1.This Act may be cited as the
Wildfire Presuppression Fuels
Management Pilot Program Act of 2007
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)private grazing
land in the United States has experienced dramatic increases in the levels of
cheatgrass and other invasive or noxious weed species following wildfires;
and
(2)to address the
needs of private landowners with respect to the protection and management of
grazing land, the Secretary of Agriculture should provide cost-share and
incentive payments to the landowners to develop fuels management plans and
practices and to promote activities—
(A)to protect areas
of grazing land and wildlife habitat that have not been negatively affected by
wildfire; and
(B)to manage the
risks of wildfires that occur—
(i)on
public land and rights-of-way from moving onto private grazing land; and
(ii)on
private land from moving onto public land and right-of-way.
3.Fire
presuppression conservation program
(a)Section 1240B of the
Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is amended—
(1)in subsection
(a)—
(A)in paragraph (1),
by striking 2010
and inserting 2012
; and
(B)in paragraph
(2)—
(i)in
subparagraph (A), by striking and
at the end;
(ii)in
subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting ;
and
; and
(iii)by adding at
the end the following:
(C)a producer that
develops a fuels management conservation plan, approved by the Natural
Resources Conservation Service, and subsequently implements a structural
practice or a land management practice relating to fire presuppression on
private grazing land as described in the approved conservation plan, shall be
eligible to receive cost-share payments and annual incentive payments in
accordance with subsection (i).
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(i)Wildfire
presuppression conservation program
(1)For each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, the Secretary
shall provide cost-share payments under subsection (d) and annual incentive
payments under subsection (e) to producers that enter into contracts as
described in paragraph (2) for activities described in paragraph (3).
(2)Notwithstanding subsection (b)(2)(A), a contract
entered into under this subsection shall have a term of—
(A)not less than 5
years; and
(B)not more than 10
years.
(3)In addition to grants under section 1240H, the
Secretary may provide cost-share payments and incentive payments under this
subsection to producers for planning and carrying out innovative fuels
management conservation plans on private grazing land to help prevent the
occurrence and spread of, and damages caused by, wildfires fueled by invasive
or noxious weed species, including activities relating to—
(A)managed fuel
breaks along a boundary between public and private land to reduce fuel load,
including—
(i)managed grazing
practices and the technology required to implement such a practice; and
(ii)the use of brush
strips or mosaic patches;
(B)restoration of
fire-damage areas using adapted plant material, with an emphasis on using
native and adapted grasses and forbs to vegetate or revegetate the fire-damaged
areas;
(C)projects that
receive expanded conservation innovation grants for technology transfer
training programs relating to fuels management techniques;
(D)protection or
restoration of critical wildlife habitat; and
(E)conservation
practices designed to reduce and manage high fuel loads associated with woody
plant
species.
.
(b)Section 1240H(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16
U.S.C. 3839aa–8(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the
following:
(2)implement
projects or activities, such as—
(A)market systems
for pollution reduction;
(B)innovative
conservation practices, including the storing of carbon in the soil; and
(C)innovative
grazing management activities described in section 1240B(i)(3);
and
.