I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 344 
To amend the Forest Legacy Program of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance 
Act of 1978 to authorize States to allow certain entities to acquire, 
hold, and manage conservation easements under the program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 5, 2017 
Ms. STEFANIK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Forest Legacy Program of the Cooperative 
Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize States to 
allow certain entities to acquire, hold, and manage con-
servation easements under the 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Legacy Man-
agement Flexibility Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:32 Jan 18, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H344.IH
H344
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED OR-
GANIZATIONS TO ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MAN-
AGE 
CONSERVATION 
EASEMENTS 
UNDER 
THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM. 
Section 7(l) of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance 
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) STATE AUTHORIZATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a 
State acting through the State Lead Agency, 
the Secretary shall authorize the State to allow 
qualified organizations, as defined in section 
170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, and organized for one or more of the 
purposes described in section 170(h)(4)(A) of 
that Code, to acquire, hold, and manage con-
servation easements, using funds granted to the 
State under this subsection, for purposes of the 
Forest Legacy Program in the State. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to ac-
quire and manage conservation easements 
under this paragraph, a qualified organization 
described in subparagraph (A) must dem-
onstrate to the Secretary the abilities necessary 
to acquire, monitor, and enforce interests in 
forestland consistent with the Forest Legacy 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:32 Jan 18, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H344.IH
H344
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
Program and the assessment of need for the 
State. 
‘‘(C) REVERSION.—If the Secretary, or a 
State acting through the State Lead Agency, 
makes any of the determinations described in 
subparagraph (D) with respect to a conserva-
tion easement acquired by a qualified organiza-
tion under the authority of subparagraph (A)— 
‘‘(i) all right, title, and interest of the 
qualified organization in and to the con-
servation easement shall terminate; and 
‘‘(ii) all right, title, and interest in 
and to the conservation easement shall re-
vert to the State or other qualified des-
ignee as approved by the State. 
‘‘(D) DETERMINATIONS.—The determina-
tions required for operation of the reversionary 
interest retained in subparagraph (C) are 
that— 
‘‘(i) the qualified organization is un-
able to carry out its responsibilities under 
the Forest Legacy Program in the State 
with respect to the conservation easement; 
‘‘(ii) the conservation easement has 
been modified in a way that is inconsistent 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:32 Jan 18, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H344.IH
H344
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
with the purposes of the Forest Legacy 
Program or the assessment of need for the 
State; or 
‘‘(iii) the conservation easement has 
been conveyed to another person (other 
than a qualified organization approved by 
the State and the Secretary).’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:32 Jan 18, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H344.IH
H344
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS