percent and 
111 percent increases, respectively, in beetle popu-
lations. 
(6) These epidemic outbreaks of Southern pine 
beetle have forced private landowners to harvest
(1) in units of the National Forest System 
(other than those units created from the public do-
main); and 
(2) on private forest land, with the consent of 
the owner of the land. 
(b) ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—In carrying out the 
program, the Secretary shall address issues including—
(1) early detection, identification, and assess-
ment of environmental threats (including insect, dis-
ease, invasive species, fire, and weather-related risks 
and other episodic events); 
(2) loss or degradation of forests; 
(3) degradation of the quality forest stands 
caused by inadequate forest regeneration practices; 
(4) quantification of carbon uptake rates; and 
(5) management practices that focus on pre-
venting further forest degradation. 
(c) EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.—In carrying out the 
program, the Secretary shall develop a comprehensive 
early warning system for potential catastrophic environ-
mental threats to forests to increase the likelihood that 
forest managers will be able to—
(1) isolate and treat a threat before the threat 
gets out of control; and