Sponsors (4)
The bill scales up and speeds cross‑boundary restoration and water‑supply protection through larger awards, new financing tools, and standardized monitoring, at the trade‑off of concentrating federal dollars into fewer, larger projects, adding administrative requirements, and risking a shift toward private‑partnered projects over some public conservation priorities.
State, local, Tribal governments, nonprofits, and homeowners gain access to larger awards and flexible financing (award cap raised to $8M plus ability to use innovative finance and good‑neighbor agreements), enabling bigger, faster restoration and watershed projects and attracting non‑Federal funding.
Tribal, State, and private landowners can participate in cross‑boundary projects, allowing landscape‑scale wildfire risk reduction that better protects rural communities and infrastructure across ownerships.
Utilities, rural communities, and homeowners benefit from explicit inclusion of watershed and drinking‑water enhancements in eligible activities, improving protection and resilience of local water supplies.
Taxpayers and potential project recipients may see fewer distinct projects funded because larger per‑project awards (up to $8M) concentrate federal dollars into bigger awards.
Tribal communities and some rural public‑interest projects risk losing priority if program emphasis shifts toward private‑land projects and financing arrangements that favor private partners.
Local governments, nonprofits, and state agencies face added administrative burden and potential delays because of a new federal staffing plan requirement for nominations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Reauthorizes and updates the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to strengthen monitoring, broaden eligible projects and financing, require Federal staffing plans, and raise the award cap to $8M.
Official title: To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to reauthorize the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 13, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress May 13, 2025
Makes targeted changes to the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to strengthen monitoring, broaden eligible project types and priorities, require a Federal staffing plan for nominated collaboratives, and raise the maximum per-project award amount. It explicitly adds pathogens to program monitoring, clarifies eligible mechanisms like conservation finance and good neighbor agreements, expands projects to cross‑ownership and wildland‑urban interface work, and increases an award cap from $4 million to $8 million.