Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens local capacity and inclusion for forest restoration by allowing more entities (including tribes and universities) to receive federal support—improving recovery, research, and economic opportunities—but raises costs, could disadvantage smaller local partners, and requires careful standards to avoid ecological risks.
State forestry agencies, universities, tribes, and local partners can receive federal contracts/grants to collect native seed and produce seedlings, increasing local restoration capacity and speeding ecosystem recovery after disturbances (benefiting timber, recreation, and watershed services).
Tribes are explicitly authorized to participate in and receive support for restoration projects, creating direct economic and employment opportunities for tribal communities on or near tribal lands.
Institutions of higher education are explicitly added as eligible partners in the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, enabling more research, technical expertise, and stronger project nominations.
If seed sourcing and production standards are not well coordinated, regional variation could lead to use of non-local genotypes that reduce long-term restoration resilience and harm ecosystems and communities that rely on them.
Expanding federal contracting authority to more partners may increase federal spending and administrative costs, which could affect taxpayers or require offsets.
Smaller nonfederal partners (local nonprofits and some local governments) may face increased competition from better-resourced universities or multistate coalitions for grants/contracts, reducing their access to funds and roles in restoration work.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Gives the Forest Service authority to contract with states, tribes, universities, nonprofits, and coalitions to collect native seed and grow seedlings and explicitly adds universities as eligible partners in collaborative forest restoration.
Official title: Amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, to enter into contracts, grants, and agreements to carry out certain ecosystem restoration activities, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress August 1, 2025
Allows the Forest Service to contract with state forestry agencies, tribes, universities, nonprofits, and multistate coalitions to collect and maintain native seed and produce seedlings for ecosystem restoration and revegetation. It also explicitly adds institutions of higher education to the list of eligible partners for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, expanding who can participate in collaborative restoration efforts.