H. R. 1904—21
tribe to target watershed forestry projects funded under this
subsection.
(6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—The Secretary may provide to
Indian tribes under this section financial and technical assist-
ance to establish a position of tribal forester to lead tribal
programs and coordinate small watershed-level projects.
(d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall devote—
(1) at least 75 percent of the funds made available for
a fiscal year under subsection (e) to the program under sub-
section (c); and
(2) the remainder of the funds to deliver technical assist-
ance, education, and planning in the field to Indian tribes.
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,500,000 for each
of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTATIONS AND
RELATED DISEASES
SEC. 401. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) high levels of tree mortality resulting from insect
infestation (including the interaction between insects and dis-
eases) may result in—
(A) increased fire risk;
(B) loss of old trees and old growth;
(C) loss of threatened and endangered species;
(D) loss of species diversity;
(E) degraded watershed conditions;
(F) increased potential for damage from other agents
of disturbance, including exotic, invasive species; and
(G) decreased timber values;
(2)(A) forest-damaging insects destroy hundreds of thou-
sands of acres of trees each year;
(B) in the West, more than 21,000,000 acres are at high
risk of forest-damaging insect infestation, and in the South,
more than 57,000,000 acres are at risk across all land owner-
ships; and
(C) severe drought conditions in many areas of the South
and West will increase the risk of forest-damaging insect
infestations;
(3) the hemlock woolly adelgid is—
(A) destroying streamside forests throughout the mid-
Atlantic and Appalachian regions;
(B) threatening water quality and sensitive aquatic
species; and
(C) posing a potential threat to valuable commercial
timber land in northern New England;
(4)(A) the emerald ash borer is a nonnative, invasive pest
that has quickly become a major threat to hardwood forests
because an emerald ash borer infestation is almost always
fatal to affected trees; and
(B) the emerald ash borer pest threatens to destroy more
than 692,000,000 ash trees in forests in Michigan and Ohio
alone, and between 5 and 10 percent of urban street trees
in the Upper Midwest;
H. R. 1904—22
(5)(A) epidemic populations of Southern pine beetles are
ravaging forests in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ken-
tucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
and Virginia; and
(B) in 2001, Florida and Kentucky experienced 146 percent
and 111 percent increases, respectively, in Southern pine beetle
populations;
(6) those epidemic outbreaks of Southern pine beetles have
forced private landowners to harvest dead and dying trees,
in rural areas and increasingly urbanized settings;
(7) according to the Forest Service, recent outbreaks of
the red oak borer in Arkansas and Missouri have been unprece-
dented, with more than 1,000,000 acres infested at population
levels never seen before;
(8) much of the damage from the red oak borer has taken
place in national forests, and the Federal response has been
inadequate to protect forest ecosystems and other ecological
and economic resources;
(9)(A) previous silvicultural assessments, while useful and
informative, have been limited in scale and scope of application;
and
(B) there have not been sufficient resources available to
adequately test a full array of individual and combined applied
silvicultural assessments;
(10) only through the full funding, development, and assess-
ment of potential applied silvicultural assessments over specific
time frames across an array of environmental and climatic
conditions can the most innovative and cost effective manage-
ment applications be determined that will help reduce the
susceptibility of forest ecosystems to attack by forest pests;
(11)(A) often, there are significant interactions between
insects and diseases;
(B) many diseases (such as white pine blister rust, beech
bark disease, and many other diseases) can weaken trees and
forest stands and predispose trees and forest stands to insect
attack; and
(C) certain diseases are spread using insects as vectors
(including Dutch elm disease and pine pitch canker); and
(12) funding and implementation of an initiative to combat
forest pest infestations and associated diseases should not come
at the expense of supporting other programs and initiatives
of the Secretary.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—
(1) to require the Secretary to develop an accelerated basic
and applied assessment program to combat infestations by
forest-damaging insects and associated diseases;
(2) to enlist the assistance of colleges and universities
(including forestry schools, land grant colleges and universities,
and 1890 Institutions), State agencies, and private landowners
to carry out the program; and
(3) to carry out applied silvicultural assessments.
SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENT.—
H. R. 1904—23
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘applied silvicultural
assessment’’ means any vegetative or other treatment car-
ried out for information gathering and research purposes.
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘applied silvicultural
assessment’’ includes timber harvesting, thinning, pre-
scribed burning, pruning, and any combination of those
activities.
(2) 1890 INSTITUTION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘1890 Institution’’ means
a college or university that is eligible to receive funds
under the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.).
(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘1890 Institution’’ includes
Tuskegee University.
(3) FOREST-DAMAGING INSECT.—The term ‘‘forest-damaging
insect’’ means—
(A) a Southern pine beetle;
(B) a mountain pine beetle;
(C) a spruce bark beetle;
(D) a gypsy moth;
(E) a hemlock woolly adelgid;
(F) an emerald ash borer;
(G) a red oak borer;
(H) a white oak borer; and
(I) such other insects as may be identified by the
Secretary.
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the
Forest Service, with respect to National Forest System
land; and
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through appro-
priate offices of the United States Geological Survey, with
respect to federally owned land administered by the Sec-
retary of the Interior.
SEC. 403. ACCELERATED INFORMATION GATHERING REGARDING
FOREST-DAMAGING INSECTS.
(a) INFORMATION GATHERING.—The Secretary, acting through
the Forest Service and United States Geological Survey, as appro-
priate, shall establish an accelerated program—
(1) to plan, conduct, and promote comprehensive and
systematic information gathering on forest-damaging insects
and associated diseases, including an evaluation of—
(A) infestation prevention and suppression methods;
(B) effects of infestations and associated disease inter-
actions on forest ecosystems;
(C) restoration of forest ecosystem efforts;
(D) utilization options regarding infested trees; and
(E) models to predict the occurrence, distribution, and
impact of outbreaks of forest-damaging insects and associ-
ated diseases;
(2) to assist land managers in the development of treat-
ments and strategies to improve forest health and reduce the
susceptibility of forest ecosystems to severe infestations of
forest-damaging insects and associated diseases on Federal land
and State and private land; and
(3) to disseminate the results of the information gathering,
treatments, and strategies.
H. R. 1904—24
(b) COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall—
(1) establish and carry out the program in cooperation
with—
(A) scientists from colleges and universities (including
forestry schools, land grant colleges and universities, and
1890 Institutions);
(B) Federal, State, and local agencies; and
(C) private and industrial landowners; and
(2) designate such colleges and universities to assist in
carrying out the program.
SEC. 404. APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENTS.
(a) ASSESSMENT
EFFORTS.—For information gathering and
research purposes, the Secretary may conduct applied silvicultural
assessments on Federal land that the Secretary determines is at
risk of infestation by, or is infested with, forest-damaging insects.
(b) LIMITATIONS.—
(1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN AREAS.—Subsection (a) does not
apply to—
(A) a component of the National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System;
(B) any Federal land on which, by Act of Congress
or Presidential proclamation, the removal of vegetation
is restricted or prohibited;
(C) a congressionally-designated wilderness study area;
or
(D) an area in which activities under subsection (a)
would be inconsistent with the applicable land and resource
management plan.
(2) CERTAIN
TREATMENT
PROHIBITED.—Nothing in sub-
section (a) authorizes the application of insecticides in munic-
ipal watersheds or associated riparian areas.
(3) PEER REVIEW.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Before being carried out, each
applied silvicultural assessment under this title shall be
peer reviewed by scientific experts selected by the Sec-
retary, which shall include non-Federal experts.
(B) EXISTING PEER REVIEW PROCESSES.—The Secretary
may use existing peer review processes to the extent the
processes comply with subparagraph (A).
(c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—
(1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary shall provide notice of
each applied silvicultural assessment proposed to be carried
out under this section.
(2) PUBLIC
COMMENT.—The Secretary shall provide an
opportunity for public comment before carrying out an applied
silviculture assessment under this section.
(d) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Applied silvicultural assessment and
research treatments carried out under this section on not more
than 1,000 acres for an assessment or treatment may be cat-
egorically excluded from documentation in an environmental
impact statement and environmental assessment under the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.).