I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3420 
To save taxpayers money, reduce the deficit, cut corporate welfare, protect 
communities from wildfires, encourage Federal land management agency 
reform and accountability, and protect and restore America’s natural 
heritage by eliminating the fiscally wasteful and ecologically destructive 
commercial logging program on Federal public lands, restoring native 
biodiversity in our Federal public forests, and facilitating the economic 
recovery and diversification of communities affected by the Federal log-
ging program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2005 
Mr. LEACH (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. 
MALONEY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. LARSON of 
Connecticut, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WEINER, 
Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. OLVER, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. LANTOS, Mrs. MCCARTHY, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. FRANK of Massachu-
setts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 
MCNULTY, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 
PALLONE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. LEE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. NADLER, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. OWENS, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. NEAL 
of Massachusetts, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. ACKER-
MAN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. KUCINICH) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition 
to the Committees on Agriculture and Education and the Workforce, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To save taxpayers money, reduce the deficit, cut corporate
welfare, protect communities from wildfires, encourage 
Federal land management agency reform and account-
ability, and protect and restore America’s natural herit-
age by eliminating the fiscally wasteful and ecologically 
destructive commercial logging program on Federal pub-
lic lands, restoring native biodiversity in our Federal 
public forests, and facilitating the economic recovery and 
diversification of communities affected by the Federal 
logging program. 
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 
‘‘National Forest Protection and Restoration Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
Sec. 4. Prohibition on timber sales to protect Federal public lands. 
Sec. 5. Effect of prohibition on existing timber sale contracts. 
Sec. 6. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 7. Natural heritage restoration. 
Sec. 8. Worker retraining. 
Sec. 9. Allocation of funds. 
Sec. 10. Continuation of payments for States and counties containing Federal 
public lands under Public Law 106–393. 
Sec. 11. Enforcement by citizens. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘agencies’’ means 
the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the
Bureau of Land Management, and the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service. 
(2) COMMERCIAL LOGGING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘commercial 
logging’’ means— 
(i) the sale of timber; 
(ii) the execution of a timber sale; or 
(iii) any other transfer of timber or 
biomass to an individual, company, cor-
poration, or other entity, which then offers 
the transferred timber or biomass, or any 
product produced from that timber or bio-
mass, for sale or uses the transferred tim-
ber or biomass for other commercial pur-
poses. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘commercial 
logging’’ includes a sale, execution, or other 
transfer specified in subparagraph (A) regard-
less of— 
(i) the stated reason for the sale, exe-
cution, or transfer; or 
(ii) whether the timber is standing, 
fallen, living, or dead. 
(3) FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘Fed-
eral public lands’’ means—
(A) all lands in the United States included 
in the National Forest System; 
(B) all lands in the United States included 
in the National Wildlife Refuge System; 
(C) all lands in the United States included 
in the National Park System; and 
(D) all lands under the jurisdiction of the 
Bureau of Land Management. 
(4) NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘native bio-
diversity’’ means— 
(i) the full range of variety and varia-
bility within and among living organisms; 
and 
(ii) the ecological complexes in which 
the living organisms would have occurred 
in the absence of significant human im-
pact. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘native bio-
diversity’’ includes diversity— 
(i) within a species (including genetic 
diversity, species diversity, and age diver-
sity); 
(ii) within a community of species; 
(iii) between communities of species;
(iv) within a total area, such as a wa-
tershed; 
(v) along a vertical plane from ground 
to sky, including application of the plane 
to all the other types of diversity; and 
(vi) along the horizontal plane of the 
earth-surface, including application of the 
plane to all the other types of diversity. 
(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘native bio-
diversity’’ excludes genetically modified or engi-
neered organisms. 
(5) LATE-SUCCESSIONAL/OLD
GROWTH
FOR-
EST.—The term ‘‘late-successional/old growth for-
est’’ refers to any stand of forest within the bound-
aries of a timber sale that may contain trees that ex-
ceed 80 years in age. 
(6) ROADLESS
AREA.—The term ‘‘roadless 
area’’ means each of the following: 
(A) Any inventoried roadless area. 
(B) Any area of at least 1,000 contiguous 
acres meeting Forest Service road density 
guidelines. 
(C) Any area of less than 1,000 contiguous 
acres meeting Forest Service road density 
guidelines, if the area is adjacent to a unit of
the National Wilderness Preservation System, a 
unit of the National Park System, an inven-
tories roadless area, or a designated Wilderness 
Study Area. 
(7) TIMBER SALE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘timber sale’’ 
means— 
(i) the sale of timber; 
(ii) the offering of timber for sale or 
consideration; or 
(iii) any other transfer of timber or 
biomass to an individual, company, cor-
poration, or other entity, which then offers 
the transferred timber or biomass, or any 
product produced from that timber or bio-
mass, for sale or uses the transferred tim-
ber or biomass for other commercial pur-
poses. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘timber sale’’ 
includes a sale, offer, or other transfer specified 
in subparagraph (A) regardless of— 
(i) the stated reason for the sale, 
offer, or transfer; or 
(ii) whether the timber is standing, 
fallen, living, or dead.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Polls conducted by the Forest Service show 
that a strong majority of the American people think 
that natural resources on Federal public lands 
should not be made available to produce consumer 
goods. 
(2) The 1995 Forest Service draft report enti-
tled ‘‘Forest Service Program for Forest and Range-
land Resources: A Long-Term Strategic Plan’’ shows 
that recreation and tourism in the National Forest 
System creates over 30 times more jobs, and gen-
erates over 30 times more income, than commercial 
logging on national forests. 
(3) According to Forest Service figures, timber 
cut from Federal public lands comprises less than 
five percent of the annual timber consumption of the 
United States. 
(4) The vast majority of America’s original 
pristine forests have been logged, and what little pri-
mary forest that remains exists almost entirely on 
public lands. 
(5) The ecological crisis resulting from this se-
vere habitat loss and fragmentation of American for-
ests requires bold action to protect this Nation’s 
natural heritage so that pristine forests may remain
pristine, and damaged forests may have an oppor-
tunity to recover. 
(6) It is in the interests of the American people 
and the international community to protect and re-
store native biodiversity in our Federal public lands 
for its inherent benefits, the resulting economic ben-
efits, and for the protection of this natural heritage 
for current and future generations. 
(7) The 1995 report of the Comptroller General 
regarding distribution of Forest Service timber sales 
receipts (GAO/RCED–95–237FS) and the 1998 fol-
low-up report (GAO/RCED–99–24) reveal that, of 
the hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer 
money that is annually expended on the Forest Serv-
ice timber sales program, only a small fraction finds 
its way back to the Federal Treasury, resulting in 
an enormous net loss to taxpayers. 
(8) In September 2001, the General Accounting 
Office stated that it was ‘impractical, if not impos-
sible, for us or anyone to accurately determine the 
Forest Service’s timber sales program cost.’’ (GAO– 
01–1101R Forest Service Timber Costs), and this 
lack of accurate accounting results in waste and 
abuse of taxpayer funds and natural resources.
(9) Forests absorb rainfall, retard stream run-
off, reduce floods, increase slope stability, and retain 
topsoil, and retard soil erosion and siltation in 
streams, irrigation ditches, and reservoirs. 
(10) Commercial logging has many indirect 
costs which are very significant, but not easily meas-
ured, such as flooding damage and relief of flooding 
damage through Federal funds, damage to the salm-
on fishing industry; and harm to the recreation and 
tourism industries. 
(11) A congressionally commissioned scientific 
study of the Sierra Nevada forests found that more 
than any other human activity, commercial logging 
has increased the risk and severity of fires by remov-
ing the cooling shade of trees and leaving flammable 
debris (see Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Final 
Report to Congress, Vol. 1, Assessment Summaries 
and Management Strategies, 1996). 
(12) Forest Service studies have confirmed the 
finding that logging, including both thinning and 
clearcutting, increases fire severity (United States 
Forest Service, Historical and Current Forest Land-
scapes in Eastern Oregon and Washington, Part II: 
Linking Vegetation Characteristics to Potential Fire 
Behavior and Related Smoke Production, PNW–
GTR–355, p. 22 (1995); United States Forest Serv-
ice, Integrated Scientific Assessment for Ecosystem 
Management in Interior Columbia Basin, PNW– 
GTR–382, p. 61 (1996)). 
(13) The Forest Service’s chief fire specialist 
has stated that the material that needs to be re-
duced to prevent unnaturally severe forest fires is 
underbrush that is less than two or three inches in 
diameter, not mature trees (Washington Journal, C– 
SPAN, Aug. 10, 2000). 
(14) The Forest Service’s own fire research sta-
tion found that the only effective way to protect 
homes in the urban/wildland interface from forest 
fires is to reduce the flammability of the home itself 
and its immediate surroundings within 40 meters, 
not engage in logging activities on Federal public 
lands (Jack Cohen, Reducing the Wildland Fire 
Threat to Homes: where and how much?, United 
States Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory, 
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Mon-
tana, report presented at the Fire Economics, Policy 
and Planning: Bottom Line Symposium, April 5–9, 
1999, San Diego, California). 
(15) It is in the interests of the American peo-
ple to protect watersheds on Federal public lands in