[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 5, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S659-S662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Domenici, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr.
Allard, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Salazar, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Craig, Mr.
Akaka, and Mr. Crapo):
S. 2593. A bill to establish a program at the Forest Service and the
Department of the Interior to carry out collaborative ecological
restoration treatments for priority forest landscapes on public land,
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Forest
Landscape Restoration Act. I developed this bill with Senators Domenici
and Feinstein, and I am pleased they have joined as cosponsors. The
bill also is cosponsored by Senators Allard, Wyden, Salazar, Cantwell,
Craig, Akaka, and Crapo. I also am pleased that Chairman Grijalva will
be introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives, and I
look forward to working with him as his subcommittee in the Natural
Resources Committee moves forward with the bill.
The bill establishes a program to select and fund projects that
restore forests at a landscape scale through a
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process that encourages collaboration, relies on the best available
science, facilitates local economic development, and leverages local
funds with national and private funding.
As many of my colleagues know, we are facing serious forest health
and wildfire challenges in many of our National Forests. A century of
over-aggressive fire suppression, logging, and other land uses have
significantly deteriorated entire landscapes. These conditions have
played an important role in the extraordinary wildfires and insect-
caused mortality we have seen on millions of acres of National Forest
and other lands. To address these problems, it is critical to begin
trying to restore our forests at a landscape scale.
Landscape-scale restoration is important because, first, it is key to
controlling wildfire suppression costs, which is one of the issues that
is emphasized in our bill. Wildland fire appropriations have more than
tripled in the last decade, and we are now spending billions every year
trying to suppress fires. We will not be able to get control of the
ballooning costs of fire suppression until we can allow more fires to
play their natural, beneficial role in restoring and maintaining
healthy, fire-resilient forests. But that will not be possible until we
can reduce hazardous fuels and the risk of unnaturally intense fire on
a landscape scale.
So, our bill will help to reduce wildfire suppression costs through
forest restoration.
Second, landscape-scale restoration is an important component of
successful economic development, another issue we have emphasized in
our bill. In many cases, forest restoration will not be fiscally viable
unless we can put the byproducts of restoration to economic use. Large-
scale forest restoration efforts can help to provide economies of
scale, and long-term efforts can help to provide entrepreneurs with the
confidence that encourages investment and initiative.
So, our bill will help to make the restoration economy a reality by
facilitating the use of restoration byproducts.
Third, landscape restoration is necessary for the health of many of
our forest ecosystems, which also is emphasized in our bill. We need
healthy landscapes for a clean, abundant, and controlled water supply.
We need them for clean air and carbon sequestration. We need them to
support fish and wildlife. And we need healthy forest ecosystems if
they are to have a chance to survive the pressures of climate change.
Fire suppression and other land uses have caused entire forest
landscapes to deteriorate, and we cannot reverse that deterioration
without landscape-level restoration.
So, our bill provides a unique program to conduct comprehensive
ecosystem restoration through landscape-scale treatments.
Our bill also builds upon the existing successes in forest
restoration by requiring collaboration and the best available science
to form the foundation for landscape restoration.
Despite the importance of landscape-scale restoration, neither the
National Fire Plan, nor the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, nor any of
our other efforts have been very successful in facilitating restoration
and hazardous fuels reduction on landscape scales. A lack of sufficient
funding is one of the primary reasons. Restoring landscapes takes a
significant amount of funding over a significant period of time. That
has proven to be beyond the capacity of the local and regional agency
budgets.
To address this problem, the Forest Landscape Restoration Act
authorizes $40 million per year for 10 years to be paid into a national
pool. Eligible landscape restoration projects from around the country
would compete for a portion of that money. Forty million dollars is not
nearly enough money to fund landscape-scale treatments in all of the
forest landscapes in need of restoration, but it is a realistic amount
of funding, and it is enough to make landscape-scale restoration a
reality.
Because of funding and other challenges, landscape-scale restoration
remains largely theoretical. As a result, this legislation is designed
to be both practical and experimental. It does not redirect existing
efforts. It instead adds to existing efforts by creating a program that
will make planning, funding, and carrying out at least a handful of
landscape-scale forest restoration projects possible. If it is
successful--and I think it will be--we can expand it in the future.
I would again like to thank Senators Domenici and Feinstein and the
other cosponsors of the bill. I appreciate the stakeholders who have
written to support this bill, including the Nature Conservancy--which
has been very supportive of our effort--American Forests, the Forest
Guild, Sustainable Northwest, the Watershed Research and Training
Center, and Conservation Northwest. I look forward to working with them
and the many other stakeholders as we move forward with the bill.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2593
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 ``Forest Landscape Restoration
Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to encourage the collaborative,
science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest
landscapes through a process that--
(1) encourages ecological, economic, and social
sustainability;
(2) leverages local resources with national and private
resources;
(3) facilitates the reduction of wildfire management costs,
including through reestablishing natural fire regimes and
reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire; and
(4) demonstrates the degree to which--
(A) various ecological restoration techniques--
(i) achieve ecological health objectives; and
(ii) affect wildfire activity and management costs; and
(B) the use of forest restoration byproducts can offset
treatment costs while benefitting rural economies and
improving forest health.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the Collaborative Forest
Landscape Restoration Fund established by section 4(f).
(2) Plan.--The term ``Plan'' means the plan entitled the
``10 Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan'' and
dated December 2006.
(3) Program.--The term ``program'' means the Collaborative
Forest Landscape Restoration Program established under
section 4(a).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest
Service.
SEC. 4. COLLABORATIVE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior, shall establish a Collaborative
Forest Landscape Restoration Program to select and fund
ecological restoration treatments for priority forest
landscapes in accordance with applicable law.
(b) Eligibility Criteria.--To be eligible for nomination
under subsection (c), a collaborative forest landscape
restoration proposal shall--
(1) be based on a landscape restoration strategy that--
(A) is complete or substantially complete;
(B) identifies and prioritizes ecological restoration
treatments for a 10-year period across a landscape that is--
(i) at least 50,000 acres;
(ii) comprised primarily of forested National Forest System
land, but may also include other Federal, State, tribal, or
private land;
(iii) in need of active ecosystem restoration; and
(iv) accessible by existing or proposed wood-processing
infrastructure at an appropriate scale to use woody biomass
and small-diameter wood removed in ecological restoration
treatments;
(C) incorporates--
(i) the best available science and scientific application
tools in ecological restoration strategies; and
(ii) the requirements for old-growth maintenance,
restoration, and management direction of paragraphs (2), (3),
and (4) of subsection (e) and the requirements for large-tree
retention of subsection (f) of section 102 of the Healthy
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6512); and
(D) does not include the establishment of permanent roads;
(2) be developed and implemented through a collaborative
process that--
(A) includes multiple stakeholders representing diverse
interests;
(B)(i) is transparent and nonexclusive; or
(ii) meets the requirements for a resource advisory
committee under section 205 of the Secure Rural Schools and
Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note;
Public Law 106-393); and
(C) has an established record of successful planning and
implementation of ecological restoration projects on National
Forest System land;
(3) describe plans to--
(A) use fire for ecological restoration and maintenance,
where appropriate;
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(B) improve fish and wildlife habitat, including for
endangered, threatened, and sensitive species;
(C) maintain or improve water quality;
(D) prevent, remediate, or control invasions of exotic
species;
(E) maintain or decommission roads;
(F) use woody biomass and small-diameter trees produced
from projects implementing the landscape restoration
strategy;
(G) report annually on performance, including through
performance measures from the Plan;
(H) develop small business incubators and provide
employment and training opportunities to people in rural
communities, including contracts for monitoring activities,
through--
(i) local private, nonprofit, or cooperative entities;
(ii) Youth Conservation Corps crews or related
partnerships, with State, local, and non-profit youth groups;
(iii) small or micro-businesses; or
(iv) other entities that will hire or train a significant
percentage of local people to complete such contracts; and
(I) take into account any applicable community wildfire
protection plan (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511));
(4) analyze the anticipated cost savings resulting from--
(A) reduced wildfire management costs; and
(B) a decrease in the unit costs of implementing ecological
restoration treatments over time;
(5) estimate--
(A) the annual Federal funding necessary to implement the
proposal; and
(B) the amount of new non-Federal investment for carrying
out the proposal that would be leveraged by Federal funding
for ecological restoration treatments; and
(6) be subject to any other requirements that the Secretary
determines to be necessary for the efficient and effective
administration of the program.
(c) Nomination Process.--
(1) Submission.--Collaborative forest landscape restoration
proposals shall be submitted to the appropriate Regional
Forester for consideration.
(2) Nomination.--A Regional Forester may nominate
collaborative forest landscape restoration proposals for
selection by the Secretary.
(3) Documentation.--With respect to each collaborative
forest landscape restoration proposal that is nominated under
paragraph (2)--
(A) the appropriate Regional Forester shall--
(i) include a proposal to use Federal funds allocated to
the region to fund those costs of planning and carrying out
ecological restoration treatments on National Forest land
consistent with the landscape restoration strategy that would
not be covered by amounts transferred to the Secretary from
the Fund; and
(ii) provide evidence that amounts proposed to be
transferred to the Secretary from the Fund during the first 2
years following selection would be used to carry out
ecological restoration treatments consistent with the
landscape restoration strategy during the same fiscal year in
which the funds are transferred to the Secretary;
(B) if actions under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of
the Interior are proposed, the nomination shall require--
(i) the concurrence of the appropriate official of the
Department of the Interior; and
(ii) a proposal to fund ecological restoration treatments
consistent with the landscape restoration strategy that would
be carried out by the Secretary of the Interior; and
(C) if actions on land not under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior are proposed, the
appropriate Regional Forester shall provide evidence that the
landowner intends to participate in, and provide appropriate
funding to carry out, the actions.
(d) Selection Process.--
(1) In general.--After consulting with any scientific and
technical advisory panels established under subsection (e),
the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the
Interior, shall, subject to paragraph (2), select the best
collaborative forest landscape restoration proposals that--
(A) have been nominated under subsection (c)(2); and
(B) meet the eligibility criteria established by subsection
(b).
(2) Criteria.--In selecting collaborative forest landscape
restoration proposals under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall give special consideration to--
(A) the strength of the ecological case of the proposal for
landscape restoration and the proposed restoration
strategies;
(B) the strength of the collaborative process;
(C) whether the proposal would reduce the relative costs of
carrying out treatments as a result of the use of woody
biomass and small-diameter trees;
(D) whether the proposal is likely to achieve reductions in
long-term wildfire management costs;
(E) the strength of the landscape restoration proposal and
strategy; and
(F) whether an appropriate level of non-Federal investment
would be leveraged in carrying out the proposal.
(3) Limitation.--The Secretary may select not more than--
(A) 10 collaborative forest landscape restoration proposals
to be funded during any given year; and
(B) 2 collaborative forest landscape restoration proposals
in any 1 region of the National Forest System to be funded
during any given year.
(e) Advisory Panels.--
(1) Scientific advisory panel.--The Secretary shall
establish a scientific advisory panel comprised of not more
than 12 experts in ecological forest restoration and fire
ecology to evaluate, and provide recommendations on, any
proposal that has been nominated under subsection (c)(2) and
meets the eligibility criteria established by subsection (b)
with respect to--
(A) the strength of the ecological case of the proposal for
landscape restoration and the proposed restoration
strategies; and
(B) whether the proposal is likely to achieve reductions in
long-term wildfire management costs.
(2) Technical advisory panel.--The Secretary may establish
a technical advisory panel comprised of experts in rural
business development and the use of woody biomass and small-
diameter trees to evaluate, and provide recommendations on,
any proposal that has been nominated under subsection (c)(2)
and meets the eligibility criteria established by subsection
(b) with respect to whether the proposal is likely to reduce
the relative costs of carrying out treatments as a result of
the use of woody biomass and small-diameter trees and provide
local economic benefit.
(f) Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of
the United States a fund, to be known as the ``Collaborative
Forest Landscape Restoration Fund'', to be used to pay up to
50 percent of the cost of carrying out ecological restoration
treatments on National Forest System land for each
collaborative forest landscape restoration proposal selected
to be carried out under subsection (d), consisting of--
(A) such amounts as are appropriated to the Fund under
paragraph (5); and
(B) any interest earned on investment of amounts in the
Fund under paragraph (3).
(2) Expenditures from fund.--On request by the Secretary,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the Fund to
the Secretary of Agriculture such amounts as the Secretary of
Agriculture determines are necessary to carry out ecological
restoration treatments under paragraph (1).
(3) Investment of amounts.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest
such portion of the Fund as is not, in the judgment of the
Secretary of the Treasury, after consulting with the
Secretary, required to meet current withdrawals.
(B) Interest-bearing obligations.--Investments may be made
only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States.
(C) Acquisition of obligations.--For the purpose of
investments under subparagraph (A), obligations may be
acquired--
(i) on original issue at the issue price; or
(ii) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market
price.
(D) Sale of obligations.--Any obligation acquired by the
Fund may be sold by the Secretary of the Treasury at the
market price.
(E) Credits to fund.--The interest on, and the proceeds
from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held in the
Fund shall be credited to and form a part of the Fund.
(4) Accounting and reporting system.--The Secretary shall
establish an accounting and reporting system for the Fund.
(5) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Fund $40,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2008 through 2018, to remain available until expended.
(g) Program Implementation and Monitoring.--
(1) Work plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date on
which a collaborative forest landscape restoration proposal
is selected to be carried out, the Secretary shall create, in
collaboration with the interested stakeholders, an
implementation work plan and budget to implement the
collaborative forest landscape restoration proposal that
includes--
(A) a description of the manner in which the proposal would
be implemented to achieve ecological and community economic
benefit, including capacity building to accomplish
restoration;
(B) a business plan that addresses--
(i) the anticipated unit treatment cost reductions over 10
years;
(ii) the anticipated costs for infrastructure needed for
the proposal;
(iii) the projected sustainability of the supply of woody
biomass and small-diameter trees removed in ecological
restoration treatments; and
(iv) the projected local economic benefits of the proposal;
and
(C) documentation of the non-Federal investment in the
priority landscape, including the sources and uses of the
investments.
(2) Project implementation.--Amounts transferred to the
Secretary from the Fund shall be used to carry out ecological
restoration treatments that are--
(A) consistent with the landscape restoration proposal and
strategy; and
(B) identified through the collaborative process described
in subsection (b)(2).
(3) Annual report.--Annually, the Secretary, in
collaboration with the Secretary
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of the Interior and interested stakeholders, shall prepare a
report on the accomplishments of each selected collaborative
forest landscape restoration proposal that includes--
(A) a description of all acres (or other appropriate unit)
treated and restored through projects implementing the
landscape restoration strategy;
(B) an evaluation of progress, including performance
measures and how prior year evaluations have contributed to
improved project performance;
(C) a description of community benefits achieved, including
any local economic benefits;
(D) the results of the multiparty monitoring, evaluation,
and accountability process under paragraph (4); and
(E) a summary of the costs of--
(i) treatments; and
(ii) relevant fire management activities.
(4) Multiparty monitoring.--The Secretary shall, in
collaboration with the Secretary of the Interior and
interested stakeholders, use a multiparty monitoring,
evaluation, and accountability process to assess the positive
or negative ecological, social, and economic effects of each
project implementing a selected collaborative forest
landscape restoration proposal for not less than 15 years
after project implementation commences.
(h) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the first fiscal
year in which funding is made available to carry out
ecological restoration projects under the program, and every
5 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior, shall submit a report on the
program, including an assessment of whether, and to what
extent, the program is fulfilling the purposes of this Act,
to--
(1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate;
(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives; and
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
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