[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3701 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3701
To assure that the American people have large areas of land in healthy
natural condition throughout the country to provide wildland
recreational opportunities for people, provide habitat protection for
native wildlife and natural plant communities, and to contribute to a
preservation of water for use by downstream metropolitan communities
and other users, through the establishment of a National Forest
Ecosystem Protection Program composed of lands within existing
wilderness areas and adjacent primitive areas, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 8, 2005
Mr. Andrews (for himself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Holt, Mr. Pallone,
Mr. Payne, and Mr. Pascrell) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the
Committee on Resources, 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 assure that the American people have large areas of land in healthy
natural condition throughout the country to provide wildland
recreational opportunities for people, provide habitat protection for
native wildlife and natural plant communities, and to contribute to a
preservation of water for use by downstream metropolitan communities
and other users, through the establishment of a National Forest
Ecosystem Protection Program composed of lands within existing
wilderness areas and adjacent primitive areas, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Ecosystem
Protection Act of 2005''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. National Forest Ecosystem Protection Program.
Sec. 3. Special management considerations.
Sec. 4. Land acquisition authority.
Sec. 5. Voluntary grazing permit buyout program.
Sec. 6. Forest plan revision assessments.
Sec. 7. Original Ecosystem Protection Areas.
Sec. 8. Delineation of primitive areas on eastern National Forest
System lands.
Sec. 9. Delineation of primitive areas on western National Forest
System lands.
Sec. 10. Compatible management of adjacent Department of the Interior
lands.
Sec. 11. Development of State Ecosystem Protection Areas.
Sec. 12. Availability of Forest Service funds and cooperation with land
trusts.
Sec. 13. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL FOREST ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION PROGRAM.
(a) Declaration of Policy.--In order to assure that the American
people have large areas of land in healthy natural condition throughout
the country, which lands provide wildland recreational opportunities
for people, provide habitat protection for native wildlife and natural
plant communities, and contribute to a preservation of water for use by
downstream metropolitan communities and other users, it is hereby
declared to be the policy of Congress to secure for present and future
generations of Americans the enduring resource of protected large wild
lands.
(b) Establishment.--To help achieve the policy declared in
subsection (a), there is hereby established a National Forest Ecosystem
Protection Program to be composed of lands within existing units of the
National Forest System that contain one or more large existing
wilderness areas as a core area and a primitive area extending outward
therefrom, both of which will be designated as Ecosystem Protection
Areas by this Act or a subsequent Act of Congress.
SEC. 3. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS.
(a) Wilderness Area Management.--Within the Ecosystem Protection
Areas, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service
(in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary''), shall manage the
wilderness areas as provided by the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et
seq.) and other applicable laws, except that, with regard to commercial
grazing in such wilderness areas, the Secretary shall pursue the
voluntary buyout of grazing permits as provided in section 5.
(b) Primitive Area Management.--Within the Ecosystem Protection
Areas, the Secretary shall manage the primitive areas so that primitive
recreation, the preservation of native wildlife and plants, the
protection of habitat for endangered and threatened species, and
reforestation and restoration of wilderness characteristics will be the
paramount considerations and that all other multiple use activities
will only be used to reinforce the paramount considerations. With
regard to commercial grazing in such primitive areas, the Secretary
shall pursue the voluntary buyout of grazing permits as provided in
section 5.
(c) Protection and Restoration.--The Secretary, in consultation
with State wildlife officials and through the use of a public
participation process, shall promote the reestablishment or protection
of as many animal and plant species native to the designated Ecosystem
Protection Areas as practical.
(d) Retirement of Grazing Allotments for Which No Valid Grazing
Permit Exists.--The Secretary shall not issue grazing permits for lands
within a Ecosystem Protection Area for which no valid permit exists as
of the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall
permanently retire those lands from domestic livestock grazing use
notwithstanding any other provision of law.
SEC. 4. LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.
(a) Acquisition Authorized.--The Secretary shall strive to acquire
all private lands, all mineral rights not owned by the United States,
and all other interests in lands not owned by the United States, on a
willing-seller/willing-buyer basis, located within any wilderness area
specified in this Act and within the primitive areas delineated
pursuant to this Act.
(b) Voluntary Base Property Acquisition.--If a person who waives a
grazing permit under section 5 also owns a base property for the waived
allotment which is located within the boundaries of a unit of the
National Forest System, the person may offer that property for sale to
the Secretary, and the Secretary shall purchase that property under
this section.
SEC. 5. VOLUNTARY GRAZING PERMIT BUYOUT PROGRAM.
(a) Waiver of Existing Grazing Permits.--A livestock operator who
holds a valid term grazing permit (in this section referred to as a
``permittee'') may waive to the Secretary, at any time, a valid
existing grazing permit authorizing livestock grazing on National
Forest System lands included in an Ecosystem Protection Area.
(b) Cancellation of Waived Grazing Permit.--The Secretary shall
cancel grazing permits waived under this section and permanently retire
the associated allotments from domestic livestock grazing use
notwithstanding any other provision of law.
(c) Compensation Required; Amount.--Except as provided in
subsection (d), a permittee who waives a grazing permit under
subsection (a) shall be compensated at $175 per animal unit month,
based on the average grazing use over the preceding 10 years the
allotment was grazed, as stipulated by the grazing permit and paid for
by the permittee or the predecessors of the permittee. Years of grazing
non-use are excluded from this average. If a permittee is in arrears of
Federal grazing fees, the amount of fees in arrears shall be deducted
from the amount of compensation otherwise due the permittee under this
section.
(d) Additional Compensation for Prompt Waiver.--A permittee who
waives a grazing permit under this section during the six-month period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be compensated
at $300 per animal unit month, and a permittee who waives a grazing
permit under this section after the end of such six-month period, but
before the end of the four-year period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this bill Act, be compensated at the rate of $250 per
animal unit month. The other provisions of this section shall apply to
any permittee who takes advantage of the higher compensation offered by
this subsection.
(e) Public Notice.--Not later than three months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify every permittee
whose allotment is located within an Ecosystem Protection area that the
permittee is eligible for the voluntary grazing permit buyout
authorized by this section. The notification shall include the options
available to permittees under this section and section 4(b). During the
same time period, the names and locations of the allotments shall be
printed in the local newspapers.
(f) Relation to Other Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to affect the Secretary's authority to otherwise modify or
terminate grazing permits without compensation. Compensation disbursed
pursuant to this section shall not create a property right for
permittees.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``animal unit month'' means the amount of
forage needed to sustain one animal unit for one month, as
determined by the Secretary.
(2) The terms ``grazing permit'' means any document
authorizing the use of National Forest System land for the
purpose of grazing domestic livestock.
SEC. 6. FOREST PLAN REVISION ASSESSMENTS.
(a) Assessments Required.--In any Ecosystem Protection Area located
east of the 104th meridian in the contiguous 48 States, the Secretary
shall include the following assessments as part of the first round of
Forest Service land and resource management plan revisions for each of
these areas made after the date of the enactment of this Act:
(1) An assessment of expanding the designated wilderness
area or creating new wilderness areas in all the primitive
areas created by this Act.
(2) An assessment of the ecological benefit to be derived
from closing any unimproved roads bisecting any such areas
within encircling improved roads and from closing any improved
roads cherry stemmed into those areas.
(3) An assessment of the appropriate management practices
most likely to improve habitat for key species in any of the
above described areas, if those areas are not to be proposed to
Congress as new wilderness areas.
(b) Public Participation.--Each assessment required by this section
shall utilize all the procedures designed to provide public input into
the Forest Service planning process.
SEC. 7. ORIGINAL ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION AREAS.
(a) In General.--The original Ecosystem Protection Areas include
one or more of the largest existing National Forest System wilderness
areas in the following States and the surrounding primitive areas
delineated as provided in section 8 or 9.
(b) Designation.--The Ecosystem Protection Areas, and the
wilderness area forming the their core, are as follows:
(1) Alabama: Sipsey.
(2) Arizona:
(A) Mazatzal.
(B) Blue Range (also in New Mexico), including the
Blue Range Primitive Area.
(C) Chiricahua.
(3) Arkansas:
(A) Hurricane Creek.
(B) Upper Kiamichi (also in Oklahoma).
(4) California:
(A) High Sierra, including John Muir, Ansel Adams,
Golden Trout, Monarch, Dinkey Lakes, South Sierra, Dome
Land, Hoover and Emigrant.
(B) Trinity Alps.
(5) Colorado:
(A) Weminuche.
(B) West Elk.
(C) South San Juan.
(6) Florida:
(A) Big Gum Swamp.
(B) Bradwell Bay.
(7) Georgia:
(A) Cohutta (also in Tennessee).
(B) Southern Nantahala (also in North Carolina).
(8) Idaho:
(A) Central Idaho Massif, including Frank Church-
River of No Return, Selway-Bitterroot (also in
Montana), and Gospel Hump.
(B) Hells Canyon (also in Oregon).
(9) Indiana: Charles C. Deam.
(10) Kentucky: Clifty.
(11) Maine: Caribou-Speckled Mountain.
(12) Michigan: Sylvania.
(13) Minnesota: Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
(14) Missouri: Irish.
(15) Montana:
(A) Montana Rockies, including Bob Marshal, Great
Bear, and Scapegoat.
(B) Central Idaho Massif, including Selway-
Bitterroot (also in Idaho).
(C) Yellowstone, including Lee Metcalf and
Absaroka-Beartooth (also in Wyoming).
(16) Nevada: Arc Dome.
(17) New Hampshire:
(A) Pemiwegasset.
(B) Presidential Range-Dry River.
(C) Sandwich Range.
(18) New Mexico:
(A) Gila, including Gila and Aldo Leopold.
(B) Blue Range (also in Arizona).
(19) North Carolina:
(A) Citico Creek (also in Tennessee), including
Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock.
(B) Southern Nantahala (also in Georgia).
(20) Oklahoma: Upper Kiamichi (also in Arkansas).
(21) Oregon: Hells Canyon, including Hells Canyon (also in
Idaho) and Eagle Cap.
(22) Pennsylvania: Hickory Creek.
(23) Tennessee:
(A) Cohutta, including Big Frog (also in Georgia).
(B) Citico Creek, including Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock
(also in North Carolina).
(24) Texas:
(A) Upland Island.
(B) Indian Mounds.
(25) Utah: High Uintas.
(26) Vermont:
(A) Breadloaf.
(B) Lyle Brook.
(27) Virginia: Mountain Lake (also in West Virginia).
(28) Washington: North Cascades, including Glacier Peak,
Pasayten, Lake Chelan-Sawtooth, Mt. Baker, and Noisy Diobsud.
(29) West Virginia:
(A) Cranberry.
(B) Mountain Lake (also in Virginia).
(30) Wisconsin: Headwaters.
(31) Wyoming:
(A) Yellowstone, including Washakie, Teton, North
Absaroka, Winegar Hole, Jeddiah Smith, Absaroka-
Beartooth (also in Montana) and Lee Metcalf (wholly in
Montana).
(B) Wind River, including Bridger, Fitzpatrick and
Popo Agie.
SEC. 8. DELINEATION OF PRIMITIVE AREAS ON EASTERN NATIONAL FOREST
SYSTEM LANDS.
(a) Delineation Required; Timetable.--In the case of units of the
National Forest System located east of the 104th meridian in the
contiguous 48 States, the Secretary shall delineate primitive areas
around core wilderness areas as soon as practicable, but in no case
more than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, as
an amendment to the applicable land and resource management plan.
(b) Content.--The primitive areas delineated under this section
shall include all areas from the wilderness boundary out to the nearest
improved roads on all sides of the wilderness area and enough
additional acreage to result in an Ecosystem Protection Area that is at
least 50,000 acres and at least twice as large as the core wilderness
area. In all cases, the primitive area shall be as compact as possible
and designed to include as many natural communities as possible,
including mountains, valleys, and other natural areas.
(c) Special Considerations.--In delineating the primitive areas,
the Secretary shall exclude as many residential areas as possible.
Along national or State designated trails, such as the Appalachian
Trail, or natural biological corridors, the Secretary shall extend the
primitive areas further in each direction from the core wilderness
area.
(d) Roads.--The Secretary shall begin closing unmapped roads,
temporary roads, and unimproved cherry-stemmed roads in a primitive
area as soon as practicable after the primitive area has been
delineated, unless such roads provide access to private property.
SEC. 9. DELINEATION OF PRIMITIVE AREAS ON WESTERN NATIONAL FOREST
SYSTEM LANDS.
In the case of an Ecosystem Protection Areas located west of the
104th meridian, the Secretary shall identify every grazing allotment
that is partially within a core wilderness area, and the portions of
those allotments located outside of the core wilderness area shall be
the primitive areas for that Ecosystem Protection Area.
SEC. 10. COMPATIBLE MANAGEMENT OF ADJACENT DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
LANDS.
Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior that
are adjacent to the Ecosystem Protection Areas shall be managed in a
manner compatible with the management of the Ecosystem Protection
Areas.
SEC. 11. DEVELOPMENT OF STATE ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION AREAS.
(a) Assistance Authorized.--The Secretary shall provide technical
and financial assistance to enable the States specified in subsection
(b) to acquire Ecosystem Protection Areas since these States are
without a National Forest or Grassland of 50,000 or more acres. A State
Ecosystem Protection Area shall be based on one of the largest State-
owned Wilderness Areas, State Parks, State Forests, or State Wildlife
Management Areas in the State, as described in subsection (b).
(b) State Ecosystem Protection Areas.--The State Ecosystem
Protection Areas and the State-owned lands forming their cores are as
follows:
(1) Connecticut: Housatonic Highlands, including Housatonic
State Forest and Mt. Washington State Forest (also in
Massachusetts and New York).
(2) Delaware: Bay to Bay, including Redden State Forest and
Nanticoke Wildlife Area (also in Maryland).
(3) Hawaii: Kau/South Kona, including Kau Forest Reserve.
(4) Iowa: Fox River, including Stephens State Forest and
Shimek State Forest.
(5) Maryland: Maryland Mountains, including Savage River
State Forest.
(6) Massachusetts: Berkshire Hills, including Mount
Greylock State Reservation and Pittsfield State Forest (also in
New York).
(7) New Jersey: Waywayanda Highlands, including Waywayanda
State Park (also in New York).
(8) New York: Bob Marshal Great Wilderness, including Five
Ponds Wilderness and Pigeon Lake Wilderness.
(9) Rhode Island: Arcadia-Pachaug, including Arcadia
Wildlife Management Area and Pachaug State Forest (also in
Connecticut).
(c) Administration.--An Ecosystem Protection Area acquired by a
State using financial assistance provided under subsection (a) shall be
administered by the State pursuant to this Act and State law.
SEC. 12. AVAILABILITY OF FOREST SERVICE FUNDS AND COOPERATION WITH LAND
TRUSTS.
To carry out this Act. the Secretary may allocate funds otherwise
available for the Forest Service. The Secretary may cooperate with land
trusts and other private parties dedicated to the preservation of open
space to acquire property authorized for purchase by this Act,
including base properties and mineral rights, and to retire grazing
permits.
SEC. 13. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Information on Ecosystem Protection Areas.--As part of the
annual report to Congress prepared by the Secretary on the status of
the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Secretary shall
include appropriate information concerning the Ecosystem Protection
Areas and the administration of this Act.
(b) Special Requirements for Fifth Report.--The annual report
described in subsection (a) to be submitted to Congress in the fifth
year after the date of the enactment of this Act shall contain the
following:
(1) An assessment and evaluation of all steps taken during
the four preceding years pursuant to this Act.
(2) Recommendations regarding the designation of additional
or the expansion of existing Ecosystem Management Areas.
(3) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the procedures
for creating grazing free areas and the environmental
advantages created in those areas.
(4) Recommendations regarding whether the procedures
evaluated under paragraph (3) should be extended to all Forest
Service wilderness areas.
SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Land Acquisition in Eastern United States.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2006
through 2019 through 2017 $100,000,000 for the purchase of private
lands and other lands not owned by the United States located in
primitive areas delineated east of the 104th meridian in the contiguous
48 States. Pending the delineation of primitive areas under section 8,
the Secretary shall purchase lands in areas that the Secretary
anticipates including in the Ecosystem Protection Areas.
(b) Land Acquisition in Western Wilderness Areas.--There is
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each of the fiscal
years 2006 through 2019 $5,000,000 for the purchase of private lands
and other lands not owned by the United States in the Wilderness Areas
located west of the 104th meridian in the contiguous 48 States.
(c) Elimination of Grazing.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2019
$2,000,000 for the purpose of carrying out section 5.
(d) Support for States Without Federal Ecosystem Protection
Areas.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for
each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2019 $33,000,000 to assist States
in the purchase of private lands in a State Ecosystem Protection Area
developed pursuant to section 11.
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