[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4548
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a program to
promote upland species habitat restoration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 14, 2026
Mr. Justice introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a program to
promote upland species habitat restoration, 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 ``Growing and Restoring Operational
Upland Species Ecosystems Act of 2026'' or the ``GROUSE Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. UPLAND SPECIES HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAM.
Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of
1985 is amended by inserting after section 1240M (16 U.S.C. 3839bb) the
following:
``SEC. 1240N. UPLAND SPECIES HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program to
provide payments to landowners that enter into contracts with the
Secretary under this section for restoration of eligible forest land.
``(b) Eligible Forest Land.--
``(1) In general.--Forest land for which a landowner is
eligible to receive a payment under this section is an area of
not less than 10 acres of nonindustrial private forest land
that--
``(A) was commercially logged within the previous
180-day period;
``(B) is currently being commercially logged, but
has not been cut and cleared into open land for the
purpose of development;
``(C) is currently being commercially logged and
will be cut and cleared for the purpose of forest
management; or
``(D) was affected by a major natural disaster, as
determined by the Secretary, such as a tornado,
hurricane, wildfire, or insect infestation.
``(2) Limitation.--Of the eligible forest land described in
paragraph (1) owned by a landowner, the landowner shall not
receive payments under this section for more than the lesser
of--
``(A) 5 percent; and
``(B) 250 acres.
``(c) Payments.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide payments to
a landowner that enters into a contract with the Secretary
under this section for 75 percent of the costs of habitat
restoration activities incurred by the landowner in
establishing native vegetation beneficial to upland wildlife,
including planting native, soft-mast tree and shrub species and
other native vegetation commonly found in early successional
habitats, on eligible forest land, including costs of--
``(A) labor;
``(B) planting;
``(C) fertilizer;
``(D) seedlings; and
``(E) other materials and practices, as determined
by the Secretary.
``(2) Determination of amounts.--The Secretary shall
establish the amounts of eligible costs under paragraph (1).
``(d) Contracts.--
``(1) Applications.--To be eligible to enter into a
contract under this section, a landowner shall submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
``(2) Term.--A contract under this section shall have a
term that does not exceed 5 years.
``(3) Habitat plan.--A contract under this section shall
include a habitat plan developed by the applicable landowner,
in consultation with private, nongovernmental, State, or
Federal wildlife biologists or foresters.
``(e) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may provide to a
landowner that enters into a contract under this section (including
through a third-party provider pursuant to section 1242) technical
assistance in the planting of trees and shrubs in accordance with the
contract.''.
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