I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2875
To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide for the conduct 
of projects that protect forests, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 14, 2005
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon (for himself and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Re-
sources, 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 committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide 
for the conduct of projects that protect forests, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Lands Corps 
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT 
OF 1993. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 203 of the Public Lands 
Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1722) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), 
and (11) as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), and (13), re-
spectively; 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(8) PRIORITY
PROJECT.—The term ‘priority 
project’ means an appropriate conservation project 
conducted on eligible service lands to further 1 or 
more of the purposes of the Healthy Forests Res-
toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.), as 
follows: 
‘‘(A) To reduce wildfire risk to a commu-
nity, municipal water supply, or other at-risk 
Federal land. 
‘‘(B) To protect a watershed or address a 
threat to forest and rangeland health, including 
catastrophic wildfire. 
‘‘(C) To address the impact of insect or 
disease infestations or other damaging agents 
on forest and rangeland health. 
‘‘(D) To protect, restore, or enhance forest 
ecosystem components to—
‘‘(i) promote the recovery of threat-
ened or endangered species; 
‘‘(ii) improve biological diversity; or 
‘‘(iii) enhance productivity and carbon 
sequestration.’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as redes-
ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 
‘‘(12) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘Secretary’ 
means—
‘‘(A) with respect to National Forest Sys-
tem land, the Secretary of Agriculture; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to Indian lands, Hawai-
ian home lands, or land administered by the 
Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the 
Interior.’’. 
(b) QUALIFIED YOUTH OR CONSERVATION CORPS.—
Section 204(c) of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 
U.S.C. 1723(c)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior 
and the Secretary of Agriculture are’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of enter-
ing into contracts and cooperative agreements 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary may give 
preference to qualified youth or conservation 
corps located in a specific area that have a sub-
stantial portion of members who are economi-
cally, physically, or educationally disadvantaged 
to carry out projects within the area. 
‘‘(B) PRIORITY
PROJECTS.—In carrying 
out priority projects in a specific area, the Sec-
retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
give preference to qualified youth or conserva-
tion corps located in that specific area that 
have a substantial portion of members who are 
economically, physically, or educationally dis-
advantaged.’’. 
(c) CONSERVATION PROJECTS.—Section 204(d) of 
the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723(d)) 
is amended—
(1) in the first sentence—
(A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of Agriculture may each’’ 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may’’; and