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National
Forest Management Act
Of 1976
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- Act of October 22, 1976 (P.O. 94-588, 90 Stat.
2949, as amended; 16 U.S.C.
- 472A, 476, 500, 513-516, 518, 521b, 528(note),
576B, 594-2(note), 1600(note), 1601(note), 1600-1602, 1604, 1606,
1608-1614)
Sec. 1. This Act may be cited as the "National
Forest Management Act of 1976". (16 U.S.C. 1600(note))
Findings
Sec. 2. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 476; 16 U.S.C. 1601-1610) is amended
by redesignating sections 2 through 11 as sections 3 through 12,
respectively; and by adding a new section 2 as follows:
Sec. 2. Findings.-The Congress finds that-
"(1) the management of the Nation's renewable
resources is highly complex and the uses, demand for, and supply
of the various resources are subject to change over time;
"(2) the public interest is served by the Forest
Service, Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with other agencies,
assessing the Nation's renewable resources, and developing and preparing
a national renewable resource and program, which is periodically
reviewed and updated;
"(3) to serve the national interest, the renewable
resource program must be based on a comprehensive assessment of
present and anticipated uses, demand for, and supply of renewable
resources from the Nation's public and private forests and rangelands,
through analysis of environmental and economic impacts, coordination
of multiple use and sustained yield opportunities as provided in
the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 215; 16
U.S.C. 528-531), and public participation in the development of
the program;
"(4) the new knowledge derived from coordinated
public and private research programs will promote a sound technical
and ecological base for effective management, use, and protection
of the Nation's renewable resources;
"(5) inasmuch as the majority of the Nation's
forests and rangeland is under private, State, and local governmental
management and the Nation's major capacity to produce goods and
services is based on these nonfederally managed renewable resources,
the Federal Government should be a catalyst to encourage and assist
these owners in the efficient long-term use and improvement of these
lands and their renewable resources consistent with the principles
of sustained yield and multiple use;
"(6) the Forest Service, by virtue of its statutory
authority for management of the National Forest System, research
and cooperative programs, and its role as an agency in the Department
of Agriculture, has both a responsibility and an opportunity to
be a leader in assuring that the Nation maintains a natural resource
conservation posture that will meet the requirements of our people
in perpetuity; and
"(7) recycled timber product materials are as
much a part of our renewable forest resources as are the trees from
which they originally came, and in order to extend our timber and
timber fiber resources and reduce pressures for timber production
from Federal lands, the Forest Service should expand its research
in the use of recycled and waste timber product materials, develop
techniques for the substitution of these secondary materials for
primary materials, and promote and encourage the use of recycled
timber product materials." (16 U.S.C. 1600)
Reports
On Fiber Potential, Wood Utilization By Mills,
Wood Wastes And Wood Product Recycling
Sec. 3. Section 3 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesigned by section 2 of this
Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection ©
as follows:
© The Secretary shall report in the 1979 and
subsequent Assessments on:
"(1) the additional fiber potential in the National
Forest System including, but not restricted to, forest mortality,
growth, salvage potential, potential increased forest products sales,
economic constraints, alternate markets, contract considerations,
and other multiple use considerations;
"(2) the potential for increased utilization
of forest and wood product wastes in the National Forest Systems
and on other lands, and of urban wood wastes and wood product recycling,
including recommendations to the Congress for actions which would
lead to increased utilization of material now being wasted both
in the forests and in manufactured products; and
"(3) the milling and other wood fiber product
fabrication facilities and their location in the United States,
noting the public and private forested areas that supply such facilities,
assessing the degree of utilization into product form of harvested
trees by such facilities, and setting forth the technology appropriate
to the facilities to improve utilization either individually or
in aggregate units of harvest trees and to reduce wasted wood fibers.
The Secretary shall set forth a program to encourage the adoption
by these facilities of these technologies for improving wood fiber
utilization.
"(d) In developing the reports required under
subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary shall provide opportunity
for public involvement and consult with other interested governmental
departments and agencies." (16 U.S.C. 1601)
Reforestation
Sec. 4. Section 3 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof of new subsections
(d) and (e) as follows:
"(d)(1) It is the policy of the Congress that
all forested lands in the National Forest System shall be maintained
in appropriate forest cover with species of trees, degree of stocking,
rate of growth, and conditions of stand designed to secure the maximum
benefits of multiple use sustained yield management in accordance
with land management plans. Accordingly, the Secretary is directed
to identify and report to the Congress annually at the time of submission
of the President's budget together with the annual report provided
for under section 8 (c) of this Act, beginning with submission of
the President's budget for fiscal year 1978, the amount and location
by forests and States and by productivity class, where practicable,
of all lands in the National Forest System where objectives of land
management plans indicate the need to reforest areas that have been
cut-over or otherwise denuded or deforested, and best potential
rate of growth. All national forest lands treated from year to year
shall be examined after the first and third growing seasons and
certified by the Secretary in the report provided for under this
subsection as to stocking rate, growth rate in relation to potential
and other pertinent measures. Any lands not certified as satisfactory
shall be returned to the backlog and scheduled for prompt treatment.
The level and types of treatment shall be those which secure the
most effective mix of multiple use benefits.
"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section
9 of this Act, the Secretary shall annually for eight years following
the enactment of this subsection, transmit to the Congress in the
manner provided in this subsection an estimate of the sums necessary
to be appropriate, in addition to the funds available from other
sources, to replant and otherwise treat an acreage equal to the
acreage to be cut over that year, plus a sufficient portion of the
backlog within the eight-year period. After such eight-year period,
the Secretary shall transmit annually to the Congress an estimate
of the sums necessary to replant and otherwise treat all lands being
cut over and maintain planned timber production on all other forested
lands in the National Forest System so as to prevent the development
of a backlog of needed work larger than the needed work at the beginning
of the fiscal year. The Secretary's estimate of sums necessary,
in addition to the sums available under other authorities, for accomplishment
of the reforestation and other treatment of National Forest System
lands under this section shall be provided annually for inclusion
in the President's budget and shall also be transmitted to the Speaker
of the House and the President of the Senate together with the annual
report provided for under section 8© of this Act at the time
of submission of the President's budget to the Congress beginning
with the budget for fiscal year 1978. The sums estimated as necessary
for reforestation and other treatment shall include moneys needed
to secure seed, grow seedlings, prepare sites, plant trees, thin,
remove deleterious growth and underbrush, build fence to exclude
livestock and adverse wildlife from regeneration areas and otherwise
establish and improve growing forests to secure planned production
of trees and other multiple values.
"(3) Effective for the fiscal year beginning
October 1, 1977, and each fiscal year thereafter, there is hereby
authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of reforesting and
treating lands in the National Forest System $200,000,000 annually
to meet requirements of this subsection (d). All sums appropriated
for the purposes of this subsection shall be available until expended.
"(e) The Secretary shall submit an annual report
to the Congress on the amounts, types, and uses of herbicides and
pesticides used in the National Forest System, including the beneficial
or adverse effects of such uses (16 U.S.C. 1601)
Renewable
Resource Program
Sect. 5. Section 4 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended by striking out the word "and" at
the end of paragraph (3); striking out the word "satisfy"
and inserting in lieu thereof "implement and monitor"
in paragraph (4); striking out the period at the end of paragraph
(4) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon and the word "and";
and by adding a new paragraph (5) as follows:
"(5) Program recommendations which-
"(A) evaluated objectives for the major Forest
Service programs in order that multiple-use and sustained-yield
can be determined;
"(B) explain the opportunities for owners of
forests and rangeland to participate in programs to improve and
enhance the condition of the land and the renewable resource products
therefrom;
"(C) recognize the fundamental need to protect
and where appropriate, improve the quality of soil, water, and air
resources;
"(D) state national goals that recognize the
interrelationships between and interdependence within the renewable
resources; and
"(E) evaluate the impact of the export and import
of raw logs upon domestic timber supplies and prices". (16
U.S.C. 1602)
National
Forest System Resource Planning
Sec. 6. Section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof new subsections
(c) through (m) as follows:
"(c) The Secretary shall begin to incorporate
the standards and guidelines required by this section in plans for
units of the National Forest System as soon as practicable after
enactment of this subsection and shall attempt to complete such
incorporation for all such units by no later than September 30,
1985. The Secretary shall report to the Congress on the progress
of such incorporation in the annual report required by section 8(c)
of this Act. Until such time as a unit of the National Forest System
is managed under plans developed in accordance with this Act, the
management of such unit may continue under existing land and resource
management plans.
"(d) The Secretary shall provide for public
participation in the development, review, and revision of land management
plans including, but not limited to, making the plans or revisions
available to the public at convenient locations in the vicinity
of the affected unit for a period of at least three months before
final adoption, during which period the Secretary shall publicize
and hold public meetings or comparable processes at locations that
foster public participation in the review of such plans or revisions.
"(e) In developing, maintaining, and revising
plans for units of the National Forest System pursuant to this section,
the Secretary shall assure
that such plans-
"(1) provide for multiple use and sustained
yield of the products and services obtained therefrom in accordance
with the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, and in particular,
include coordination of outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed,
wildlife and fish, and wilderness; and timber, watershed, wildlife
and fish, and wilderness; and
"(2) determine forest management systems, harvesting
levels, and procedures in the light of all of the uses set forth
in subsection (c)(1), the definition of the terms 'multiple use'
and 'sustained yield' as provided in the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield
Act of 1960, and the availability of lands and their suitability
for resource management.
"(f) Plans developed in accordance with this
section shall-
"(1) form one integrated plan for each unit
of the National Forest System, incorporating in one document or
one set of documents, available to the public at convenient locations,
all of the features required by this section;
"(2) be embodied in appropriate written material,
including maps and other descriptive documents, reflecting proposed
and possible actions, including the planned timber sale program
and the proportion of probable methods of timber harvest within
the unit necessary to fulfill the plan;
"(3) be prepared by an interdisciplinary team.
Each team shall prepare its plan based on inventories of the applicable
resources of the forest;
"(4) be amended in any manner whatsoever after
final adoption after public notice, and, if such amendment would
result in a significant change in such plan, in accordance with
the provisions of subsections (e) and (f) of this section and public
involvement comparable to that required by subsection (d) of this
section; and
"(5) be revised (A) from time to time when the
secretary finds conditions in a unit have significantly changed,
but at least every fifteen years, and (B) in accordance with the
provisions of subsections (e) and (f) of this section and public
involvement comparable to that required by subsection (d) of this
section.
"(g) As soon as practicable, but not later than
two years after enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall
in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 553 of title
5, United States Code, promulgate regulations, under the principles
of the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, that set out the
process for the development and revision of the land management
plans, and the guidelines and standards prescribed by this subsection.
The regulations shall include, but not be limited to-
"(1) specifying procedures to insure that land
management plans are prepared in accordance with the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, including, but not limited to, direction on
when and for what plans an environmental impact statement required
under section 102(2) (c) of that Act shall be prepared;
"(2) specifying guidelines which-
"(A) require the identification of the suitability
of lands for resource management
"(B) provide for obtaining inventory data on
the various renewable resources, and soil and water, including pertinent
maps, graphic material, and explanatory aids; and
"(C) provide for methods to identify special
conditions or situations involving hazards to the various resources
and their relationship to alternate activities;
"(3) specifying guidelines for land management
plans developed to achieve the goals of the Program which-
"(A) insure consideration of the economic and
environmental aspects of various systems of renewable resource management,
including the related systems of silviculture and protection of
forest resources, to provide for outdoor recreation (including wilderness),
range, timber, watershed, wildlife, and fish;
"(B) provide for diversity of plant and animal
communities based on the suitability and capability of the specific
land area in order to meet overall multiple-use objectives, and
within the multiple-use objectives of a land management plan adopted
pursuant to this section, provide, where appropriate, to the degree
practicable, for steps to be taken to preserve the diversity of
tree species similar to that existing in the region controlled by
the plan;
"(C) insure research on and (based on continuous
monitoring and assessment in the field evaluation of the effects
of each management system to the end that it will not produce substantial
and permanent impairment of the productivity of the land;
"(D) permit increases in harvest levels based
on intensified management practices, such as reforestation, thinning,
and tree improvement if (i) such practices justify increasing the
harvests in accordance with the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act
of 1960, and (ii) such harvest levels are decreased at the end of
each planning period if such practices cannot be successfully implemented
or funds are not received to permit such practices to continue substantially
as planned;
"(E) insure that timber will be harvested from
National Forest System lands only where-
"(i) soil, slope, or other watershed conditions
will not not be irreversibly damaged;
"(ii) there is assurance that such lands can
be adequately restocked within five years after harvest;
"(iii) protection is provided for streams, stream-banks,
shorelines, lakes, wetlands, and other bodies of water from detrimental
changes in water temperatures, blockages of water courses, and deposits
of sediment, where harvests are likely to seriously and adversely
affect water conditions or fish habitat;
and
"(iv) the harvesting system to be used is not
selected primarily because it will give the greatest dollar return
or the greatest unit output of timber; and
"(F) insure that clearcutting, seed tree cutting,
shelterwood cutting, and other cuts designed to regenerate and even-aged
stand of timber will be used as a cutting method on National Forest
System lands only where-
"(i) for clearcutting, it is determined to be
the optimum method, and for other such cuts it is determined to
be appropriate, to meet the objectives and requirements of the relevant
land management plan;
"(ii) the interdisciplinary review as determined
by the Secretary has been completed and the potential environmental,
biological, esthetic, engineering, and economic impacts on each
advertised sale area have been assessed, as well as the consistency
of the sale with the multiple use of the general area;
"(iii) cut blocks, patches, or strips are shaped
and blended to the extent practicable with the natural terrain;
"(iv) there are established according to geographic
areas, forest types, or other suitable classifications the maximum
size limits for areas to be cut in one harvest operation, including
provision to exceed the established limits after appropriate public
notice and review by the responsible Forest Service officer one
level above the Forest Service officer who normally would approve
the harvest proposal: Provided, That such limits shall not apply
to the size of areas harvested as a result of natural catastrophic
conditions such as fire, insect and disease attack, or windstorm;
and
"(v) such cuts are carried out in a manner consistent
with the protection of soil, watershed, fish, wildlife, recreation,
and esthetic resources, and the regeneration of the timber resource.
"(h)(1) In carrying out the purposes of subsection
(g) of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall appoint
a committee of scientists who are not officers or employees of the
Forest Service. The committee shall provide scientific and technical
advice and counsel on proposed guidelines and procedures to assure
that an effective interdisciplinary approach is proposed and adopted.
The committee shall terminate upon promulgation of the regulations.
The views of the committees shall be included in the public information
supplied when the regulations are proposed for adoption.
"(2) Clerical and technical assistance, as may
be necessary to discharge the duties of the committee, shall be
provided from the personnel of the Department of Agriculture.
"(3) While attending meetings of the committee,
the members shall be entitled to receive compensation at a rate
of $100 per diem, including travel time, and while away from their
homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses,
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section
5703 of title 5, United States Code, for persons in the Government
service employed intermittently.
"(i) Resource plans and permits, contracts,
and other instruments for the use and occupancy of National Forest
System lands shall be consistent with the land management plans.
Those resource plans and permits, contracts, and other such instruments
currently in existence shall be revised as soon as practicable to
be made consistent with such plans. When land management plans are
revised, resource plans and permits, contracts, and other instruments,
when necessary, shall be revised as soon as practicable. Any revision
in present or future permits, contracts, and other instruments made
pursuant to this section shall be subject to valid existing rights.
"(j) Land management plans and revisions shall
become effective thirty days after completion of public participation
and publication of notification by the Secretary as required under
section 6(d) of this Act.
"(k) In developing land management plans pursuant
to this Act, the Secretary shall identify lands within the management
area which are not suited for timber production, considering physical,
economic, and other pertinent factors to the extent feasible, as
determined by the Secretary, and shall assure that, except for salvage
sales or sales necessitated to protect other multiple-use values,
no timber harvesting shall occur on such lands for a period of 10
years. Lands once identified as unsuitable for timber production
shall continue to be treated for reforestation purposes, particularly
with regard to the protection of other multiple-use values. The
Secretary shall review his decision to classify these lands as not
suited for timber production at least every 10 years and shall return
these lands to timber production whenever he determines that conditions
have changed so that they have become suitable for timber production.
"(l) The Secretary shall-
"(1) formulate and implement, as soon as practicable,
a process for estimating long-term costs and benefits to support
the program evaluation requirements of this Act. This process shall
include requirements to provide information on a representative
sample basis of estimated expenditures associated with the reforestation,
timber stand improvement, and sale of timber from
the National Forest System, and shall provide a comparison of these
expenditures to the return to the Government resulting from the
sale of timber; and
"(2) include a summary of data and findings
resulting from these estimates as a part of the annual report required
pursuant to section 8(c) of this Act, including an identification
on a representative sample basis of those advertised timber sales
made below the estimated expenditures for such timber as determined
by the above cost process; and
the Secretary shall establish-
"(1) standards to insure that, prior to harvest,
stands of trees throughout the National Forest System shall generally
have reached the culmination of mean annual increment of growth
(calculated on the basis of cubic measurement or other methods of
calculation at the discretion of the Secretary): Provided, That
these standards shall not preclude the use of sound silvicultural
practices, such as thinning or other stand improvement measures:
Provided further, That these standards shall not preclude the Secretary
from salvage or sanitation harvesting of timber stands which are
substantially damaged by fire, windthrow or other catastrophe, or
which are in imminent danger from insect or disease attack; and
"(2) exceptions to these standards for the harvest
of particular species of trees in management units after consideration
has been given to the multiple uses of the forest including, but
not limited to, recreation, wildlife habitat, and range and after
completion of public participation processes utilizing the procedures
of subsection (d) of this section." (16 U.S.C. 1604)
National
Participation
Sec. 7. Section 8 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended-
- (a) by striking out "sixty" in the second
sentence of subsection (a) and inserting in lieu thereof the word
"ninety"; and by striking out "sixty-day period"
in the third sentence of subsection (a) and inserting in lieu
thereof of "ninety-day period"; and
- (b) by adding a new sentence at the end of subsection
(c) as follows:
"With regard to the research component of the
program, the report shall include, but not be limited to, a description
of the status of major research programs, significant findings,
and how these findings will be applied in National Forest System
management." (16 U.S.C. 1606)
Transportation
System
Sec. 8. Section 10 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended by inserting "(a)" immediately before
the words "The Congress" and inserting at the end thereof
new subsections (b) and (c) as follows:
"(b) Unless the necessity for a permanent road
is set forth in the forest development road system plan, any road
construction on land of the National Forest System in connection
with a timber contract or other permit or lease shall be designed
with the goal of reestablishing vegetative cover on the roadway
and areas where vegetative cover has been disturbed by the construction
of the road, within ten years after the termination of the contract,
permit, or lease either through artificial or natural means. Such
action shall be taken unless it is later determined that the road
is needed for use as a part of the National Forest Transportation
System."
"(c) Roads constructed on National Forest System
lands shall be designed to standards appropriate for the intended
uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and impacts on
land and resources." (16 U.S.C. 1608)
National
Forest System
Sec. 9. Section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland
Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section
2 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following
new sentence: "Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act of
June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 34; 16 U.S.C. 473), no land now or hereafter
reserved or withdrawn from the public domain as national forests
pursuant to the Act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1103; 16 U.S.C. 471),
or any act supplementary to and amendatory thereof, shall be returned
to the public domain except by an act of Congress." (16 U.S.C.
1609)
Renewable
Resources
Sec. 10. Section 12 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended by striking out the period at the end of that
section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "and on
the date of enactment of any legislation amendatory or supplementary
thereto." (16 U.S.C. 1610)
Limitations
On Timber Removal; Public Participation And Advisory Boards;
Regulations; Severability
Sec. 11. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end thereof new
sections 13 through 16 as follows:
"Sec. 13. Limitations on Timber Removal.--(a)
The Secretary of Agriculture shall limit the sale of timber from
each national forest to a quantity equal to or less than a quantity
which can be removed from such forest annually in perpetuity on
a sustained-yield basis: Provided, That, in order to meet overall
multiple-use objectives, the Secretary may establish an allowable
sale quantity for any decade which departs from the projected long-term
average sale quantity that would otherwise be established: Provided
further, That any such planned departure must be consistent with
the multiple-use management objectives of the land management plan.
Plans for variations in the allowable sale quantity must be made
with public participation as required by section 6(d) of this Act.
In addition, within any decade, the Secretary may sell a quantity
in excess of the annual allowable sale quantity established pursuant
to this section in the case of any national forest so long as the
average sale quantity of timber from such national forest over the
decade covered by the plan do not exceed such quantity limitation.
In those cases where a forest has less than two hundred thousand
thousand acres of commercial forest land, the Secretary may use
two or more forests for purposes of determining the sustained yield.
"(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section
shall prohibit the Secretary from salvage or sanitation harvesting
of timber stands which are substantially damaged by fire, windthrow,
or other catastrophe, or which are in imminent danger from insect
or disease attack. The Secretary may either substitute such timber
for timber that would otherwise be sold under the plan or, if not
feasible, sell such timber over and above the plan volume. (16 U.S.C.
1611)
Public
Participation And Advisory Boards
"Sec. 14. Public Participation and Advisory
Boards.--(a) In exercising his authorities under this Act and other
laws applicable to the Forest Service, the Secretary, by regulation,
shall establish procedures, including public hearings where appropriate,
to give the Federal, State, and local governments and the public
adequate notice and an opportunity to comment upon the formulation
of standards, criteria, and guidelines applicable to Forest SErvice
programs.
"(b) In providing for public participation in
the planning for and management of the National Forest System, the
Secretary, pursuant to the Federal advisory Committee Act (86 Stat.
770) and other applicable law, shall establish and consult such
advisory boards as he deems necessary to secure full information
and advice on the execution of his responsibilities. The membership
of such boards shall be representative of a cross section of groups
interested in the planning for and management of the National Forest
System and the various types of use and enjoyment of the lands thereof."
(16 U.S.C. 1612)
"Sec. 15.
Regulations.-The Secretary of Agriculture shall prescribe such regulations
as he determines necessary and desirable to carry out the provisions
of this Act. (16 U.S.C. 1613)
"Sec. 16. Severability.-If any provision of
this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances
is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and of
the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances
shall not be affected thereby." (16 U.S.C. 1614)
Conforming
Amendments To The Forest And Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning
ACT OF 1974
Sec. 12. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 is amended as follows:
- (a) Section 6(a), as redesignated by section 2
of this Act, is amended by striking out "section 3"
and inserting in lieu thereof "section 4". (16 U.S.C.
1604)
- (b) Section 8, as redesignated by section 2 of
this Act, is amended-
- (1) by striking out "section 2" and
"section 3" in the first sentence of subsection (a)
and inserting in lieu thereof "section 3" and "section
4", respectively;
- (2) by striking out "section 3" in
subsection (c) and inserting in lieu thereof "section 4";
and
- (3) by striking out "section 3" in
the first sentence of subsection (d) and inserting in lieu thereof
"section 4". (16 U.S.C. 1606)
Amendment
To The Organic Act
Sec. 13. The twelfth undesignated paragraph under
the heading "SURVEYING THE PUBLIC LANDS" in the Act of
June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 35, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 476), is hereby
repealed. (16 U.S.C. 476)
Timber
Sales On National Forest System Lands
Sec. 14. (a) For the purpose of achieving the policies
set forth in the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (74 Stat.
215; 16 U.S.C. 528-531) and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 476; 16 U.S.C. 1601-1610), the Secretary
of Agriculture, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe,
may sell, at not less than appraised value, trees, portions of trees,
or forest products located on National Forest System lands.
- (b) All advertised timber sales shall be designated
on maps, and a prospectus shall be available to the public and
interested potential bidders.
- (c) The length and other terms of the contract
shall be designed to promote orderly harvesting consistent with
the principles set out in section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland
Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended. Unless there
is a finding by the Secretary of Agriculture that better utilization
of the various forest resources (consistent with the provisions
of the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960) will result,
sales contracts shall be for a period not to exceed ten years:
Provided, That such period may be adjusted at the discretion of
the Secretary to provide additional time due to time delays caused
by an act of an agent of the United States or by other circumstances
beyond the control of the purchaser. The Secretary shall require
the purchaser to file as soon as practicable after execution of
a contract for any advertised sale with a term of two years or
more, a plan of operation, which shall be subject to concurrence
by the Secretary. The Secretary shall not extend any contract
period with an original term of two years or more unless he finds
(A) that the purchaser has diligently performed in accordance
with an approved plan of operation or (B) that the substantial
overriding public interest justifies the extension.
- (d) The Secretary of Agriculture shall advertise
all sales unless he determines that extraordinary conditions exist,
as defined by regulation, or that the appraised value of the sale
is less than $10,000. If, upon proper offering, no satisfactory
bid is received for a sale, or the bidder fails to complete the
purchase, the sale may be offered and sold without further advertisement.
- (e)(1) In the sale of trees, portions of trees,
or forest products from National Forest System lands (hereinafter
referred to in this subsection as "national forest materials"),
the Secretary of Agriculture shall select the bidding method or
methods which-
- (A) insure open and fair competition;
- (B) insure that the Federal Government receive
not less than the appraised value as required by subsection (a)
of this section;
- (C) consider the economic stability of communities
whose economies are dependent on such national forest materials,
or achieve such other objectives as the Secretary deems necessary;
and
- (D) are consistent with the objectives of this
Act and other Federal statutes.
The Secretary shall select or alter the bidding method
or methods as he determines necessary to achieve the objectives
stated in clauses (A), (B), (C) and (D) of this paragraph.
- (2) In those instances when the Secretary selects
oral auction as the bidding method for the sale of any national
forest materials, he shall require that all prospective purchasers
submit written sealed qualifying bids. Only prospective purchasers
whose written sealed qualifying bids are equal to or in excess
of the appraised value of such national forest materials may participate
in the oral bidding process.
- (3) The Secretary shall monitor bidding patterns
involved in the sale of national forest materials. If the Secretary
has a reasonable belief that collusive bidding practices may be
occurring, then-
- (A) he shall report any such instances of possible
collusive bidding or suspected collusive bidding practices to
the Attorney General of the United States with any and all supporting
data;
- (B) he may alter the bidding methods used within
the affected area; and
- (C) he shall take such other action as he deems
necessary to eliminate such practices with the affected area.
- (f) The Secretary of Agriculture, under such rules
and regulations as he may prescribe, is authorized to dispose
of, by sale or otherwise, trees, portions of trees, or other forest
products related to research and demonstration projects.
- (g) Designation, marking when necessary, and supervision
of harvesting of trees, portions of trees, or forest products
shall be conducted by persons employed by the Secretary of Agriculture.
Such persons shall have no personal interest in the purchase or
harvest of such products and shall not be directly or indirectly
in the employment of the purchaser thereof.
- (h) The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop
utilization standards, methods of measurement, and harvesting
practices for the removal of trees, portions of trees, or forest
products to provide for the optimum practical use of the wood
material. Such standards, methods, and practices shall reflect
consideration of opportunities to promote more effective wood
utilization, regional conditions, and species characteristics
and shall be compatible with multiple use resource management
objectives in the affected area. To accomplish the purpose of
this subsection in situations involving salvage of insect-infested,
dead, damaged, or down timber, and to remove associated trees
for stand improvement, the Secretary is authorized to require
the purchaser of such timber to make monetary deposits, as a part
of the payment for the timber, to be deposited in a designated
fund from which sums are to be used, to cover the cost to the
United States for design, engineering, and supervision of the
construction of needed roads and the cost for Forest Service sale
preparation and supervision of the harvesting of such timber.
Deposits of money pursuant to this subsection are to be available
until expended to cover the cost to the United States of accomplishing
the purposes for which deposited: Provided, That such deposits
shall not be considered as moneys received from the national forests
within the meaning of sections 500 and 501 of title 16, United
States Code: And provided further, That sums found to be in excess
of the cost of accomplishing the purposes for which deposited
on any national forest shall be transferred to miscellaneous receipts
in the Treasury of the United States.
(1) For sales of timber which include a provision
for purchaser credit for construction of permanent roads with an
estimated cost in excess of $20,000, the Secretary of Agriculture
shall promulgate regulations requiring that the notice of sale afford
timber purchasers qualifying as "small business concerns"
under the Small Business Act, as amended, and the regulations issued
thereunder, an estimate of the cost and right, when submitting a
bid, to elect that the Secretary build the proposed road: Provided,
That the provision of this subsection shall not apply to sales of
timber on National Forest System lands in the State of Alaska.
If the purchaser makes such an election, the price
subsequently paid for the timber shall include all of the estimated
cost of the road. In the notice of sale, the Secretary of Agriculture
shall set a date when such road shall be completed which shall be
applicable to either construction by the purchaser or the Secretary,
depending on the election. To accomplish requested work, the Secretary
is authorized to use from any receipts from the sale of timber a
sum equal to the estimate for timber purchaser credits, and such
additional sums as may be appropriated for the construction of roads,
such funds to be available until expended, to construct a road that
meets the standards specified in the notice of sale.
The provisions of this subsection shall become effective
on October 1, 1976. (16 U.S.C. 472a)
Validation
Of Timber Sales Contracts
Sec. 15. (a) Timber sales made pursuant to the Act
of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 35, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 476), prior
to the date of enactment of this section shall not be invalid if
the timber was sold in accord with Forest Service silvicultural
practices and sales procedures in effect at the time of the sale,
subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. (16
U.S.C. 476(note))
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture is directed, in
developing five-year operating plans under the provisions of existing
fifty-year timber sales contracts in Alaska, to revise such contracts
to make them consistent with the guidelines and standards provided
for in the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act
of 1974, as amended, and to reflect such revisions in the contract
price of timber. Any such action shall not be inconsistent with
valid contract rights approved by the final judgment of a court
of competent jurisdiction. (16 U.S.C. 1601(note))
Payments
To States For Schools And Roads
Sec. 16. The sixth paragraph under the heading "FOREST
SERVICE" in the Act of May 23, 1908, as amended, and section
13 of the Act of March 1, 1911, as amended (35 Stat. 260, 36 Stat.
963, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 500), are each amended by adding at the
end thereof, respectively, the following new sentence: "Beginning
October 1, 1976, the term 'moneys received' shall include all collections
under the Act of June 9, 1930, and all amounts earned or allowed
any purchaser of national forest timber and other forest products
within such State as purchaser credits, for the construction of
roads on the National Forest Transportation System within such national
forests or parts thereof in connection with any Forest Service timber
sales contract. The Secretary of Agriculture shall, from time to
time as he goes through his process of developing the budget revenue
estimates, make available to the States his current projections
of revenues and payments estimated to be made under the Act of May
23, 1908, as amended, or any other special Acts making payments
in lieu of taxes, for their use for local budget planning purposes."
(16 U.S.C. 500)
Acquisition
Of National Forest System Lands
Sec. 17. (a) The Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 961),
as amended (16 U.S.C. 480, 500, 513-517, 517a, 518, 519, 521, 552,
563), is amended as follows:
- (1) Section 4, as amended, is repealed, and all
function of the National Forest Reservation Commission are transferred
to the Secretary of Agriculture. (16 U.S.C. 513)
- (2) Section 5 is repealed. (16 U.S.C. 513)
- (3) Section 6 is amended to read as follows: "The
Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to
examine, locate, and purchase such forested, cut-over, or denuded
lands within the watersheds of navigable streams as in his judgment
may be necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams
or the production of timber. No deed or other instrument of conveyance
of lands referred to herein shall be accepted or approved by the
Secretary of Agriculture under this Act until the legislature
of the State in which the land lies shall have consented to the
acquisition of such land by the United States for the purpose
of preserving the navigability of navigable streams." (16
U.S.C. 515)
- (4) Section 7, as amended, is amended to read
as follows: "When the public interests will be benefited
thereby, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, in
his discretion, to accept on behalf of the United States title
to any lands within the exterior boundaries of national forests
which, in his opinion, are chiefly valuable for the purposes of
this Act, and in exchange therefore to convey by deed not to exceed
an equal value of such national forest land in the same State,
or he may authorize the grantor to cut and remove an equal value
of timber within such national forest in the same State, the values
in each case to be determined by him: Provided, That before any
such exchange is effected notice of the contemplated exchange
reciting the lands involved shall be published once each week
for four successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation
in the county or counties in which may be situated the lands to
be accepted, and in some like newspaper published in any county
in which may be situated any lands or timber to be given in such
exchange. Timber laws and regulations relating to such national
forests, and under the direction and supervision and in accordance
with the requirements of the Secretary of Agriculture shall, upon
acceptance, become parts of the national forests within whose
exterior boundaries they are located, and be subjected to all
provisions of this Act." (16 U.S.C. 516)
- (5) Section 9, as amended, is amended by striking
out the following language in the first sentence: "the National
Forest Reservation Commission and". (16 U.S.C. 518)
- (6) Section 14, as amended, is repealed. (16 U.S.C.
514)
(b) For purposes of providing information that will
aid the Congress in its oversight responsibilities and improve the
accountability of expenditures for the acquisition of forest land,
the Secretary of Agriculture may not hereafter enter into any land
purchase or exchange relating to the National Forest System of $25,000
or more for the types of lands which have been heretofore approved
by the National Forest Reservation Commission until after 30 days
from the date upon which a detailed report of the facts concerning
such proposed purchase or transfer is submitted to the Committee
on Agriculture and Forestry of the Senate or such earlier time as
may be approved by both such committees. Such report shall contain
at least the following:
- (1) guidelines utilized by the Secretary in determining
that the land should be acquired;
- (2) the location and size of the land;
- (3) the purchase price of the land and the criteria
used by the Secretary in determining such price; and
- (4) the person from whom the land is being acquired.
(16 U.S.C. 521b)
Amendment
To The Knutson-Vandenberg Act
Sec. 18. Section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (46
Stat. 527; 16 U.S.C. 576b), is amended-
- (a) by striking out the word "or" immediately
before "(3)" in the first sentence thereof; and
- (b) by striking out in the first sentence thereof
the colon preceding the proviso and all that follows down through
"three years" and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
", or (4) protecting and improving the future productivity
of the renewable resources of the forest land on such sale area,
including sale area improvement operations, maintenance and construction,
reforestation and wildlife habitat management". (16 U.S.C.
576b)
Amendment
To The Act Of June 12, 1960
Sec. 19. The Act of June 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 215;
16 U.S.C. 528-531), is amended by adding at the end thereof the
following new section:
"Sec. 5. This Act may be cited as the 'Multiple-Use
Sustained-Yield Act of 1960'." (16 U.S.C. 528(note))
Plan
For Control Of Dutch Elm Disease
Sec. 20. The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation
with officials of both the State and political subdivisions thereof,
shall conduct a study of the incidence of Dutch elm disease and
evaluate methods of controlling the spread of such disease. The
Secretary shall prepare and submit to the President and both Houses
of the Congress on or before March 1, 1977, a report which includes-
- (1) the results of such study;
- (2) plans for further research into the control
of Dutch elm disease; and
- (3) an action plan which includes a program of
outreach and public information about the disease, and recommendations
for controlling the spread of the disease (16 U.S.C. 594-2(note))
Severability
Sec. 21. If any provision of this Act or the application
thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity
of the remainder of the Act and of the application of such provision
to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
(16 U.S.C. 1600(note))
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