I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4145
To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act
of 1974 and related laws to strengthen the protection of native biodiver-
sity and ban clearcutting on Federal lands, and to designate certain
Federal lands as Northwest Ancient Forests, roadless areas, and special
areas where logging and other intrusive activities are prohibited.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 24, 1996
Mr. BRYANT of Texas (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. CLAY, Ms. ESHOO,
Mr. YATES, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr.
MORAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. FRANKS of
New Jersey, Mr. FILNER, Mr. STARK, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FARR of Cali-
fornia, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. SERRANO, Ms.
WOOLSEY, Mr. PORTER, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.
BEILENSON, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Resources and National Security, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 and related laws to strengthen
the protection of native biodiversity and ban clearcutting
on Federal lands, and to designate certain Federal lands
as Northwest Ancient Forests, roadless areas, and special
areas where logging and other intrusive activities are
prohibited.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Act to Save America’s Forests’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purposes, findings, conflict with Endangered Species Act.
Sec. 3. Effective date.
TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING LAND MANAGEMENT
LAWS
Sec. 101. Amendment of Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning
Act of 1974 relating to National Forest System lands.
Sec. 102. Amendment of Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 re-
lating to the public lands.
Sec. 103. Amendment of National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act
of 1966 relating to the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Sec. 104. Amendment of National Indian Forest Resources Management Act
relating to Indian lands.
Sec. 105. Amendment of title 10, United States Code, relating to forest man-
agement on military lands.
TITLE II—PROTECTION FOR NORTHWEST ANCIENT
FORESTS, ROADLESS AREAS, AND SPECIAL AREAS
Sec. 201. Definitions and findings.
Sec. 202. Designation of special areas.
Sec. 203. Restrictions on management activities in Northwest Ancient Forests,
roadless areas, and special areas.
Sec. 204. Effect on private inholdings.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES, FINDINGS, CONFLICT WITH ENDAN-
GERED SPECIES ACT.
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are, on all
Federal public lands, to conserve native biodiversity and
to protect all native ecosystems against losses that result
from clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging.
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Federal agencies of the United States that
engage in even-age logging practices include the
Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of
Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Affairs of
the Department of the Interior, and the Army,
Navy, and Air Force of the Department of Defense.
(2) Even-age logging causes substantial alter-
ations in native biodiversity by emphasizing the pro-
duction of a limited number of commercial species of
trees on each site, generally only one; by manipulat-
ing the vegetation toward greater relative density of
such commercial species, by suppressing competing
species, and by planting, on numerous sites, a com-
mercial strain that was developed to reduce the rel-
ative diversity of genetic strains that previously oc-
curred within the species on the same sites.
(3) Even-age logging kills immobile species and
the very young of mobile species of wildlife and de-
pletes the habitat of deep-forest species of animals,
including endangered species.
(4) Even-age logging exposes the soil to direct
sunlight and the impact of rains, disrupts the sur-
face, and compacts organic layers. It disrupts the
run-off restraining capabilities of roots and low-lying
vegetation, which results in soil erosion, the leaching
out of nutrients, a reduction in the biological content
of the soil, and the impoverishment of the soil. All
these consequences have a long-range deleterious ef-
fect on all land resources, including timber produc-
tion.
(5) Even-age logging decreases the capability of
the soil to retain carbon and, during the critical pe-
riods of felling and site preparation, reduces the ca-
pacity of the biomass to process and to store carbon,
with a resultant of loss of such carbon to the atmos-
phere, thereby aggravating global warming.
(6) Even-age logging renders the soil increas-
ingly sensitive to acid deposits by causing a decline
of soil wood and coarse woody debris, thereby reduc-
ing the capacity of the soil to retain water and nutri-
ents, which increases soil heat and impairs the soil’s
ability to maintain protective carbon compounds on
its surface.
(7) Even-age logging results in increased
stream sedimentation, the silting of stream bottoms,
a decline in water quality, and the impairment of life
cycles and spawning processes of aquatic life from
benthic organisms to large fish, thereby depleting
the sports and commercial fisheries of the United
States.
(8) Even-age logging increases harmful edge ef-
fects, including blowdowns, invasions by weed spe-
cies, and heavier losses to predators and competi-
tors.
(9) Even-age logging decreases the land’s rec-
reational values, reducing deep, canopied, variegated,
permanent forests, thereby limiting areas where the
public can fulfill an expanding need for recreation.
Even-age logging replaces such forests with a sur-
plus of clearings that grow into relatively impen-
etrable 
thickets 
of 
saplings, 
and 
then 
into
monoculture tree plantations.
(10) Human beings depend on native biological
resources, including plants, animals, and micro-orga-
nisms, for food, medicine, shelter, and other impor-
tant products, and as a source of intellectual and
scientific knowledge, recreation, and aesthetic pleas-
ure.
(11) Alteration of native biodiversity has seri-
ous consequences for human welfare as America
irretrievably loses resources for research and agricul-
tural, medicinal, and industrial development.
(12) Alteration of biodiversity in Federal forests
adversely affects the functions of ecosystems and
critical ecosystem processes that moderate climate,
govern nutrient cycles and soil conservation and pro-
duction, control pests and diseases, and degrade
wastes and pollutants.
(13) The harm of even-age logging to the natu-
ral resources of this Nation and the quality of life
of its people are substantial, severe, and avoidable.
(14) By substituting selection management, as
prescribed in this Act, for the even-age system, the
Federal agencies now engaged in even-age logging
would substantially reduce devastation to the envi-
ronment and would improve the quality of life of the
American people.
(15) By protecting native biodiversity, as pre-
scribed in this Act, Federal agencies would maintain
vital native ecosystems and would improve the qual-
ity of life of the American people.
(16) Selection logging is more job intensive, and
therefore provides more employment than even-age
logging to manage the same amount of timber pro-
duction, and produces higher quality sawlogs.
(17) The court remedies now available to en-
force Federal forest laws are inadequate, and should
be strengthened by providing for injunctions, declar-
atory judgments, civil penalties, and reasonable costs
of suit.
(c) CONFLICT WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—
In the event of any conflict between a provision of this
Act, or an amendment made by this Act, and the Endan-
gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531), the latter
shall prevail.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments
made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(b) EFFECT ON EXISTING CONTRACTS.—The amend-
ments made by this Act shall not apply with respect to
any contract to sell timber which was awarded on or before
the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) APPLICATION TO EMERGENCY SALVAGE TIMBER
SALE PROGRAM.—The amendments made by this Act
shall apply with respect to any timber salvage sale under
section 2001 of Public Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 240; 16
U.S.C. 1611 note) which has not been awarded as of the
date of the enactment of this Act, notwithstanding any
provision of that section 2001.
TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO EX-
ISTING LAND MANAGEMENT
LAWS
SEC. 101. AMENDMENT OF FOREST AND RANGELAND RE-
NEWABLE RESOURCES PLANNING ACT OF
1974 RELATING TO NATIONAL FOREST SYS-
TEM LANDS.
(a) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—Sec-
tion 6(g)(3)(B) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources 
Planning 
Act 
of 
1974 
(16 
U.S.C.
1604(g)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(B) regardless of any other provision in
this Act, in each stand and each watershed
throughout each forested area, the Secretary
shall provide for the conservation or restoration
of native biodiversity except during the extrac-
tion stage of authorized mineral development or
during authorized construction projects, in
which events the Secretary shall conserve native
biodiversity to the extent possible;’’.
(b) COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS.—Section 6(h)(1) of
the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning
Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(h)(1)) is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘(h) COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS.—(1) In carrying
out the purposes of subsection (g) of this section, the Sec-
retary shall appoint a committee of scientists who are not
officers or employees of the Forest Service nor of any
other public entity, nor of any entity engaged in whole
or in part in the production of wood or wood products,
and have not contracted with or represented any of such
entities within a period of 5 years prior to serving on such
committee. The committee shall provide scientific and
technical advice and counsel on proposed guidelines and
procedures and all other issues involving forestry and na-
tive biodiversity to assure that an effective interdiscipli-
nary approach is proposed and adopted. The committee
shall terminate after the expiration of 10 years from the
date of enactment of this paragraph.’’.
(c) RESTRICTION
ON USE
OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—Section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Re-
newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.
1604) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(n) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout
each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
age logging and any even-age management after the date
of enactment of this subsection.
‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage-
ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection
management within one year, or (B) cease managing for
timber purposes and actively restore the native biodiver-
sity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
‘‘(3) For the purposes of this Act:
‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the
full range of variety and variability within and
among living organisms and the ecological complexes
in which they would have occurred in the absence of
significant human impact, and encompasses diversity
within a species (genetic or species), within a com-
munity of species (within-community), between com-
munities of species (between-communities), within a
total area such as a watershed (total area), along a
plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the
plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and
horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of
diversity.
‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’
refer to protective measures for maintaining existing
native biodiversity and active and passive measures
for restoring diversity through management efforts,
in order to protect, restore, and enhance as much of
the variety of species and communities as possible in
abundances and distributions that provide for their
continued existence and normal functioning, includ-
ing the viability of populations throughout their nat-
ural geographic distributions.
‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’
means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec-
ological processes that occur in different physical
settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the
world.
‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif-
ferences in genetic composition within and among
populations of a given species.
‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the
richness and variety of native species in a particular
location of the world.
‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form
of selection management that emphasizes the peri-
odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,
and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that
way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex-
ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall-
est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of
the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age
groups in a given stand. In no event will more than
30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled
within 45 years. The foregoing limitation shall not
be deemed to establish a 150-year projected felling
age as the standard at which individual trees in a
stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be
limited to that which occurs within the context of a
150-year projected felling age.
‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com-
munity with enough identity by location, topography,
or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to
exceed 100 acres.
‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging
of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a
patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph
(F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of
time.
‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means
the growing of commercial timber so that all trees
in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of
the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or
clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com-
pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by
clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or
shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec-
tion management.
‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell-
ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,
of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre
of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination
of such trees.
‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even-
age logging operation that leaves a small minority of
seed trees in a stand for any period of time.
‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means
the application of logging and other actions needed
to maintain continuous high forest cover where such
cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera-
tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly
growth and development of trees through a range of
diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield
of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and
maintain selection stands are individual-tree and
group selection. A goal of selection management is
to improve the quality of the site by continuously
harvesting trees less likely to contribute to the long-
range health of the stand.
‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an
even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority
(larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a
seed source or protection cover remaining standing
for any period of time.
‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include
the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the
felling of trees or portions of trees except to create
land space for a structure or other use.
‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster
the widest possible enforcement of subsection (g)(3)(B)
and this subsection.
‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United
States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection
(g)(3)(B) and this subsection apply.
‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this
subsection shall be enforced by the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the Attorney General of the United States
against any person who violates either of them.
‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act
may enforce any provision of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this
subsection by bringing an action for declaratory judgment,
temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and
other remedies against any alleged violator including the
United States, in any district court of the United States.
‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either
of such subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than
$5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall
issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief
and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga-
tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec-
essary expenses.
‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought
under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the
evidence and the trial shall be de novo.
‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)
shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the
court. If that violator is the United States of America or
a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to
the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec-
tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(E) The penalty shall be paid from the Judgment
Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per-
sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting
or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal
land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of
attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em-
ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in
all actions under subsection (g)(3)(B) and this subsection.
No notice is required to enforce this subsection.’’.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6(g)(2)(F)
of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resource Plan-
ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(g)(2)(F)) is amended
by inserting ‘‘in accordance with subsection (g) and’’ after
‘‘National Forest System lands.’’.
SEC. 102. AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND
MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976 RELATING TO
THE PUBLIC LANDS.
(a) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—Sec-
tion 202(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as
paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the follow-
ing new paragraph (8):
‘‘(8) regardless of any other provision in this
Act, in each stand and each watershed throughout
each forested area, the Secretary shall provide for
the conservation or restoration of native biodiversity
except during the extraction stage of authorized
mineral development or during authorized construc-
tion projects, in which events the Secretary shall
conserve native biodiversity to the extent possible;’’.
(b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(g) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout
each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
age logging and any even-age management after the date
of enactment of this subsection.
‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage-
ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection
management within one year, or (B) cease managing for
timber purposes and actively restore the native biodiver-
sity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
‘‘(3) For the purposes of this Act:
‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the
full range of variety and variability within and
among living organisms and the ecological complexes
in which they would have occurred in the absence of
significant human impact, and encompasses diversity
within a species (genetic or species), within a com-
munity of species (within-community), between com-
munities of species (between-communities), within a
total area such as a watershed (total area), along a
plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the
plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and
horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of
diversity.
‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’
refer to protective measures for maintaining existing
native biodiversity and active and passive measures
for restoring diversity through management efforts,
in order to protect, restore, and enhance as much of
the variety of species and communities as possible in
abundances and distributions that provide for their
continued existence and normal functioning, includ-
ing the viability of populations throughout their nat-
ural geographic distributions.
‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’
means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec-
ological processes that occur in different physical
settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the
world.
‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif-
ferences in genetic composition within and among
populations of a given species.
‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the
richness and variety of native species in a particular
location of the world.
‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form
of selection management that emphasizes the peri-
odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,
and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that
way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex-
ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall-
est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of
the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age
groups in a given stand. In no event will more than
30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled
within 45 years. The foregoing limitation shall not
be deemed to establish a 150-year projected felling
age as the standard at which individual trees in a
stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be
limited to that which occurs within the context of a
150-year projected felling age.
‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com-
munity with enough identity by location, topography,
or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to
exceed 100 acres.
‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging
of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a
patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph
(F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of
time.
‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means
the growing of commercial timber so that all trees
in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of
the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or
clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com-
pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by
clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or
shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec-
tion management.
‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell-
ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,
of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre
of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination
of such trees.
‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even-
age logging operation that leaves a small minority of
seed trees in a stand for any period of time.
‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means
the application of logging and other actions needed
to maintain continuous high forest cover where such
cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera-
tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly
growth and development of trees through a range of
diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield
of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and
maintain selection stands are individual-tree and
group selection. A goal of selection management is
to improve the quality of the site by continuously
harvesting trees less likely to contribute to the long-
range health of the stand.
‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an
even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority
(larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a
seed source or protection cover remaining standing
for any period of time.
‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include
the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the
felling of trees or portions of trees except to create
land space for a structure or other use.
‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster
the widest possible enforcement of subsection (c)(8) and
this subsection.
‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United
States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection
(c)(8) and this subsection apply.
‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (c)(8) and this sub-
section shall be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior
and the Attorney General of the United States against any
person who violates either of them.
‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act
may enforce any provision of subsection (c)(8) and this
subsection by bringing an action for declaratory judgment,
temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and
other remedies against any alleged violator including the
United States, in any district court of the United States.
‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either
of such subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than
$5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall
issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief
and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga-
tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec-
essary expenses.
‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought
under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the
evidence and the trial shall be de novo.
‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C) (ii)
shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the
court. If that violator is the United States of America or
a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to
the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec-
tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(E) The penalty shall be paid from the Judgment
Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per-
sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting
or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal
land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of
attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em-
ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in
all actions under subsection (c)(8) and this subsection. No
notice is required to enforce this subsection.’’.
(c) REPEAL.—Subsection (b) of section 701 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1701 note) is hereby repealed.
SEC. 103. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION ACT OF 1966 RE-
LATING TO THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REF-
UGE SYSTEM.
Section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge System Ad-
ministration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(j) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—Re-
gardless of any other provision in this Act, in each stand
and each watershed throughout each forested area within
the System, the Secretary shall provide for the conserva-
tion or restoration of native biodiversity, except during the
extraction stage of authorized mineral development or dur-
ing authorized construction projects, in which events the
Secretary shall conserve native biodiversity to the extent
possible.
‘‘(k) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout
each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
age logging and any even-age management after the date
of enactment of this subsection.
‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage-
ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection
management within one year, or (B) cease managing for
timber purposes and actively restore the native biodiver-
sity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
‘‘(3) For the purposes of this subsection:
‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the
full range of variety and variability within and
among living organisms and the ecological complexes
in which they would have occurred in the absence of
significant human impact, and encompasses diversity
within a species (genetic or species), within a com-
munity of species (within-community), between com-
munities of species (between-communities), within a
total area such as a watershed (total area), along a
plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the
plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and
horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of
diversity.
‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’
refer to protective measures for maintaining existing
native biodiversity and active and passive measures
for restoring diversity through management efforts,
in order to protect, restore, and enhance as much
of the variety of species and communities as possible
in abundances and distributions that provide for
their continued existence and normal functioning, in-
cluding the viability of populations throughout their
natural geographic distributions.
‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’
means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec-
ological processes that occur in different physical
settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the
world.
‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif-
ferences in genetic composition within and among
populations of a given species.
‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the
richness and variety of native species in a particular
location of the world.
‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form
of selection management that emphasizes the peri-
odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,
and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that
way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex-
ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall-
est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of
the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age
groups in a given stand. In no event will more than
30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled
within 45 years. The foregoing limitation shall not
be deemed to establish a 150-year projected felling
age as the standard at which individual trees in a
stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be
limited to that which occurs within the context of a
150-year projected felling age.
‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com-
munity with enough identity by location, topography,
or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to
exceed 100 acres.
‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging
of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a
patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph
(F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of
time.
‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means
the growing of commercial timber so that all trees
in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of
the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or
clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com-
pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by
clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or
shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec-
tion management.
‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell-
ing or further damaging, within a 30-year period, of
a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre of
dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination
of such trees.
‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even-
age logging operation that leaves a small minority of
seed trees in a stand for any period of time.
‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means
the application of logging and other actions needed
to maintain continuous high forest cover where such
cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera-
tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly
growth and development of trees through a range of
diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield
of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and
maintain selection stands are individual-tree and
group selection. A goal of selection management is
to improve the quality of the site by continuously
harvesting trees less likely to contribute to the long-
range health of the stand.
‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an
even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority
(larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a
seed source or protection cover remaining standing
for any period of time.
‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include
the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the
felling of trees or portions of trees except to create
land space for a structure or other use.
‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster
the widest possible enforcement of subsection (j) and this
subsection.
‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United
States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection
(j) and this subsection apply.
‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (j) and this sub-
section shall be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior
and the Attorney General of the United States against any
person who violates either of them.
‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act
may enforce any provision of this subsection by bringing
an action for declaratory judgment, temporary restraining
order, injunction, civil penalty, and other remedies against
any alleged violator including the United States, in any
district court of the United States.
‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either
of such subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than
$5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall
issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief
and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga-
tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec-
essary expenses.
‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought
under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the
evidence and the trial shall be de novo.
‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)
shall be paid by the violator or violators designed by the
court. If that violator is the United States of America or
a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to
the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec-
tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment
Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per-
sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting
or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal
land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of
attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em-
ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in
all actions under subsection (j) and this subsection. No
notice is required to enforce this subsection.’’.
SEC. 104. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL INDIAN FOREST RE-
SOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT RELATING TO
INDIAN LANDS.
Section 305 of the National Indian Forest Resources
Management Act (25 U.S.C. 4535) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsections:
‘‘(c) CONSERVATION
OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—
Regardless of any other provision in this Act, in each
stand and each watershed throughout each stand that is
managed or operated for timber purposes in each forested
area on Indian lands except during the extraction stage
of authorized mineral development or during authorized
construction projects in which events the Secretary shall
conserve native biodiversity to the extent possible.
‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout
each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
age logging and any even-age management after the date
of enactment of this subsection.
‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage-
ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection
management within one year, or (B) cease managing for
timber purposes and actively restore the native biodiver-
sity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
‘‘(3) For the purposes of this section:
‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the
full range of variety and variability within and
among living organisms and the ecological complexes
in which they would have occurred in the absence of
significant human impact, and encompasses diversity
within a species (genetic or species), within a com-
munity of species (within-community), between com-
munities of species (between-communities), within a
total area such as a watershed (total area), along a
plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the
plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and
horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of
diversity.
‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’
refer to protective measures for maintaining existing
native biodiversity and active and passive measures
for restoring diversity through management efforts,
in order to protect, restore, and enhance as much of
the variety of species and communities as possible in
abundances and distributions that provide for their
continued existence and normal functioning, includ-
ing the viability of populations throughout their nat-
ural geographic distributions.
‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’
means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec-
ological processes that occur in different physical
settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the
world.
‘‘(D) The term ‘genetic diversity’ means the dif-
ferences in genetic composition within and among
populations of a given species.
‘‘(E) The term ‘species diversity’ means the
richness and variety of native species in a particular
location of the world.
‘‘(F) The term ‘group selection’ means a form
of selection management that emphasizes the peri-
odic removal of trees, including mature, undesirable,
and cull trees in small groups, where they occur that
way, with a result of (i) creating openings not to ex-
ceed in width in any direction the height of the tall-
est tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of
the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age
groups in a given stand. In no event will more than
30 percent of the basal area of a stand be felled
within 45 years. The foregoing limitation shall not
be deemed to establish a 150-year projected felling
age as the standard at which individual trees in a
stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be
limited to that which occurs within the context of a
150-year projected felling age.
‘‘(G) The term ‘stand’ means a biological com-
munity with enough identity by location, topography,
or dominant species to be managed as a unit, not to
exceed 100 acres.
‘‘(H) The term ‘clearcutting’ means the logging
of more than one-half of the commercial trees in a
patch larger than a group defined in subparagraph
(F) or in a stand of any size in a short period of
time.
‘‘(I) The term ‘even-age management’ means
the growing of commercial timber so that all trees
in a patch or stand are generally within 10 years of
the same age. Except for designated leave trees, or
clumps of trees, the patch or stand is logged, com-
pletely in any acre within a period of 30 years, by
clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or
shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selec-
tion management.
‘‘(J) The term ‘salvage logging’ means the fell-
ing or further damaging, within any 30-year period,
of a greater basal area than 20 square feet per acre
of dead, damaged, or other trees, or any combination
of such trees.
‘‘(K) The term ‘seed-tree cut’ means an even-
age logging operation that leaves a small minority of
seed trees in a stand for any period of time.
‘‘(L) The term ‘selection management’ means
the application of logging and other actions needed
to maintain continuous high forest cover where such
cover naturally occurs, recurring natural regenera-
tion of all native species on the site, and the orderly
growth and development of trees through a range of
diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield
of forest products. Cutting methods that develop and
maintain selection stands are individual-tree and
group selection. A goal of selection management is
to improve the quality of the site by continuously
harvesting trees less likely to contribute to the long-
range health of the stand.
‘‘(M) The term ‘shelterwood cut’ means an
even-aged logging operation that leaves a minority
(larger than in a seed-tree cut) of the stand as a
seed source or protection cover remaining standing
for any period of time.
‘‘(N) The term ‘timber purposes’ shall include
the use, sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the
felling of trees or portions of trees except to create
land space for a structure or other use.
‘‘(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster
the widest possible enforcement of subsection (c) and this
subsection.
‘‘(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United
States are injured by actions on lands to which subsection
(c) and this subsection apply.
‘‘(B) The provisions of subsection (c) and this sub-
section shall be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior
and the Attorney General of the United States against any
person who violates either of them.
‘‘(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act
may enforce any provision of subsection (c) and this sub-
section by bringing an action for declaratory judgment,
temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and
other remedies against any alleged violator including the
United States, in any district court of the United States.
‘‘(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either
of such subsections shall impose a penalty of not less than
$5,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation, shall
issue one or more injunctions and other equitable relief
and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of litiga-
tion including attorney’s fees, witness fees and other nec-
essary expenses.
‘‘(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought
under this subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the
evidence and the trial shall be de novo.
‘‘(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii)
shall be paid by the violator or violators designated by the
court. If that violator is the United States of America or
a Federal agency or officer, the penalty shall be paid to
the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress under sec-
tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment
Fund within 40 days after judgment to the person or per-
sons designated to receive it, to be applied in protecting
or restoring native biodiversity in or adjoining Federal
land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award of
attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
‘‘(F) The United States, including its agents and em-
ployees waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in
all actions under subsection (c) and this subsection. No
notice is required to enforce this subsection.’’.
SEC. 105. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 10, UNITED STATES CODE,
RELATING TO FOREST MANAGEMENT ON
MILITARY LANDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 159 of title 10, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new section:
‘‘§ 2694. Conservation of native biodiversity
‘‘(a) CONSERVATION OF NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—
Regardless of any other provision in this Act, in each
stand and each watershed throughout each forested area
on a military installation or projects administered by the
Army Corps of Engineers, the Secretary concerned shall
provide for the conservation or restoration of native bio-
diversity, except during authorized construction projects
in which events the Secretary shall conserve native bio-
diversity to the extent possible.
‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN LOGGING
PRACTICES.—(1) In each stand and watershed throughout
each forested area, the Secretary shall prohibit any even-
age logging and any even-age management after the date
of enactment of this subsection.
‘‘(2) On each site already under even-age manage-
ment, the Secretary shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection
management within one year, or (B) cease managing for
timber purposes and actively restore the native biodiver-
sity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
‘‘(3) In this section:
‘‘(A) The term ‘native biodiversity’ means the
full range of variety and variability within and
among living organisms and the ecological complexes
in which they would have occurred in the absence of
significant human impact, and encompasses diversity
within a species (genetic or species), within a com-
munity of species (within-community), between com-
munities of species (between-communities), within a
total area such as a watershed (total area), along a
plane from ground to sky (vertical), and along the
plane of the earth-surface (horizontal). Vertical and
horizontal diversity apply to all the other aspects of
diversity.
‘‘(B) The terms ‘conserve’ and ‘conservation’
refer to protective measures for maintaining existing
native biodiversity and active and passive measures
for restoring diversity through management efforts,
in order to protect, restore, and enhance as much of
the variety of species and communities as possible in
abundances and distributions that provide for their
continued existence and normal functioning, includ-
ing the viability of populations throughout their nat-
ural geographic distributions.
‘‘(C) The term ‘within-community diversity’
means the distinctive assemblages of species and ec-
ological processes that occur in different physical
settings of the biosphere and distinct parts of the
world.