I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1042
To authorize collaborative forest restoration and wildland fire hazard mitiga-
tion projects on National Forest System lands and other public and 
private lands, to improve the implementation of the National Fire Plan, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2003
Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize collaborative forest restoration and wildland 
fire hazard mitigation projects on National Forest Sys-
tem lands and other public and private lands, to improve 
the implementation of the National Fire Plan, 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. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.— This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Forest Restoration and Fire Risk Reduction Act’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Purposes. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
Sec. 5. Transition. 
Sec. 6. Cooperative program for hazardous fuel reduction projects. 
Sec. 7. Selection process for hazardous fuels reduction projects. 
Sec. 8. Monitoring and evaluation requirements. 
Sec. 9. Administrative procedures under cooperative community protection and 
forest restoration program. 
Sec. 10. Special Department of Agriculture administrative appeals process for 
hazardous fuels reduction projects. 
Sec. 11. Forest restoration and homeowner assistance program and projects. 
Sec. 12. Forest Restoration and Value-added Centers. 
Sec. 13. Competitive service hiring preference for graduates of certified youth 
service or conservation corps. 
Sec. 14. Research and training. 
Sec. 15. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) More than a century of intensive fire sup-
pression, logging, livestock grazing, and urban devel-
opment has altered the natural fire regimes of some 
forested Federal public lands. 
(2) One aspect of this altered ecological dy-
namic is the presence of many dense tree stands 
characterized by small diameter trees and excessive 
fuel buildups on the forest floor. These conditions 
reduce biodiversity, provide fewer benefits to human 
communities, wildlife, and watersheds, and pose an 
increased risk of catastrophic wildfires that can de-
stroy or seriously damage both human and natural 
resources.
(3) Unnaturally severe wildfires on highly erod-
ible soils can result in disastrous flood events and 
sediment deposition if such a fire is followed by 
heavy rains. This combination of events poses a par-
ticular threat to communities that rely on municipal 
drinking water supply facilities located on Federal 
public lands or that rely on water flowing from these 
lands. 
(4) Healthy and productive forested watersheds 
minimize the threat of unnaturally high-intensity 
wildfires, provide abundant and diverse wildlife habi-
tat, and produce a variety of products or benefits, 
including clean water. 
(5) The risk of damage to human life and prop-
erty from unnaturally severe wild fires is greatly in-
creased in areas where rapidly expanding urban pop-
ulations are intermingled with forested wildlands, 
and a primary purpose of the National Fire Plan is 
to reduce the risk of such wild fires in these areas, 
known as the ‘‘wildland/urban interface’’. 
(6) Restoration efforts are more successful 
when there is involvement from Federal and State 
land managers, as well as neighboring communities 
and other interested persons, when projects are 
prioritized in high-risk areas where municipal water
supplies and human lives and property are threat-
ened, and when both decisions and implementation 
activities are carried out across ownership bound-
aries. 
(7) 
Designing 
demonstration 
restoration 
projects through a collaborative approach may con-
tribute to the development of cost-effective restora-
tion activities, empower diverse organizations to im-
plement activities that value local and traditional 
knowledge, build ownership and civic pride, and en-
sure healthy, diverse, and productive forests and wa-
tersheds. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
(1) To reduce the risks to human life and prop-
erty and municipal drinking water supplies from 
large, high-intensity wildfires on forested lands. 
(2) To refocus the implementation of the Na-
tional Fire Plan to the areas of highest risk to peo-
ple, property, and water supplies by redirecting the 
National Fire Plan funding and hazardous fuels re-
duction projects through State-established project 
selection panels. 
(3) To improve communication and joint-prob-
lem solving among Federal, State, and local land
managers, as well as other individuals and groups 
who are interested in reducing the risk of unnatu-
rally severe wildfires and restoring the diversity of 
forested lands. 
(4) To encourage sustainable communities and 
sustainable forests through collaborative partner-
ships focused on forest restoration and reducing the 
risk of unnaturally severe wildfires. 
(5) To develop, demonstrate, and evaluate eco-
logically sound forest restoration techniques and to 
assist in carrying out forest restoration projects. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 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. 
(2) 
HAZARDOUS
FUELS
REDUCTION 
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction 
project’’ means a project—
(A) undertaken for the purpose of reducing 
the amount of hazardous fuels resulting from 
alteration of a natural fire regime as a result
of fire suppression or other activities or from 
insect infestation; and 
(B) accomplished through the use of pre-
scribed burning or mechanical treatment. 
(3) INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS.—The term 
‘‘inventoried roadless areas’’ means the areas identi-
fied in a set of inventoried roadless area maps con-
tained in the Forest Service Roadless Area Con-
servation, Final Environmental Impact Statement, 
Volume 2, dated November 2000. 
(4) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The 
term ‘‘municipal water supply system’’ means the 
dams, reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals, 
pipes, pipelines, or other surface facilities and sys-
tems constructed or installed for the impoundment, 
storage, transportation, or distribution of drinking 
water for a community. 
(5) NATIONAL
FIRE
PLAN.—The term ‘‘Na-
tional Fire Plan’’ means the plans, strategies, 
projects, and activities of the Secretary concerned to 
respond to adverse impacts on communities and the 
environment from wildfires on Federal lands, which 
are based on and reflect—
(A) the report of the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the Secretary of the Interior enti-
tled ‘‘Managing the Impact of Wildfires on 
Communities and the Environment’’, dated 
September 8, 2000; and 
(B) congressional direction accompanying 
appropriations to the Department of Agri-
culture and the Department of the Interior for 
wildland fire management for fiscal year 2001 
and subsequent years. 
(6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture (or the 
designee of the Secretary) with respect to Na-
tional Forest System lands; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior (or the 
designee of the Secretary) with respect to public 
lands administered by the Secretary through 
the Bureau of Land Management. 
(7) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’ 
includes forest landowners, local communities and 
political leaders, tribal governments, local volunteer 
firefighters, conservation organizations, educational 
institutions, and other interested public and private 
entities. 
(8) WILDERNESS
STUDY
AREA.—The term 
‘‘Wilderness Study Area’’ means—
(A) a portion of the Federal lands that is 
designated as suitable for wilderness in a land 
and resources management plan; or 
(B) other Federal lands that are managed 
so as not to impair the suitability of such lands 
for preservation as wilderness through inclusion 
in the National Wilderness Preservation Sys-
tem. 
(9) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 
‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ means a geographic area 
designated by the Secretary concerned as an area—
(A) that is within or adjacent to an inter-
face community or intermix community, as 
those terms are defined on page 753 of volume 
66 of the Federal Register, as published on 
January 4, 2001; 
(B) on which conditions are conducive to 
large-scale fire disturbance events; and 
(C) for which a significant risk exists of a 
resulting spread of the fire disturbance event, 
after ignition, which would threaten human life 
and property. 
SEC. 5. TRANSITION. 
(a) IMPLEMENTATION.—No hazardous fuels reduc-
tion project shall be planned or carried out by the Sec-
retary concerned under the National Fire Plan unless the 
project is planned and carried out pursuant to this Act. 
(b) EXCEPTION FOR ONGOING PROJECTS.—This Act 
shall not apply to a hazardous fuels reduction project for 
which analysis required pursuant to the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) has 
been completed on or before the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 6. COOPERATIVE PROGRAM FOR HAZARDOUS FUEL 
REDUCTION PROJECTS. 
(a) COOPERATIVE COMMUNITY PROTECTION
AND 
FOREST RESTORATION PROGRAM.—
(1) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary 
con-
cerned shall establish a cooperative community pro-
tection and forest restoration program under the 
National Fire Plan to make cost-share grants to en-
able stakeholders to participate with the Secretary 
concerned in planning and carrying out hazardous 
fuels reduction projects that—
(A) are conducted in the wildland-urban 
interface or to protect municipal water supply 
systems; 
(B) are designed, implemented, and mon-
itored through a collaborative process that in-
cludes a diverse and balanced group of stake-
holders, as well as appropriate Federal, tribal, 
State and local government representatives; 
(C) create local employment or training op-
portunities within the context of accomplishing 
restoration objectives that are consistent with 
the purposes of this Act; and 
(D) satisfy the other requirements speci-
fied in subsection (d). 
(2) CROSS-BOUNDARY PROJECTS AND PARTICI-
PATION.—Except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion, hazardous fuels reduction projects under the 
program may be carried out entirely on, or involve 
any combination of, Federal lands, tribal lands, 
State or local government lands, or private forest 
lands. Prioritization, decisionmaking, and implemen-
tation of approved hazardous fuels reduction 
projects should be on a cross-boundary, landscape-
scale basis, with both State and Federal land man-
agers able to act as agents of the other parties to 
the project. 
(3) ADMINISTRATION.—A grant made under 
the program shall be administered by the appro-
priate State Forester, in cooperation with the Sec-
retary concerned in the same manner as grants
made pursuant to the Cooperative Forestry Assist-
ance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.). 
(4) COST-SHARE REQUIREMENTS.—The Federal 
share of the cost of a hazardous fuels reduction 
project under the program shall not exceed 80 per-
cent of the total cost of the project. The required 20 
percent matching funds may be provided in the form 
of cash or in-kind contributions. 
(b) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS.—A 
hazardous fuels reduction project under the program shall 
not be conducted on the following Federal lands: 
(1) A component of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System. 
(2) Federal lands where, by Act of Congress, 
Presidential proclamation, or applicable land and re-
source management plan, the removal of vegetation 
is prohibited or restricted. 
(3) Wilderness Study Areas. 
(4) Inventoried Roadless Areas. 
(c) TREE REMOVAL AND THINNING LIMITATIONS.—
In conducting a hazardous fuels reduction project under 
the program, if the Federal lands to be treated by the 
project contain fire resistant, pre-fire-exclusion old or 
large trees, the Secretary concerned shall limit the number 
and size of the trees to be removed so as to maintain as
nearly as possible an ecologically optimum number of such 
trees, as determined by the Secretary concerned on a 
project-by-project basis, appropriate for each ecosystem 
type. The Secretary concerned shall also emphasize the re-
moval of small-diameter trees and thinning from below for 
the project. 
(d) OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) OBJECTIVES.—To be an eligible hazardous 
fuels reduction project under the program, the 
project shall address the following objectives: 
(A) Reduce the threat of large, high-inten-
sity wildfires in the area of the project and the 
negative effects of excessive competition be-
tween trees by restoring ecosystem functions, 
structures, and species composition, including 
the reduction of nonnative species populations 
and the retention of old or large native-species 
trees. 
(B) Reestablish fire regimes approximating 
those that shaped forest ecosystems prior to in-
tensive fire suppression. 
(C) Improve the ability of State and local 
fire departments to safely and effectively per-
form initial fire control in the area of the 
project.
(D) Mitigate areas at high risk for flood, 
erosion, or sediment damage following a 
wildland fire, rehabilitate areas that have expe-
rienced such fire-related damage, or both. 
(E) Where appropriate, improve the use of, 
or add value to, small diameter trees. 
(2) 
COMPLIANCE
WITH
ENVIRONMENTAL 
LAWS.—The planning and implementation of a haz-
ardous fuels reduction project under the program 
shall comply with all applicable Federal and State 
environmental laws and incorporate current sci-
entific forest restoration information. 
(3) ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS.—Each haz-
ardous fuels reduction project under the program 
shall include a multiparty assessment—
(A) to identify both the existing ecological 
condition of the proposed project area and the 
desired future condition; and 
(B) to evaluate, upon project completion, 
the positive or negative impact and effectiveness 
of the project. 
(e) ANNUAL WORKSHOP.—Each stakeholder that de-
sires to participate in a hazardous fuels reduction project 
under the program shall enter into an agreement to attend 
an annual workshop with other stakeholders for the pur-
pose of discussing the program and the hazardous fuels 
reduction projects implemented under the program. The 
Secretary concerned shall coordinate and fund the annual 
workshop, and stakeholders may use a portion of the funds 
provided for projects under the program to pay for travel 
and per diem expenses to attend the workshop. 
(f) REPORT.—Not later than five years after the end 
of the first fiscal year in which funding is made available 
for the program, the Secretary concerned shall submit a 
report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-
sources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources 
of the House of Representatives containing an assessment 
on whether, and to what extent, the hazardous fuel reduc-
tion projects funded under the program are meeting the 
purposes of this Act. 
SEC. 7. SELECTION PROCESS FOR HAZARDOUS FUELS RE-
DUCTION PROJECTS. 
(a) DETERMINATION OF PROJECT FUNDING PRIOR-
ITIES.—Prior to the selection of hazardous fuels reduction 
projects under section 6, the State Forester and Regional 
Forester, and the State Forester and State Director of 
the Bureau of Land Management, of each State in which 
such projects will be conducted shall meet with the tech-
nical advisory panel for the State established in subsection 
(c) to determine priorities for project funding.
(b) SELECTION OF PROPOSALS TO BE FUNDED.—
(1) RECOMMENDATIONS.—After consulting with 
the technical advisory panels for a State, the State 
Forester, Regional Forester, and State Director of 
the Bureau of Land Management shall jointly sub-
mit to the Secretary concerned recommendations re-
garding priority hazardous fuels reduction projects 
that should be funded under section 6. 
(2) SELECTION.—Based on the recommenda-
tions received under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
concerned shall then select the hazardous fuels re-
duction project proposals to be funded under section 
6. 
(3) PRIORITIES.—The Secretary concerned 
shall give priority to hazardous fuels reduction 
projects that can be conducted across ownership 
boundaries for the benefit of a larger landscape or 
watershed. 
(c) TECHNICAL ADVISORY PANEL.—
(1) PANEL
REQUIRED; PURPOSE.—The Sec-
retary concerned shall convene a technical advisory 
panel for each State in which hazardous fuels reduc-
tion projects will be conducted under section 6 for 
the purpose of setting protection and restoration pri-
orities, evaluating all proposed projects, and pro-
viding recommendations under subsection (a). The 
Secretary concerned shall establish the procedures 
through which each panel will develop its rec-
ommendations. 
(2) ADMINISTRATION.—The technical advisory 
panel for a State shall be jointly administered by the 
State Forester and the Regional Forester, in the 
case of panels convened by the Secretary of Agri-
culture, or the State Forester and the State Director 
of the Bureau of Land Management, in the case of 
panels convened by the Secretary of the Interior. 
(3) COMPOSITION.—Each technical advisory 
panel shall be composed of 10 to 13 members ap-
pointed by the Secretary concerned from persons 
recommended by the respective State Forester and 
Regional Forester or State Director of the Bureau 
of Land Management. 
(4) REQUIRED MEMBERS.—At a minimum, the 
technical advisory panel for a State shall include the 
following members: 
(A) An official of the natural resource de-
partment of the State or an equivalent State 
agency. 
(B) Two representatives from Federal land 
management agencies.
(C) One tribal representative, if the State 
includes at least one federally-recognized Indian 
tribe. 
(D) One representative of the State’s local 
fire departments. 
(E) Two independent scientists with expe-
rience in forest ecosystem restoration. 
(F) An equal number of representatives 
from each of the following: 
(i) One or more recognized conserva-
tion organizations. 
(ii) Local communities. 
(iii) Local commodity interests. 
SEC. 8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) MULTI-PARTY PROCESS.— The Secretary con-
cerned shall establish a multiparty monitoring and evalua-
tion process in order to assess the cumulative accomplish-
ments or adverse impacts of hazardous fuels reduction 
projects conducted under section 6. To the extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary concerned shall include any inter-
ested individual or organization in the monitoring and 
evaluation process. 
(b) DEPARTMENT MONITORING.—The Secretary con-
cerned also shall conduct a monitoring program to assess 
the short- and long-term ecological effects of the haz-
ardous fuels reduction projects conducted under section 6. 
The monitoring of a project shall be performed for a min-
imum of 15 years. 
SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES UNDER COOPERA-
TIVE COMMUNITY PROTECTION AND FOREST 
RESTORATION PROGRAM. 
(a) SCOPING.—In accordance with applicable regula-
tions and administrative guidelines in effect on January 
1, 2003, the Secretary concerned shall conduct scoping for 
each hazardous fuel reduction project involving Federal 
lands to be conducted under section 6. Scoping shall in-
clude an opportunity for public participation. 
(b) PUBLIC MEETING.—Upon completion of the 
scoping for a hazardous fuel reduction project involving 
Federal lands, the Secretary concerned shall conduct a 
public meeting at an appropriate location with respect to 
the project. 
SEC. 10. SPECIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ADMIN-
ISTRATIVE 
APPEALS 
PROCESS 
FOR 
HAZ-
ARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS. 
(a) APPLICABILITY.—The Secretary of Agriculture 
shall use the following administrative appeal process to 
consider appeals regarding hazardous fuels reduction 
projects to be conducted on National Forest System lands 
under section 6.
(b) DOCUMENTS.—
(1) COMPLETE AND AVAILABILITY.—Under this 
administrative appeal process, the environmental 
analysis document, analysis file, and decision docu-
ment for a hazardous fuels reduction project shall be 
complete and available for public review once notice 
of the decision document is provided in the local 
paper of record. The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
seek to make these documents as widely available as 
possible, through posting on the Internet and in 
other ways. 
(2) REVISION.—Except as provided in this sec-
tion, the environmental analysis document, analysis 
file, and decision document may not be revised after 
it is made available to the public unless the Sec-
retary of Agriculture provides new public notice and 
recommences the time limits specified in this sub-
section for the project. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to appeal a haz-
ardous fuels reduction project under this administrative 
appeal process, a person must have submitted written 
comments during the preparation stage of the project on 
an issue specifically related to the project for which the 
appeal is sought. For purposes of this subsection, a writ-
ten comment includes a comment sent by e-mail or fac-
simile. 
(d) SUBMISSION
OF NOTICE
OF INTENT
TO AP-
PEAL.—
(1) TIME FOR SUBMISSION.—The Secretary of 
Agriculture shall give eligible persons a 10-day pe-
riod, beginning on the date the signed decision docu-
ment for a hazardous fuels reduction project is made 
available to the public, during which to submit writ-
ten notice of an intent to appeal the decision. Notice 
submitted after the end of such period shall not be 
accepted. For purposes of this paragraph, a written 
notice includes a notice submitted by e-mail or fac-
simile, and written notice submitted by mail shall be 
considered to have been submitted on the date 
shown by a postmark or other evidence of the date 
on which it was mailed. 
(2) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO TIMELY SUBMIT.—
If no valid notice of appeal is submitted within the 
required period, the hazardous fuels reduction 
project shall not be subject to appeal under this ad-
ministrative appeal process or any other provision of 
law, and the decision document shall be considered 
the final agency decision.
(e) FILING
OF APPEAL.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture shall give an eligible person who timely submits 
the notice of intent to appeal with regard to a hazardous 
fuels reduction project a 15-day period during which to 
file the administrative appeal. This period shall begin at 
the end of the 10-day period required by subsection (d), 
not on the day the person actually submitted the notice. 
(f) STAY OF ACTION.—Upon the timely submission 
of a notice of an intent to appeal a hazardous fuels reduc-
tion project under subsection (d), the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall take no action to implement the hazardous 
fuels reduction project until the completion of the appeal 
process and any judicial review of the project, unless the 
person submitting a notice of intent fails to timely file the 
administrative appeal under subsection (e). 
(g) TIME FOR REVIEW.—Upon receipt of the admin-
istrative appeal with regard to a hazardous fuels reduction 
project, the appeals officer shall consider and render a de-
cision on the appeal within 25 days. 
(h) HANDLING OF APPEALS.—
(1) NEGOTIATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The appeals 
officer may enter into negotiations with the appel-
lant and other interested persons who filed com-
ments during the preparation stage of the hazardous 
fuels reduction project subject to the review. Any de-
cision document resulting from the negotiations shall 
be considered the final agency decision. 
(2) NEW DECISION DOCUMENT.—The appeals 
officer may sign a new decision document correcting 
errors or otherwise modifying the decision document 
or may remand the case for further proceedings. If 
the appeals officer signs a new decision document, 
the appeals officer shall supplement the record with 
explanatory analysis and documentation. The new 
decision document shall be considered the final agen-
cy decision. 
(3) EXTENSION OF TIME PERIODS.—In order to 
facilitate negotiations, or for any other reason con-
sidered appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture, 
the Secretary may extend either or both of the peri-
ods specified in subsections (d) and (e) for submis-
sion of a notice of intent to appeal and for filing of 
an appeal. 
(i) RELATION TO EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Any provi-
sion of section 322 of the Department of the Interior and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 
102–381; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note), that is inconsistent with 
the process established by this section shall not apply to 
a hazardous fuels reduction project covered by this Act.
SEC. 11. FOREST RESTORATION AND HOMEOWNER ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAM AND PROJECTS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior (in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall jointly es-
tablish a program to identify and carry out projects to 
implement this section on the Federal lands and, subject 
to subsections (c) and (d), certain non-Federal lands. 
(b) AUTHORIZED PROJECT ACTIVITIES.—Projects 
identified and implemented under the program are limited 
to one or more of the following activities: 
(1) Erosion control and restoration of healthy, 
properly functioning watersheds, including meadows, 
upslope areas, riparian and floodplain areas, stream 
channels, and wetlands. 
(2) Activities to implement a recovery plan for 
a threatened or endangered species. 
(3) Road and trail assessments and plans and 
the maintenance, obliteration, or closure of roads 
and trails. 
(4) Wildlife and fish habitat management ac-
tivities designed to restore native species and their 
habitats. 
(5) Monitoring, including multiparty moni-
toring, of the implementation and effectiveness of 
the projects.
(6) Watershed analysis, including resource con-
ditions and trend assessments. 
(7) Restoration job training and the support of 
existing, and the creation of new, micro- and small 
enterprises related to restoration and the utilization 
and marketing of by-products derived from the 
projects. 
(8) Activities to ensure compliance with the Na-
tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4331 et seq.). 
(9) Ecologically appropriate actions for the con-
trol and removal of noxious and invasive species. 
(10) Reimbursement of the United States Fish 
and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fish-
eries Service for the costs of carrying out their re-
sponsibilities under section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1536) related to 
consultation and conference in connection with the 
projects. 
(11) Assisting the owners of eligible residences 
to reduce the risk of damage to such residences and 
appurtenant structures from wild fires on adjacent 
lands. 
(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—