Sponsors (3)
The bill broadens who can receive federal support for seed collection and seedling production—boosting local restoration capacity, research, and tribal economic participation—at the cost of higher federal spending and risks of uneven access and ecological missteps if coordination and equity safeguards are not enforced.
State forestry agencies, universities, tribes, and local partners will be able to receive federal contracts/grants to collect native seed and produce seedlings, increasing local restoration capacity and speeding ecosystem recovery after disturbances.
Institutions of higher education are explicitly added as eligible Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program partners, enabling more research, technical expertise, and evidence-based project nominations.
Tribes are authorized to participate directly in restoration contracting and grant activities, creating opportunities for tribal involvement and potential local economic benefits from restoration work on or near tribal lands.
If seed sourcing and production standards are not well coordinated, there is a risk of using non-local genotypes that could reduce long-term restoration resilience and harm ecosystem outcomes.
Smaller nonfederal partners and local nonprofits could face increased competition for grants and contracts from better-resourced universities or multistate coalitions, limiting access for some local actors.
Expanding federal contracting and grant authority to more partner types may increase federal spending and administrative costs, which could affect taxpayers or require offsets.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes the Forest Service to partner with states, tribes, universities, nonprofits, and coalitions to collect native seed and produce seedlings for ecosystem restoration and adds colleges to collaborative program eligibility.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress August 1, 2025
Allows the Forest Service to enter into contracts, grants, and agreements with state forestry agencies, local private and nonprofit entities, institutions of higher education, Indian Tribes, and multistate coalitions to collect and maintain native seed and produce seedlings for revegetation and ecosystem restoration. Also expands eligibility for a collaborative forest restoration program to explicitly include institutions of higher education as eligible partners. Does not appropriate new funds within the text; it creates or clarifies authority to make awards and expands partner eligibility but does not itself change funding levels or impose new federal mandates on states or localities.