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Union Calendar No. 77
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 858
[Report No. 105-136, Part I]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot project on
designated lands within Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in
the State of California to demonstrate the effectiveness of the
resource management activities proposed by the Quincy Library Group and
to amend current land and resource management plans for these national
forests to consider the incorporation of these resource management
activities.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 18, 1997
Reported from the Committee on Resources with an amendment
Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a period ending
not later than June 18, 1997
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
Union Calendar No. 77
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 858
[Report No. 105-136, Part I]
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot project on
designated lands within Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in
the State of California to demonstrate the effectiveness of the
resource management activities proposed by the Quincy Library Group and
to amend current land and resource management plans for these national
forests to consider the incorporation of these resource management
activities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 1997
Mr. Herger (for himself, Mr. Fazio of California, Mr. Smith of Oregon,
and Mr. Faleomavaega) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on
Agriculture, 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
June 18, 1997
Reported from the Committee on Resources with an amendment
June 18, 1997
Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a period ending
not later than June 18, 1997
June 18, 1997
Additional sponsors: Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Hefley, Mr. Hilliard,
Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Riggs, Mr. Pombo, Mr. Parker, Mr. Lewis of
California, and Mr. Cannon
June 18, 1997
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 27, 1997]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot project on
designated lands within Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in
the State of California to demonstrate the effectiveness of the
resource management activities proposed by the Quincy Library Group and
to amend current land and resource management plans for these national
forests to consider the incorporation of these resource management
activities.
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 ``Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery
and Economic Stability Act of 1997''.
SEC. 2. PILOT PROJECT FOR PLUMAS, LASSEN, AND TAHOE NATIONAL FORESTS TO
IMPLEMENT QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP PROPOSAL.
(a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``Quincy
Library Group-Community Stability Proposal'' means the agreement of
July 1993 by a coalition of representatives of fisheries, timber,
environmental, county government, citizen groups, and local communities
that formed in northern California to develop a resource management
program for certain Federal lands in the Sierra Nevada area. Such
proposal includes the map entitled ``QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP Community
Stability Proposal'', dated June 1993, and prepared by VESTRA Resources
of Redding, California.
(b) Pilot Project Required.--
(1) Pilot project and purpose.--The Secretary of
Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, shall conduct a
pilot project on the Federal lands described in paragraph (2)
to implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of the resource
management activities described in subsection (d), as
recommended in the Quincy Library Group-Community Stability
Proposal.
(2) Pilot project area.--The Secretary shall conduct the
pilot project on the Federal lands within Plumas National
Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger
District of Tahoe National Forest in the State of California
designated as ``Available for Group Selection'' on the map
entitled ``QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP Community Stability Proposal'',
dated June 1993. Such lands shall be referred to as the ``pilot
project area'' for purposes of this Act. Such map shall be on
file and available for inspection in the appropriate offices of
the Forest Service.
(c) Exclusion of Certain Lands and Riparian Protection.--
(1) Exclusion.--All spotted owl habitat areas and protected
activity centers located within the pilot project area
designated under subsection (b)(2) will be deferred from
resource management activities required under subsection (d)
and timber harvesting during the term of the pilot project.
(2) Riparian protection.--
(A) In general.--The Scientific Analysis Team
guidelines for riparian system protection described in
subparagraph (B) shall apply to all resource management
activities conducted under subsection (d) and all
timber harvesting activities that occur in the pilot
project area during the term of the pilot project.
(B) Guidelines described.--The guidelines referred
to in subparagraph (A) are those in the document
entitled ``Viability Assessments and Management
Considerations for Species Associated with Late-
Successional and Old-Growth Forests of the Pacific
Northwest'', a Forest Service research document dated
March 1993 and co-authored by the Scientific Analysis
Team, including Dr. Jack Ward Thomas.
(d) Resource Management Activities.--During the term of the pilot
project, the Secretary shall implement and carry out the following
resource management activities on an acreage basis on the Federal lands
included within the pilot project area designated under subsection
(b)(2):
(1) Fuelbreak construction.--Construction of a strategic
system of defensible fuel profile zones, including shaded
fuelbreaks, utilizing thinning, individual tree selection, and
other methods of vegetation management consistent with the
Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal, on not less
than 40,000, but not more than 60,000, acres per year.
(2) Group selection and individual tree selection.--
Utilization of group selection and individual tree selection
uneven-aged forest management prescriptions described in the
Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal to achieve a
desired future condition of all-age, multistory, fire resilient
forests as follows:
(A) Group selection.--Group selection on an average
acreage of .57 percent of the pilot project area land
each year of the pilot project.
(B) Individual tree selection.--Individual tree
selection may also be utilized within the pilot project
area.
(3) Total acreage.--The total acreage on which resource
management activities are implemented under this subsection
shall not exceed 70,000 acres each year.
(e) Cost-Effectiveness.--In conducting the pilot project, the
Secretary shall use the most cost-effective means available, as
determined by the Secretary, to implement resource management
activities described in subsection (d).
(f) Effect on Multiple Use Activities.--The Secretary shall not
rely on the resource management activities described in subsection (d)
as a basis for administrative action limiting other multiple use
activities on Federal lands included within the pilot project area
designated under subsection (b)(2).
(g) Funding.--
(1) Source of funds.--In conducting the pilot project, the
Secretary shall use--
(A) those funds specifically provided to the Forest
Service by the Secretary to begin implementing resource
management activities according to the Quincy Library
Group-Community Stability Proposal; and
(B) other funds as are allocated for the
administration of Plumas National Forest, Lassen
National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger District of
Tahoe National Forest.
(2) Prohibition on use of certain funds.--The Secretary may
not conduct the pilot project using funds appropriated for any
other unit of the National Forest System.
(3) Flexibility.--During the term of the pilot project, the
forest supervisors of Plumas National Forest, Lassen National
Forest, and Tahoe National Forest may allocate and use all
accounts available for the administration of Plumas National
Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger
District of Tahoe National Forest to perform the resource
management activities described in subsection (d).
(h) Term of Pilot Project.--The Secretary shall conduct the pilot
project during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of
this Act and ending on the later of the following:
(1) The date on which the Secretary completes amendment or
revision of the land and resource management plans for Plumas
National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Tahoe National
Forest pursuant to subsection (i).
(2) The date that is five years after the date of the
commencement of the pilot project.
(i) Corresponding Forest Plan Amendments.--Within 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Regional Forester for Region
5 shall initiate the process to amend or revise the land and resource
management plans for Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest,
and Tahoe National Forest. The process shall include preparation of at
least one alternative that--
(1) incorporates the pilot project and area designations
made by subsection (b) and the resource management activities
described in subsection (d); and
(2) makes other changes warranted by the analyses conducted
in compliance with section 102(2) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)), section 6 of the Forest
and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16
U.S.C. 1604), and other applicable laws.
(j) Reporting Requirements.--
(1) In general.--Not later than February 28 of each year
during the term of the pilot project, the Secretary after
consultation with the Quincy Library Group, shall submit to
Congress a report on the status of the pilot project. The
report shall include at least the following:
(A) A complete accounting of the use of funds made
available under subsection (g)(1)(A) until such funds
are fully expended.
(B) A complete accounting of the use of funds and
accounts made available under subsection (g)(1) for the
previous fiscal year, including a schedule of the
amounts drawn from each account used to perform
resource management activities described in subsection
(d).
(C) A description of total acres treated for each
of the resource management activities required under
subsection (d), forest health improvements, fire risk
reductions, water yield increases, and other natural
resources-related benefits achieved by the
implementation of the resource management activities
described in subsection (d).
(D) A description of the economic benefits to local
communities achieved by the implementation of the pilot
project.
(E) A comparison of the revenues generated by, and
costs incurred in, the implementation of the resource
management activities described in subsection (d) on
the Federal lands included in the pilot project area
with the revenues and costs during each of the fiscal
years 1992 through 1997 of timber management of such
lands before their inclusion in the pilot project.
(F) A schedule for the resource management
activities to be undertaken in the pilot project area
during the calendar year.
(2) Limitation on expenditures.--The amount expended on
each annual report under this subsection shall not exceed
$30,000.
(k) Final Report.--
(1) In general.--Beginning after completion of the fourth
year of the pilot project, the Secretary shall compile a
science-based assessment of, and report on, the effectiveness
of the pilot project in meeting the stated goals of this pilot
project. Such assessment shall be compiled in consultation with
the Quincy Library Group and shall be submitted to the Congress
by February 28, 2003.
(2) Limitation on expenditures.--The amount expended for
each report under this subsection shall not exceed $100,000.
Pages: 1 Other Popular 105th Congressional Bills Documents:
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