[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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