Sponsors (4)
Last progress May 29, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on May 29, 2025 by Doug Lamalfa
Raises the appraised-value threshold for when the Secretary of Agriculture must advertise timber sales (unless extraordinary conditions exist) and adds additional text at the end of subsection (d).
Adds new paragraphs to subsection (d) establishing salvage requirements for certain third-party proposed stewardship contracts, public notice and response timelines, environmental review notice timing, discretion for conflicting proposals, and additional requirements/limits on where and how contracts may be carried out.
Creates a pathway for private or other non‑Federal parties to propose and enter stewardship contracts on National Forest System and BLM lands by requiring annual public invitations for proposals, setting deadlines for agency responses and environmental review, and imposing program limits (including a minimum 10% salvage requirement and geographic restrictions). It also raises the dollar threshold that triggers formal advertising of timber sales to $55,000 and directs a Comptroller General report to Congress within five years to evaluate the program changes.
Amend Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) by inserting language in subsection (b) and adding new provisions at the end of subsection (d).
Salvage requirement: A stewardship contract or agreement proposed by a private person or other public or private entity may only be entered into if the land management goals include removal of vegetation and at least 10 percent of the vegetation proposed to be removed is salvage.
Definition of salvage: Salvage includes wildfire kill, beetle kill, and dead or dying organic material.
Annual notice: Not less than once per year, the Chief and the Director shall publicly notice the opportunity to submit proposals for stewardship contracting projects under subsection (b).
Response timeline: The Chief and the Director shall provide a response to a stewardship contracting project proposal submitted by a private person or other public or private entity not later than 120 days after receiving the proposal.
Who is affected and how:
Federal land management agencies (Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management): Must publish annual invitations, meet new timelines for responses and environmental reviews, apply salvage and location limits, and track outcomes for GAO review. Administrative workloads may shift toward managing annual solicitations and faster reviews.
Non‑Federal proposers (private companies, tribes, conservation organizations, and other private parties): Gain an explicit, regular opportunity to propose stewardship contracts and participate in restoration or vegetation management projects. However, award of contracts remains discretionary.
Timber purchasers, loggers, and salvage operators: Could see more opportunities to purchase or process recovered material because of the 10% salvage requirement, and fewer small sales will require formal advertising due to the raised threshold.
Local communities and rural stakeholders: May benefit from locally led restoration projects, job opportunities, and fuels‑reduction work, especially where projects are prioritized. Geographic limits may concentrate where these benefits occur.
Environmental and recreation interests: Project location limits, salvage and removal rules, and accelerated timelines may raise concerns about environmental review depth and on‑the‑ground impacts; GAO review is intended to inform whether protections and outcomes are adequate.
Oversight and Congress: Will receive a GAO report within five years to evaluate whether the changes met restoration, economic, and procedural goals; that could prompt legislative or policy changes.
Net effect: The bill aims to expand and streamline opportunities for non‑Federal parties to partner on vegetation management and restoration while adjusting small‑sale advertising thresholds; outcomes depend on agency implementation, discretionary decisions, and findings of the mandated GAO review.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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.
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