[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1288 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1288

To provide incentives for collaborative forest restoration projects on 
 National Forest System and other public lands in New Mexico, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 28, 1999

 Mr. Bingaman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide incentives for collaborative forest restoration projects on 
 National Forest System and other public lands in New Mexico, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Community Forest Restoration Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Forest lands in New Mexico that are densely stocked 
        with small diameter, even-aged trees can erupt in catastrophic 
        wildfire that can endanger human lives and livelihoods.
            (2) Forest lands that are densely stocked with small 
        diameter trees can reduce biodiversity and provide fewer 
        benefits to human communities, wildlife, and watersheds.
            (3) Healthy and productive watersheds minimize the threat 
        of catastrophic wildfire, provide abundant and diverse wildlife 
        habitat, and produce a variety of timber and non-timber 
        products including better quality water and increased water 
        flows.
            (4) Restoration efforts are more successful when there is 
        involvement from neighboring communities and better stewardship 
        will evolve from more diverse involvement.
            (5) Designating demonstration restoration projects through 
        a collaborative approach may--
                    (A) lead to the development of cost effective 
                restoration activities;
                    (B) empower diverse organizations to implement 
                activities which value local and traditional knowledge;
                    (C) build ownership and civic pride; and
                    (D) ensure healthy, diverse, and productive forests 
                and watersheds.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote healthy watersheds and reduce the threat of 
        catastrophic wildfire, inset infestation, and disease in the 
        forests in New Mexico;
            (2) to improve the functioning of forest ecosystems and 
        enhance plant and wildlife biodiversity by reducing the 
        unnaturally high number and density of small diameter trees on 
        Federal, State, and tribal forest lands;
            (3) to improve communication and joint problem solving 
        among individuals and groups who are interested in restoring 
        the diversity and productivity of forested watersheds in New 
        Mexico;
            (4) to promote the use of small diameter trees; and
            (5) to encourage sustainable communities and sustainable 
        forests through collaborative partnerships whose objectives are 
        forest restoration.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture acting through the Chief of the Forest Service; and
            (2) the term ``stakeholder'' includes tribal governments, 
        educational institutions, landowners, and other interested 
        public and private entities.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

    (a) The Secretary shall establish a cooperative forest restoration 
program in New Mexico in order to provide cost-share grants to 
stakeholders for experimental forest restoration projects that are 
designed through a collaborative process (hereinafter referred to as 
the ``Collaborative Forest Restoration Program''). The Federal share of 
an individual project cost shall not exceed eighty percent of the total 
cost.
    (b) Eligibility Requirements.--To be eligible to receive funding 
under this Act, a project shall--
            (1) achieve one or more of the following objectives--
                    (A) reducing the danger of catastrophic wildfire 
                and re-introducing natural fire regimes on Federal, 
                State, or tribal forest lands;
                    (B) restoring healthy, biologically diverse, and 
                productive watersheds on Federal, State, or tribal 
                forest lands; or
                    (C) improving the use of, or add value to, small 
                diameter trees;
            (2) comply with all Federal and State environmental laws;
            (3) include a diverse and balanced group of stakeholders as 
        well as appropriate Federal, State, and tribal government 
        representatives in the design, implementation, and monitoring 
        of the project;
            (4) incorporate current scientific forest restoration 
        information;
            (5) include a multi-party assessment to report, upon 
        project completion, on the impact and effectiveness of the 
        project including improvements in local management skills and 
        on the ground results;
            (6) create local employment or training opportunities 
        within the context of accomplishing restoration objectives, 
        that are consistent with the purposes of this Act, including 
        summer youth jobs programs such as the Youth Conservation Corps 
        where appropriate;
            (7) not exceed four years in length;
            (8) not cost more than $150,000 annually nor $450,000 
        total;
            (9) leverage Federal funding through in-kind or matching 
        contributions; and
            (10) include an agreement by the stakeholders that they 
        will attend an annual workshop with other groups that receive 
        funding pursuant to this Act.

SEC. 6. SELECTION PROCESS.

    (a) After consulting with the technical advisory panel established 
in subsection (b), the Secretary shall select the proposals that will 
receive funding through the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program.
    (b) The Secretary shall convene a technical advisory panel to 
evaluate the proposals for forest restoration grants and provide 
recommendations regarding which proposals would best meet the 
objectives of the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program. The 
technical advisory panel shall consider current scientific forest 
restoration information, the effect on long-term management, and seek 
to use a consensus-based decision making process to develop such 
recommendations. The panel shall be composed of 12 to 15 members, to be 
appointed by the Secretary as follows:
            (1) A State Natural Resource official from the State of New 
        Mexico.
            (2) At least two representatives from Federal land 
        management agencies.
            (3) At least one tribal or pueblo representative.
            (4) At least one academic or other scientist, qualified to 
        address issues of southwestern forest ecology.
            (5) Equal representation from--
                    (A) conservation interests;
                    (B) local communities; and
                    (C) commodity interests.

SEC. 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION.

    The Secretary shall establish a multi-party monitoring and 
evaluation process in order to assess the cumulative accomplishments of 
the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program. The Secretary shall 
include any interested individual or organization in the monitoring and 
evaluation process.

SEC. 8. REPORT.

    No later than five years after the first fiscal year in which 
funding is made available for this program, the Secretary shall submit 
a report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United 
States Senate and the Committee on Resources of the United States House 
of Representatives. The report shall include an assessment on whether, 
and to what extent, the projects funded pursuant to this Act are 
meeting the purposes of the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program.
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