[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2407 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2407

 To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
1974, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the National 
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, the National Indian 
 Forest Resources Management Act, and title 10, United States Code, to 
     strengthen the protection of native biodiversity and to place 
restraints upon clearcutting and certain other cutting practices on the 
                     forests of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 1995

    Mr. Bryant of Texas (for himself and Mr. Shays) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and 
in addition to the Committees on Resources and National Security, 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 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
1974, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the National 
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, the National Indian 
 Forest Resources Management Act, and title 10, United States Code, to 
     strengthen the protection of native biodiversity and to place 
restraints upon clearcutting and certain other cutting practices on the 
                     forests of the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Forest Biodiversity Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES, FINDINGS, CONFLICT WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are, on all Federal public 
lands, to conserve native biodiversity and to protect all native 
ecosystems against losses that result from clearcutting and other forms 
of even-age logging.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Federal agencies of the United States that engage in 
        even-age logging practices include the Forest Service of the 
        Department of Agriculture, the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian 
        Affairs of the Department of the Interior, and the Army, Navy, 
        and Air Force of the Department of Defense.
            (2) Even-age logging causes substantial alterations in 
        native biodiversity by emphasizing the production of a limited 
        number of commercial species of trees on each site, generally 
        only one; by manipulating the vegetation toward greater 
        relative density of such commercial species, by suppressing 
        competing species, and by planting, on numerous sites, a 
        commercial strain that was developed to reduce the relative 
        diversity of genetic strains that previously occurred within 
        the species on the same sites.
            (3) Even-age logging kills immobile species and the very 
        young of mobile species of wildlife and depletes the habitat of 
        deep-forest species of animals, including endangered species.
            (4) Even-age logging exposes the soil to direct sunlight, 
        impact of rains, disruption of surface, and compaction of 
        organic layers, and disrupts the run-off restraining 
        capabilities of roots and low-lying vegetation, resulting in 
        soil erosion, leaching out of nutrients, reduction in 
        biological content of the soil, and impoverishment of the soil, 
        with long-range deleterious effect on all land resources, even 
        timber production.
            (5) Even-age logging decreases the capability of the soil 
        to retain carbon and, during the critical periods of felling 
        and site preparation, reduces the capacity of the biomass to 
        process and to store carbon, with a result of loss of such 
        carbon to the atmosphere, thereby aggravating global warming.
            (6) Even-age logging renders the soil increasingly 
        sensitive to acid deposition by causing decline of soil wood 
        and coarse woody debris, reducing site capacity for retention 
        of water and nutrients, increasing soil heat, and impairing the 
        maintenance of protective carbon compounds on the soil surface.
            (7) Even-age logging results in increased stream 
        sedimentation, siltation of stream bottoms, decline in water 
        quality, impairment of life cycles and spawning processes of 
        aquatic life from benthic organisms to large fish, thereby 
        depleting the sports and commercial fisheries of the United 
        States.
            (8) Even-age logging increases harmful edge effects, 
        including blowdowns, invasions by weed species, and heavier 
        losses to predators and competitors, from raccoons and hawks to 
        ratsnakes and cowbirds.
            (9) Even-age logging decreases recreational values, 
        reducing deep, canopied, variegated, permanent forests, where 
        the public can fulfill an expanding need for recreation. Even-
        age logging replaces such forests with a surplus of clearings 
        that grow into relatively impenetrable thickets of saplings, 
        and then into monotonous plantations.
            (10) Human beings depend on native biological resources, 
        including plants, animals, and micro-organisms, for food, 
        medicine, shelter, and other important products, and as a 
        source of intellectual and scientific knowledge, recreation, 
        and aesthetic pleasure.
            (11) Alteration of native biodiversity has serious 
        consequences for human welfare as America irretrievably loses 
        resources for research and agricultural, medicinal, and 
        industrial development.
            (12) Alteration of biological diversity in Federal forests 
        adversely affects the functions of ecosystems and critical 
        ecosystem processes that moderate climate, govern nutrient 
        cycles and soil conservation and production, control pests and 
        diseases, and degrade wastes and pollutants.
            (13) The harm of even-age logging to the natural resources 
        of this Nation and the quality of life of its people are 
        substantial, severe, and avoidable.
            (14) By substituting selection management, as prescribed in 
        this Act, for the even-age system, the Federal agencies now 
        engaged in even-age logging would substantially reduce 
        devastation to the environment and would improve the quality of 
        life of the American people.
            (15) By protecting native biodiversity, as prescribed in 
        this Act, Federal agencies would maintain vital native 
        ecosystems and would improve the quality of life of the 
        American people.
            (16) Selection logging is more job intensive, therefore 
        providing more employment than even-age cutting for managing 
        the same amount of timber production, and produces higher 
        quality sawlogs.
            (17) The court remedies now available for citizens to 
        utilize in the enforcement of Federal forest laws are 
        inadequate, and should be strengthened by providing for actions 
        by citizens for injunctions, declaratory judgments, civil 
        penalties, and reasonable costs of suit.
    (c) Conflict With Endangered Species Act.--In the event of any 
conflict between a provision of this Act, or an amendment made by this 
Act, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531), the 
latter shall prevail.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF RANGELAND AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES PLANNING ACT OF 
              1974 RELATING TO NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.

    (a) Conservation of Native Biodiversity.--Section 6(g)(3)(B) of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 
U.S.C. 1604(g)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(B) regardless of any other provision in this 
                Act, in each stand and each watershed throughout each 
                forested area, the Secretary shall provide for the 
                conservation or restoration of native biodiversity 
                except during the extraction stage of authorized 
                mineral development or during authorized construction 
                projects, in which events the Secretary shall conserve 
                native biodiversity to the extent possible;''.
    (b) Committee of Scientists.--Section 6(h)(1) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
1604(h)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(h) Committee of Scientists.--(1) In carrying out the purposes of 
subsection (g) of this section, the Secretary shall appoint a committee 
of scientists who are not officers or employees of the Forest Service 
nor of any other public entity, nor of any entity engaged in whole or 
in part in the production of wood or wood products, and have not 
contracted with or represented any of such entities within a period of 
5 years prior to serving on such committee. The committee shall provide 
scientific and technical advice and counsel on proposed guidelines and 
procedures and all other issues involving forestry and biodiversity to 
assure that an effective interdisciplinary approach is proposed and 
adopted. The committee shall terminate after the expiration of 10 years 
from the date of enactment of this paragraph.''.
    (c) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--Section 6 of 
the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 
U.S.C. 1604) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--(1) In each 
stand and watershed throughout each forested area, the Secretary shall 
prohibit any even-age logging and any even-age management after the 
date of enactment of this subsection.
    ``(2) On each site already under even-age management, the Secretary 
shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection management within one year, or 
(B) cease managing for timber purposes and actively restore the native 
biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
    ``(3) For the purposes of this Act:
            ``(A) The term `native biodiversity' means the full range 
        of variety and variability within and among living organisms 
        and the ecological complexes in which they would have occurred 
        in the absence of significant human impact, and encompasses 
        diversity within a species (genetic or species), within a 
        community of species (within-community), between communities of 
        species (between-communities), within a total area such as a 
        watershed (total area), along a plane from ground to sky 
        (vertical), and along the plane of the earth-surface 
        (horizontal). Vertical and horizontal diversity apply to all 
        the other aspects of diversity.
            ``(B) The terms `conserve' and `conservation' refer to 
        protective measures for maintaining existing native biological 
        diversity and active and passive measures for restoring 
        diversity through management efforts, in order to protect, 
        restore, and enhance as much of the variety of species and 
        communities as possible in abundances and distributions that 
        provide for their continued existence and normal functioning, 
        including the viability of populations throughout their natural 
        geographic distributions.
            ``(C) The term `within-community diversity' means the 
        distinctive assemblages of species and ecological processes 
        that occur in different physical settings of the biosphere and 
        distinct parts of the world.
            ``(D) The term `genetic diversity' means the differences in 
        genetic composition within and among populations of a given 
        species.
            ``(E) The term `species diversity' means the richness and 
        variety of native species in a particular location of the 
        world.
            ``(F) The term `group selection' means a form of selection 
        management that emphasizes the periodic removal of trees, 
        including mature, undesirable, and cull trees in small groups, 
        where they occur that way, with a result of (i) creating 
        openings not to exceed in width in any direction the height of 
        the tallest tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of 
        the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age groups in a 
        given stand. In no event will more than 30 percent of the basal 
        area of a stand be felled within 40 years. The foregoing 
        limitation shall not be deemed to establish a 100-year 
        projected felling age as the standard at which individual trees 
        in a stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be 
        limited to that which occurs within the context of a 100-year 
        projected felling age.
            ``(G) The term `stand' means a biological community with 
        enough identity by location, topography, or dominant species to 
        be managed as a unit, not to exceed 100 acres.
            ``(H) The term `clearcutting' means the logging of more 
        than one-half of the commercial trees in a patch larger than a 
        group defined in subparagraph (F) or in a stand of any size in 
        a short period of time.
            ``(I) The term `even-age management' means the growing of 
        commercial timber so that all trees in a patch or stand are 
        generally within 10 years of the same age. Except for 
        designated leave trees, or clumps of trees, the patch or stand 
        is logged, completely in any acre within a period of 30 years, 
        by clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or 
        shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selection 
        management.
            ``(J) The term `salvage logging' means the felling or 
        further damaging, within any 30-year period, of a greater basal 
        area than 20 square feet per acre of dead, damaged, or other 
        trees, or any combination of such trees.
            ``(K) The term `seed-tree cut' means an even-age logging 
        operation that leaves a small minority of seed trees in a stand 
        for any period of time.
            ``(L) The term `selection management' means the application 
        of logging and other actions needed to maintain continuous high 
        forest cover where such cover naturally occurs, recurring 
        natural regeneration of all native species on the site, and the 
        orderly growth and development of trees through a range of 
        diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield of forest 
        products. Cutting methods that develop and maintain selection 
        stands are individual-tree and group selection. A goal of 
        selection is improvement of quality by continuously harvesting 
        trees less likely to contribute to the long-range health of the 
        stand.
            ``(M) The term `shelterwood cut' means an even-aged logging 
        operation that leaves a minority (larger than in a seed-tree 
        cut) of the stand as a seed source or protection cover 
        remaining standing for any period of time.
            ``(N) The term `timber purposes' shall include the use, 
        sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the felling of trees 
        or portions of trees except to create land space for a 
        structure or other use.
    ``(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster the widest 
possible enforcement of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this subsection.
    ``(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United States are 
injured by actions on lands to which subsection (g)(3)(B) and this 
subsection apply.
    ``(B) The provisions of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this subsection 
shall be enforced by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Attorney 
General of the United States against any person who violates either of 
them.
    ``(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act may enforce 
any provision of subsection (g)(3)(B) and this subsection by bringing 
an action for declaratory judgment, temporary restraining order, 
injunction, civil penalty, and other remedies against any alleged 
violator including the United States, in any district court of the 
United States.
    ``(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either of such 
subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than $5,000 and not 
more than $50,000 per violation, shall issue one or more injunctions 
and other equitable relief and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable 
costs of litigation including attorney's fees, witness fees and other 
necessary expenses.
    ``(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought under this 
subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the evidence and the trial 
shall be de novo.
    ``(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii) shall be paid 
by the violator or violators designated by the court. If that violator 
is the United States of America or a Federal agency or officer, the 
penalty shall be paid to the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress 
under section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
    ``(E) The penalty shall be paid from the Judgment Fund within 40 
days after judgment to the person or persons designated to receive it, 
to be applied in protecting or restoring native biodiversity in or 
adjoining Federal land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award 
of attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
    ``(F) The United States, including its agents and employees waives 
its sovereign immunity in all respects in all actions under subsection 
(g)(3)(B) and this subsection. No notice is required to enforce this 
subsection.
    ``(5) No roads shall be constructed or reconstructed in any 
roadless area, as defined in the second United States Department of 
Agriculture Forest Service Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE 
II, 1978) or in a land and resource management plan prepared pursuant 
to this section.''.
    (d) Conforming Amendment.--Section 6(g)(2)(F) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resource Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
1604(g)(2)(F)) is amended by inserting ``in accordance with subsection 
(g) and'' after ``National Forest System lands.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976 
              RELATING TO THE PUBLIC LANDS.

    (a) Conservation of Native Biodiversity.--Section 202(c) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as paragraphs 
        (9) and (10), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following new 
        paragraph (8):
            ``(8) regardless of any other provision in this Act, in 
        each stand and each watershed throughout each forested area, 
        the Secretary shall provide for the conservation or restoration 
        of native biodiversity except during the extraction stage of 
        authorized mineral development or during authorized 
        construction projects, in which events the Secretary shall 
        conserve native biodiversity to the extent possible;''.
    (b) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--Section 202 
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--(1) In each 
stand and watershed throughout each forested area, the Secretary shall 
prohibit any even-age logging and any even-age management after the 
date of enactment of this subsection.
    ``(2) On each site already under even-age management, the Secretary 
shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection management within one year, or 
(B) cease managing for timber purposes and actively restore the native 
biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
    ``(3) For the purposes of this Act:
            ``(A) The term `native biodiversity' means the full range 
        of variety and variability within and among living organisms 
        and the ecological complexes in which they would have occurred 
        in the absence of significant human impact, and encompasses 
        diversity within a species (genetic or species), within a 
        community of species (within-community), between communities of 
        species (between-communities), within a total area such as a 
        watershed (total area), along a plane from ground to sky 
        (vertical), and along the plane of the earth-surface 
        (horizontal). Vertical and horizontal diversity apply to all 
        the other aspects of diversity.
            ``(B) The terms `conserve' and `conservation' refer to 
        protective measures for maintaining existing native biological 
        diversity and active and passive measures for restoring 
        diversity through management efforts, in order to protect, 
        restore, and enhance as much of the variety of species and 
        communities as possible in abundances and distributions that 
        provide for their continued existence and normal functioning, 
        including the viability of populations throughout their natural 
        geographic distributions.
            ``(C) The term `within-community diversity' means the 
        distinctive assemblages of species and ecological processes 
        that occur in different physical settings of the biosphere and 
        distinct parts of the world.
            ``(D) The term `genetic diversity' means the differences in 
        genetic composition within and among populations of a given 
        species.
            ``(E) The term `species diversity' means the richness and 
        variety of native species in a particular location of the 
        world.
            ``(F) The term `group selection' means a form of selection 
        management that emphasizes the periodic removal of trees, 
        including mature, undesirable, and cull trees in small groups, 
        where they occur that way, with a result of (i) creating 
        openings not to exceed in width in any direction the height of 
        the tallest tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of 
        the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age groups in a 
        given stand. In no event will more than 30 percent of the basal 
        area of a stand be felled within 40 years. The foregoing 
        limitation shall not be deemed to establish a 100-year 
        projected felling age as the standard at which individual trees 
        in a stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be 
        limited to that which occurs within the context of a 100-year 
        projected felling age.
            ``(G) The term `stand' means a biological community with 
        enough identity by location, topography, or dominant species to 
        be managed as a unit, not to exceed 100 acres.
            ``(H) The term `clearcutting' means the logging of more 
        than one-half of the commercial trees in a patch larger than a 
        group defined in subparagraph (F) or in a stand of any size in 
        a short period of time.
            ``(I) The term `even-age management' means the growing of 
        commercial timber so that all trees in a patch or stand are 
        generally within 10 years of the same age. Except for 
        designated leave trees, or clumps of trees, the patch or stand 
        is logged, completely in any acre within a period of 30 years, 
        by clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or 
shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selection management.
            ``(J) The term `salvage logging' means the felling or 
        further damaging, within any 30-year period, of a greater basal 
        area than 20 square feet per acre of dead, damaged, or other 
        trees, or any combination of such trees.
            ``(K) The term `seed-tree cut' means an even-age logging 
        operation that leaves a small minority of seed trees in a stand 
        for any period of time.
            ``(L) The term `selection management' means the application 
        of logging and other actions needed to maintain continuous high 
        forest cover where such cover naturally occurs, recurring 
        natural regeneration of all native species on the site, and the 
        orderly growth and development of trees through a range of 
        diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield of forest 
        products. Cutting methods that develop and maintain selection 
        stands are individual-tree and group selection. A goal of 
        selection is improvement of quality by continuously harvesting 
        trees less likely to contribute to the long-range health of the 
        stand.
            ``(M) The term `shelterwood cut' means an even-aged logging 
        operation that leaves a minority (larger than in a seed-tree 
        cut) of the stand as a seed source or protection cover 
        remaining standing for any period of time.
            ``(N) The term `timber purposes' shall include the use, 
        sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the felling of trees 
        or portions of trees except to create land space for a 
        structure or other use.
    ``(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster the widest 
possible enforcement of subsection (c)(8) and this subsection.
    ``(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United States are 
injured by actions on lands to which subsection (c)(8) and this 
subsection apply.
    ``(B) The provisions of subsection (c)(8) and this subsection shall 
be enforced by the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General 
of the United States against any person who violates either of them.
    ``(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act may enforce 
any provision of subsection (c)(8) and this subsection by bringing an 
action for declaratory judgment, temporary restraining order, 
injunction, civil penalty, and other remedies against any alleged 
violator including the United States, in any district court of the 
United States.
    ``(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either of such 
subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than $5,000 and not 
more than $50,000 per violation, shall issue one or more injunctions 
and other equitable relief and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable 
costs of litigation including attorney's fees, witness fees and other 
necessary expenses.
    ``(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought under this 
subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the evidence and the trial 
shall be de novo.
    ``(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C) (ii) shall be paid 
by the violator or violators designated by the court. If that violator 
is the United States of America or a Federal agency or officer, the 
penalty shall be paid to the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress 
under section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
    ``(E) The penalty shall be paid from the Judgment Fund within 40 
days after judgment to the person or persons designated to receive it, 
to be applied in protecting or restoring native biodiversity in or 
adjoining Federal land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award 
of attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
    ``(F) The United States, including its agents and employees waives 
its sovereign immunity in all respects in all actions under subsection 
(c)(8) and this subsection. No notice is required to enforce this 
subsection.
    ``(5) No roads shall be constructed or reconstructed in any Bureau 
of Land Management roadless areas inventoried pursuant to this Act.''.
    (c) Repeal.--Subsection (b) of section 701 of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 note) is hereby 
repealed.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION ACT 
              OF 1966 RELATING TO THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM.

    Section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act 
of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(j) Conservation of Native Biodiversity.--Regardless of any other 
provision in this Act, in each stand and each watershed throughout each 
forested area within the System, the Secretary shall provide for the 
conservation or restoration of native biodiversity, except during the 
extraction stage of authorized mineral development or during authorized 
construction projects, in which events the Secretary shall conserve 
native biodiversity to the extent possible.
    ``(k) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--(1) In each 
stand and watershed throughout each forested area, the Secretary shall 
prohibit any even-age logging and any even-age management after the 
date of enactment of this subsection.
    ``(2) On each site already under even-age management, the Secretary 
shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection management within one year, or 
(B) cease managing for timber purposes and actively restore the native 
biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
    ``(3) For the purposes of this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `native biodiversity' means the full range 
        of variety and variability within and among living organisms 
        and the ecological complexes in which they would have occurred 
        in the absence of significant human impact, and encompasses 
        diversity within a species (genetic or species), within a 
        community of species (within-community), between communities of 
        species (between-communities), within a total area such as a 
        watershed (total area), along a plane from ground to sky 
        (vertical), and along the plane of the earth-surface 
        (horizontal). Vertical and horizontal diversity apply to all 
        the other aspects of diversity.
            ``(B) The terms `conserve' and `conservation' refer to 
        protective measures for maintaining existing native biological 
        diversity and active and passive measures for restoring 
        diversity through management efforts, in order to protect, 
        restore, and enhance as much of the variety of species and 
        communities as possible in abundances and distributions that 
        provide for their continued existence and normal functioning, 
        including the viability of populations throughout their natural 
        geographic distributions.
            ``(C) The term `within-community diversity' means the 
        distinctive assemblages of species and ecological processes 
        that occur in different physical settings of the biosphere and 
        distinct parts of the world.
            ``(D) The term `genetic diversity' means the differences in 
        genetic composition within and among populations of a given 
        species.
            ``(E) The term `species diversity' means the richness and 
        variety of native species in a particular location of the 
        world.
            ``(F) The term `group selection' means a form of selection 
        management that emphasizes the periodic removal of trees, 
        including mature, undesirable, and cull trees in small groups, 
        where they occur that way, with a result of (i) creating 
        openings not to exceed in width in any direction the height of 
        the tallest tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of 
        the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age groups in a 
        given stand. In no event will more than 30 percent of the basal 
        area of a stand be felled within 40 years. The foregoing 
        limitation shall not be deemed to establish a 100-year 
        projected felling age as the standard at which individual trees 
        in a stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be 
        limited to that which occurs within the context of a 100-year 
        projected felling age.
            ``(G) The term `stand' means a biological community with 
        enough identity by location, topography, or dominant species to 
        be managed as a unit, not to exceed 100 acres.
            ``(H) The term `clearcutting' means the logging of more 
        than one-half of the commercial trees in a patch larger than a 
        group defined in subparagraph (F) or in a stand of any size in 
        a short period of time.
            ``(I) The term `even-age management' means the growing of 
        commercial timber so that all trees in a patch or stand are 
        generally within 10 years of the same age. Except for 
        designated leave trees, or clumps of trees, the patch or stand 
        is logged, completely in any acre within a period of 30 years, 
        by clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or 
shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selection management.
            ``(J) The term `salvage logging' means the felling or 
        further damaging, within a 30-year period, of a greater basal 
        area than 20 square feet per acre of dead, damaged, or other 
        trees, or any combination of such trees.
            ``(K) The term `seed-tree cut' means an even-age logging 
        operation that leaves a small minority of seed trees in a stand 
        for any period of time.
            ``(L) The term `selection management' means the application 
        of logging and other actions needed to maintain continuous high 
        forest cover where such cover naturally occurs, recurring 
        natural regeneration of all native species on the site, and the 
        orderly growth and development of trees through a range of 
        diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield of forest 
        products. Cutting methods that develop and maintain selection 
        stands are individual-tree and group selection. A goal of 
        selection is improvement of quality by continuously harvesting 
        trees less likely to contribute to the long-range health of the 
        stand.
            ``(M) The term `shelterwood cut' means an even-aged logging 
        operation that leaves a minority (larger than in a seed-tree 
        cut) of the stand as a seed source or protection cover 
        remaining standing for any period of time.
            ``(N) The term `timber purposes' shall include the use, 
        sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the felling of trees 
        or portions of trees except to create land space for a 
        structure or other use.
    ``(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster the widest 
possible enforcement of subsection (j) and this subsection.
    ``(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United States are 
injured by actions on lands to which subsection (j) and this subsection 
apply.
    ``(B) The provisions of subsection (j) and this subsection shall be 
enforced by the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General of 
the United States against any person who violates either of them.
    ``(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act may enforce 
any provision of this subsection by bringing an action for declaratory 
judgment, temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and 
other remedies against any alleged violator including the United 
States, in any district court of the United States.
    ``(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either of such 
subsections, shall impose a penalty of not less than $5,000 and not 
more than $50,000 per violation, shall issue one or more injunctions 
and other equitable relief and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable 
costs of litigation including attorney's fees, witness fees and other 
necessary expenses.
    ``(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought under this 
subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the evidence and the trial 
shall be de novo.
    ``(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii) shall be paid 
by the violator or violators designed by the court. If that violator is 
the United States of America or a Federal agency or officer, the 
penalty shall be paid to the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress 
under section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
    ``(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment Fund within 40 
days after judgment to the person or persons designated to receive it, 
to be applied in protecting or restoring native biodiversity in or 
adjoining Federal land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award 
of attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
    ``(F) The United States, including its agents and employees waives 
its sovereign immunity in all respects in all actions under subsection 
(j) and this subsection. No notice is required to enforce this 
subsection.''.

SEC. 6. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL INDIAN FOREST RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT 
              RELATING TO INDIAN LANDS.

    Section 305 of the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act 
(25 U.S.C. 4535) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsections:
    ``(c) Conservation of Native Biodiversity.--Regardless of any other 
provision in this Act, in each stand and each watershed throughout each 
stand that is managed or operated for timber purposes in each forested 
area on Indian lands except during the extraction stage of authorized 
mineral development or during authorized construction projects in which 
events the Secretary shall conserve native biodiversity to the extent 
possible.
    ``(d) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--(1) In each 
stand and watershed throughout each forested area, the Secretary shall 
prohibit any even-age logging and any even-age management after the 
date of enactment of this subsection.
    ``(2) On each site already under even-age management, the Secretary 
shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection management within one year, or 
(B) cease managing for timber purposes and actively restore the native 
biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
    ``(3) For the purposes of this section:
            ``(A) The term `native biodiversity' means the full range 
        of variety and variability within and among living organisms 
        and the ecological complexes in which they would have occurred 
        in the absence of significant human impact, and encompasses 
        diversity within a species (genetic or species), within a 
        community of species (within-community), between communities of 
        species (between-communities), within a total area such as a 
        watershed (total area), along a plane from ground to sky 
        (vertical), and along the plane of the earth-surface 
        (horizontal). Vertical and horizontal diversity apply to all 
        the other aspects of diversity.
            ``(B) The terms `conserve' and `conservation' refer to 
        protective measures for maintaining existing native biological 
        diversity and active and passive measures for restoring 
        diversity through management efforts, in order to protect, 
        restore, and enhance as much of the variety of species and 
        communities as possible in abundances and distributions that 
        provide for their continued existence and normal functioning, 
        including the viability of populations throughout their natural 
        geographic distributions.
            ``(C) The term `within-community diversity' means the 
        distinctive assemblages of species and ecological processes 
        that occur in different physical settings of the biosphere and 
        distinct parts of the world.
            ``(D) The term `genetic diversity' means the differences in 
        genetic composition within and among populations of a given 
        species.
            ``(E) The term `species diversity' means the richness and 
        variety of native species in a particular location of the 
        world.
            ``(F) The term `group selection' means a form of selection 
        management that emphasizes the periodic removal of trees, 
        including mature, undesirable, and cull trees in small groups, 
        where they occur that way, with a result of (i) creating 
        openings not to exceed in width in any direction the height of 
        the tallest tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of 
        the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age groups in a 
        given stand. In no event will more than 30 percent of the basal 
        area of a stand be felled within 40 years. The foregoing 
        limitation shall not be deemed to establish a 100-year 
        projected felling age as the standard at which individual trees 
        in a stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be 
        limited to that which occurs within the context of a 100-year 
        projected felling age.
            ``(G) The term `stand' means a biological community with 
        enough identity by location, topography, or dominant species to 
        be managed as a unit, not to exceed 100 acres.
            ``(H) The term `clearcutting' means the logging of more 
        than one-half of the commercial trees in a patch larger than a 
        group defined in subparagraph (F) or in a stand of any size in 
        a short period of time.
            ``(I) The term `even-age management' means the growing of 
        commercial timber so that all trees in a patch or stand are 
        generally within 10 years of the same age. Except for 
        designated leave trees, or clumps of trees, the patch or stand 
        is logged, completely in any acre within a period of 30 years, 
        by clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or 
        shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selection 
        management.
            ``(J) The term `salvage logging' means the felling or 
        further damaging, within any 30-year period, of a greater basal 
        area than 20 square feet per acre of dead, damaged, or other 
        trees, or any combination of such trees.
            ``(K) The term `seed-tree cut' means an even-age logging 
        operation that leaves a small minority of seed trees in a stand 
        for any period of time.
            ``(L) The term `selection management' means the application 
        of logging and other actions needed to maintain continuous high 
        forest cover where such cover naturally occurs, recurring 
        natural regeneration of all native species on the site, and the 
        orderly growth and development of trees through a range of 
        diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield of forest 
        products. Cutting methods that develop and maintain selection 
        stands are individual-tree and group selection. A goal of 
        selection is improvement of quality by continuously harvesting 
        trees less likely to contribute to the long-range health of the 
        stand.
            ``(M) The term `shelterwood cut' means an even-aged logging 
        operation that leaves a minority (larger than in a seed-tree 
        cut) of the stand as a seed source or protection cover 
        remaining standing for any period of time.
            ``(N) The term `timber purposes' shall include the use, 
        sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the felling of trees 
        or portions of trees except to create land space for a 
        structure or other use.
    ``(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster the widest 
possible enforcement of subsection (c) and this subsection.
    ``(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United States are 
injured by actions on lands to which subsection (c) and this subsection 
apply.
    ``(B) The provisions of subsection (c) and this subsection shall be 
enforced by the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General of 
the United States against any person who violates either of them.
    ``(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act may enforce 
any provision of subsection (c) and this subsection by bringing an 
action for declaratory judgment, temporary restraining order, 
injunction, civil penalty, and other remedies against any alleged 
violator including the United States, in any district court of the 
United States.
    ``(ii) The court, after determining a violation of either of such 
subsections shall impose a penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more 
than $50,000 per violation, shall issue one or more injunctions and 
other equitable relief and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable 
costs of litigation including attorney's fees, witness fees and other 
necessary expenses.
    ``(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought under this 
subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the evidence and the trial 
shall be de novo.
    ``(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii) shall be paid 
by the violator or violators designated by the court. If that violator 
is the United States of America or a Federal agency or officer, the 
penalty shall be paid to the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress 
under section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
    ``(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment Fund within 40 
days after judgment to the person or persons designated to receive it, 
to be applied in protecting or restoring native biodiversity in or 
adjoining Federal land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award 
of attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
    ``(F) The United States, including its agents and employees waives 
its sovereign immunity in all respects in all actions under subsection 
(c) and this subsection. No notice is required to enforce this 
subsection.''.

SEC. 7. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 10, UNITED STATES CODE, RELATING TO FOREST 
              MANAGEMENT ON MILITARY LANDS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 159 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 2694. Conservation of native biodiversity
    ``(a) Conservation of Native Biodiversity.--Regardless of any other 
provision in this Act, in each stand and each watershed throughout each 
forested area on a military installation or projects administered by 
the Army Corps of Engineers, the Secretary concerned shall provide for 
the conservation or restoration of native biodiversity, except during 
authorized construction projects in which events the Secretary shall 
conserve native biodiversity to the extent possible.
    ``(b) Restriction on Use of Certain Logging Practices.--(1) In each 
stand and watershed throughout each forested area, the Secretary shall 
prohibit any even-age logging and any even-age management after the 
date of enactment of this subsection.
    ``(2) On each site already under even-age management, the Secretary 
shall (A) prescribe a shift to selection management within one year, or 
(B) cease managing for timber purposes and actively restore the native 
biodiversity, or permit each site to regain its native biodiversity.
    ``(3) In this section:
            ``(A) The term `native biodiversity' means the full range 
        of variety and variability within and among living organisms 
        and the ecological complexes in which they would have occurred 
        in the absence of significant human impact, and encompasses 
        diversity within a species (genetic or species), within a 
        community of species (within-community), between communities of 
        species (between-communities), within a total area such as a 
        watershed (total area), along a plane from ground to sky 
        (vertical), and along the plane of the earth-surface 
        (horizontal). Vertical and horizontal diversity apply to all 
        the other aspects of diversity.
            ``(B) The terms `conserve' and `conservation' refer to 
        protective measures for maintaining existing native biological 
        diversity and active and passive measures for restoring 
        diversity through management efforts, in order to protect, 
        restore, and enhance as much of the variety of species and 
        communities as possible in abundances and distributions that 
        provide for their continued existence and normal functioning, 
        including the viability of populations throughout their natural 
        geographic distributions.
            ``(C) The term `within-community diversity' means the 
        distinctive assemblages of species and ecological processes 
        that occur in different physical settings of the biosphere and 
        distinct parts of the world.
            ``(D) The term `genetic diversity' means the differences in 
        genetic composition within and among populations of a given 
        species.
            ``(E) The term `species diversity' means the richness and 
        variety of native species in a particular location of the 
        world.
            ``(F) The term `group selection' means a form of selection 
        management that emphasizes the periodic removal of trees, 
        including mature, undesirable, and cull trees in small groups, 
        where they occur that way, with a result of (i) creating 
        openings not to exceed in width in any direction the height of 
        the tallest tree standing within 10 feet outside the edge of 
        the group cut, and (ii) maintaining different age groups in a 
        given stand. In no event will more than 30 percent of the basal 
        area of a stand be felled within 40 years. The foregoing 
        limitation shall not be deemed to establish a 100-year 
        projected felling age as the standard at which individual trees 
        in a stand are to be cut, nor shall native biodiversity be 
        limited to that which occurs within the context of a 100-year 
        projected felling age.
            ``(G) The term `stand' means a biological community with 
        enough identity by location, topography, or dominant species to 
        be managed as a unit, not to exceed 100 acres.
            ``(H) The term `clearcutting' means the logging of more 
        than one-half of the commercial trees in a patch larger than a 
        group defined in subparagraph (F) or in a stand of any size in 
        a short period of time.
            ``(I) The term `even-age management' means the growing of 
        commercial timber so that all trees in a patch or stand are 
        generally within 10 years of the same age. Except for 
        designated leave trees, or clumps of trees, the patch or stand 
        is logged completely in any acre within a period of 30 years, 
        by clearcutting, salvage logging, seed-tree cutting or 
        shelterwood cutting, or any system other than selection 
        management.
            ``(J) The term `salvage logging' means the felling or 
        further damaging, within any 30-year period, of a greater basal 
        area than 20 square feet per acre of dead, damaged, or other 
        trees, or any combination of such trees.
            ``(K) The term `seed-tree cut' means an even-age logging 
        operation that leaves a small minority of seed trees in a stand 
        for any period of time.
            ``(L) The term `selection management' means the application 
        of logging and other actions needed to maintain continuous high 
        forest cover where such cover naturally occurs, recurring 
        natural regeneration of all native species on the site, and the 
        orderly growth and development of trees through a range of 
        diameter or age classes to provide a sustained yield of forest 
        products. Cutting methods that develop and maintain selection 
        stands are individual-tree and group selection. A goal of 
        selection is improvement of quality by continuously harvesting 
        trees less likely to contribute to the long-range health of the 
        stand.
            ``(M) The term `shelterwood cut' means an even-aged logging 
        operation that leaves a minority (larger than in a seed-tree 
        cut) of the stand as a seed source or protection cover 
        remaining standing for any period of time.
            ``(N) The term `timber purposes' shall include the use, 
        sale, lease, or distribution of trees, or the felling of trees 
        or portions of trees except to create land space for a 
        structure or other use.
    ``(4)(A)(i) The purpose of this paragraph is to foster the widest 
possible enforcement of this section.
    ``(ii) Congress finds that all people of the United States are 
injured by actions on lands to which this section applies.
    ``(B) The provisions of this section shall be enforced by the 
Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General of the United States 
against any person who violates this section.
    ``(C)(i) Any citizen harmed by a violation of this Act may enforce 
any provision of this section by bringing an action for declaratory 
judgment, temporary restraining order, injunction, civil penalty, and 
other remedies against any alleged violator including the United 
States, in any district court of the United States.
    ``(ii) The court, after determining a violation of this section, 
shall impose a penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than 
$50,000 per violation, shall issue one or more injunctions and other 
equitable relief and shall award to the plaintiffs reasonable costs of 
litigation including attorney's fees, witness fees and other necessary 
expenses.
    ``(iii) The standard of proof in all actions brought under this 
subparagraph shall be the preponderance of the evidence and the trial 
shall be de novo.
    ``(D) The penalty authorized by subparagraph (C)(ii) shall be paid 
by the violator or violators designated by the court. If that violator 
is the United States of America or a Federal agency or officer, the 
penalty shall be paid to the Judgment Fund, as provided by Congress 
under section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
    ``(E) The penalty should be paid from the Judgment Fund within 40 
days after judgment to the person or persons designated to receive it, 
to be applied in protecting or restoring native biodiversity in or 
adjoining Federal land. Any award of costs of litigation and any award 
of attorney fees shall be paid within 40 days after judgment.
    ``(F) The United States, including its agents and employees waives 
its sovereign immunity in all respects in all actions under this 
section. No notice is required to enforce this section.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 159 of 
title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item:

``2694. Conservation of native biodiversity.''.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall not apply 
with respect to any contract to sell timber which was awarded on or 
before the date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Application to Emergency Salvage Timber Sale Program.--The 
amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to any timber 
salvage sale under section 2001 of Public Law 104-19 (109 Stat. 240) 
which has not been awarded as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
notwithstanding any provision of that section 2001.
                                 <all>
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