Sponsors (2)
The bill preserves payments and legal certainty for existing conservation agreements and creates a new forest easement tool, but it ends new enrollments under the prior program and constrains future funding and flexibility—trading expanded clarity and some program continuity for reduced future access and longer-term funding uncertainty.
Owners of currently enrolled forest lands (farmers and rural landowners) keep receiving contract payments, technical assistance, and continuation of existing easements/restoration funding, preserving their incomes and ongoing conservation work.
Landowners and farmers gain a new Forest Conservation Easement Program offering payments or easement tools to protect forestland and a funding path for conservation easements, supporting forest conservation on private lands.
Tribal participants and other stakeholders benefit from clearer statutory language because standardizing the definition of 'Indian Tribe' and fixing cross-references reduces legal ambiguity and makes administration and eligibility clearer.
Prospective landowners who might have joined the repealed Healthy Forests Reserve Program can no longer enroll, eliminating a future source of payments and conservation assistance.
Limiting program funding to prior-year CCC appropriations (FY2019–FY2024) and existing Forest Conservation Easement funds may constrain long-term program capacity and reduce future conservation work beyond current contracts.
Creating a new easement program could increase federal spending or require reallocation of Farm Bill funds, potentially raising costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a Forest Conservation Easement Program, repeals the Healthy Forests Reserve Program, and preserves and funds existing HFRP contracts under prior terms.
Introduced March 13, 2025 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress March 13, 2025
Creates a new federal Forest Conservation Easement Program in the Food Security Act, standardizes statute language for Indian Tribes across that title, and repeals the existing Healthy Forests Reserve Program while protecting and funding previously made contracts and easements. Existing agreements remain valid, may continue to receive payments and technical assistance, and prior Commodity Credit Corporation funds for FY2019–FY2024 may be used to carry out those agreements but cannot be modified to raise payment amounts. The bill also makes technical and conforming edits to the Food Security Act to add the new program subtitle and to harmonize references (including a cross-reference for "Indian Tribe"). It authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to use funds for the new program to carry out existing instruments under the legal terms in effect before repeal.