I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3933 
To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to establish 
a program to provide assistance to States and nonprofit organizations 
to preserve suburban forest land and open space and contain suburban 
sprawl. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 
Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. SAXTON, 
and Mr. SIMMONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 
to establish a program to provide assistance to States 
and nonprofit organizations to preserve suburban forest 
land and open space and contain suburban sprawl. 
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 ‘‘Suburban and Commu-
nity Forestry and Open Space Program Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. SUBURBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY AND OPEN 
SPACE PROGRAM. 
The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 21. SUBURBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY AND 
OPEN SPACE PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) 
COMMITTEE.—The 
term 
‘Committee’ 
means a State Forest Stewardship Coordinating 
Committee established under section 19(b). 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means a unit of local government or a nonprofit 
organization that— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary determines, in accord-
ance with the criteria established under sub-
section (c)(2)(B) is eligible to receive a grant 
under subsection (d); and 
‘‘(B) the State forester, in consultation 
with the Committee, determines— 
‘‘(i) has the abilities necessary to ac-
quire and manage interests in real prop-
erty; and 
‘‘(ii) has the resources necessary to 
monitor and enforce any terms applicable 
to the eligible project.
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE
PROJECT.—The term ‘eligible 
project’ means a fee purchase, easement, or donation 
of land to conserve private forest land identified for 
conservation under subsection (c)(2)(A). 
‘‘(4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 
‘‘(5) NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘nonprofit organization’ means any organization that 
is— 
‘‘(A) described in section 501(c) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986; and 
‘‘(B) exempt from taxation under 501(a) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(6) PRIVATE FOREST LAND.—The term ‘pri-
vate forest land’ means land that—— 
‘‘(A) consists of at least 50 percent forest 
cover, with the remainder made up of— 
‘‘(i) compatible non-forest uses, in-
cluding cultivated farmlands, pastures, or-
chards, shrub lands, grasslands, wetlands, 
or open waters; or 
‘‘(ii) preexisting structures that are 
inseparable from the landholding and do
not have a detrimental effect on conserva-
tion values; 
‘‘(B) is capable of producing commercial 
forest products; and 
‘‘(C) is owned by a private entity or an In-
dian tribe. 
‘‘(7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 
the Suburban and Community Forestry and Open 
Space Program established by subsection (b). 
‘‘(8) 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 areas threatened by significant 
suburban sprawl or by conversion to nonforest uses; 
‘‘(2) provide communities a means by which to 
address significant suburban sprawl; and
‘‘(3) support primary and secondary value- 
added forest products industries and employment in 
areas threatened by— 
‘‘(A) significant suburban sprawl; or 
‘‘(B) conversion to nonforest uses. 
‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE PRIVATE FOREST 
LAND AND ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) NATIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall 
establish national eligibility criteria for the identi-
fication of private forest land that may be conserved 
under this section. 
‘‘(2) STATE CRITERIA.—Based on the criteria 
established under paragraph (1), the State forester 
shall establish— 
‘‘(A) criteria for the identification, subject 
to paragraph (4), of private forest land in each 
State that may be conserved under this section; 
and 
‘‘(B) criteria for the identification of eligi-
ble entities. 
‘‘(3) CONSULTATION
AND
APPROVAL.—The 
State criteria required under paragraph (2) shall be 
established in consultation with the Committee and 
shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary.