| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2405 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior |
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| 6 | 6 | | to carry out activities to provide for white oak restoration, and for |
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| 7 | 7 | | other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | MARCH27, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. B |
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| 11 | 11 | | ARR(for himself, Mr. COMER, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. ROGERSof Ken- |
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| 12 | 12 | | tucky, Mr. G |
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| 13 | 13 | | UTHRIE, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. BERA) intro- |
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| 14 | 14 | | duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri- |
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| 15 | 15 | | culture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a |
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| 16 | 16 | | period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for |
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| 17 | 17 | | consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- |
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| 18 | 18 | | mittee concerned |
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| 19 | 19 | | A BILL |
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| 20 | 20 | | To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary |
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| 21 | 21 | | of the Interior to carry out activities to provide for |
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| 22 | 22 | | white oak restoration, and for other purposes. |
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| 23 | 23 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘The White Oak Resil-4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | ience Act’’. 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | In this Act: 7 |
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| 32 | 32 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 1 |
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| 34 | 34 | | the Governor or any appropriate executive official of 2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | an affected State or Indian Tribe or the Common-3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | wealth of Puerto Rico. 4 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) I |
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| 38 | 38 | | NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 6 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 7 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 8 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (3) S |
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| 43 | 43 | | TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 9 |
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| 44 | 44 | | the several States, the District of Columbia, and 10 |
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| 45 | 45 | | each territory of the United States. 11 |
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| 46 | 46 | | SEC. 3. WHITE OAK RESTORATION INITIATIVE COALITION. 12 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (a) I |
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| 48 | 48 | | NGENERAL.—The White Oak Restoration Ini-13 |
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| 49 | 49 | | tiative Coalition shall be established— 14 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (1) as a voluntary collaborative group of Fed-15 |
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| 51 | 51 | | eral, State, Tribal, and local governments and pri-16 |
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| 52 | 52 | | vate and non-governmental organizations to carry 17 |
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| 53 | 53 | | out the duties described in subsection (b); and 18 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (2) in accordance with the charter titled ‘‘White 19 |
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| 55 | 55 | | Oak Initiative Coalition Charter’’ adopted by the 20 |
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| 56 | 56 | | White Oak Initiative Board of Directors on March 21 |
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| 57 | 57 | | 21, 2023 (or a successor charter). 22 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (b) D |
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| 59 | 59 | | UTIES.—In addition to the duties specified in 23 |
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| 60 | 60 | | the charter described in subsection (a)(2), the duties of 24 |
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| 61 | 61 | | the White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition are— 25 |
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| 64 | 64 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 65 | 65 | | (1) to coordinate Federal, State, Tribal, local, 1 |
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| 66 | 66 | | private, and non-governmental restoration of white 2 |
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| 67 | 67 | | oak in the United States; and 3 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (2) to make program and policy recommenda-4 |
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| 69 | 69 | | tions, consistent with applicable forest management 5 |
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| 70 | 70 | | plans, with respect to— 6 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (A) changes necessary to address Federal 7 |
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| 72 | 72 | | and State policies that impede activities to im-8 |
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| 73 | 73 | | prove the health, resiliency, and natural regen-9 |
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| 74 | 74 | | eration of white oak; 10 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (B) adopting or modifying Federal and 11 |
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| 76 | 76 | | State policies to increase the pace and scale of 12 |
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| 77 | 77 | | white oak regeneration and resiliency of white 13 |
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| 78 | 78 | | oak; 14 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (C) options to enhance communication, co-15 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ordination, and collaboration between forest 16 |
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| 81 | 81 | | land owners, particularly for cross-boundary 17 |
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| 82 | 82 | | projects, to improve the health, resiliency, and 18 |
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| 83 | 83 | | natural regeneration of white oak; 19 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (D) research gaps that should be ad-20 |
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| 85 | 85 | | dressed to improve the best available science on 21 |
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| 86 | 86 | | white oak; 22 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (E) outreach to forest landowners with 23 |
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| 88 | 88 | | white oak or white oak regeneration potential; 24 |
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| 89 | 89 | | and 25 |
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| 92 | 92 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 93 | 93 | | (F) options and policies necessary to im-1 |
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| 94 | 94 | | prove the quality and quantity of white oak in 2 |
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| 95 | 95 | | tree nurseries. 3 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (c) A |
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| 97 | 97 | | DMINISTRATIVESUPPORT, TECHNICALSERV-4 |
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| 98 | 98 | | ICES, ANDSTAFFSUPPORT.—The Secretary of the Inte-5 |
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| 99 | 99 | | rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall make such per-6 |
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| 100 | 100 | | sonnel available to the White Oak Restoration Initiative 7 |
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| 101 | 101 | | Coalition for administrative support, technical services, 8 |
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| 102 | 102 | | and development and dissemination of educational mate-9 |
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| 103 | 103 | | rials as the Secretaries determine necessary to carry out 10 |
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| 104 | 104 | | this section. 11 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (d) P |
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| 106 | 106 | | RIVATEFUNDING OFWHITEOAKRESTORA-12 |
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| 107 | 107 | | TIONPROJECTS.—Subject to the availability of appropria-13 |
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| 108 | 108 | | tions made in advance for such purpose, the Secretary of 14 |
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| 109 | 109 | | Agriculture may make funds available to the White Oak 15 |
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| 110 | 110 | | Restoration Initiative Coalition to carry out this section 16 |
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| 111 | 111 | | from the account established pursuant to section 1241(f) 17 |
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| 112 | 112 | | of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(f)). 18 |
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| 113 | 113 | | SEC. 4. FOREST SERVICE PILOT PROGRAM. 19 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (a) I |
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| 115 | 115 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-20 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall establish 21 |
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| 117 | 117 | | and carry out 5 pilot projects in national forests to restore 22 |
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| 118 | 118 | | white oak in such forests through white oak restoration 23 |
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| 119 | 119 | | and natural regeneration practices that are consistent with 24 |
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| 120 | 120 | | applicable forest management plans. 25 |
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| 123 | 123 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 124 | 124 | | (b) NATIONALFORESTSRESERVED ORWITHDRAWN 1 |
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| 125 | 125 | | F |
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| 126 | 126 | | ROM THEPUBLICDOMAIN.—At least 3 pilot projects re-2 |
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| 127 | 127 | | quired under subsection (a) shall be carried out on na-3 |
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| 128 | 128 | | tional forests reserved or withdrawn from the public do-4 |
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| 129 | 129 | | main. 5 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (c) A |
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| 131 | 131 | | UTHORITYTOENTERINTOCOOPERATIVE 6 |
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| 132 | 132 | | A |
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| 133 | 133 | | GREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture may enter 7 |
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| 134 | 134 | | into cooperative agreements to carry out the pilot projects 8 |
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| 135 | 135 | | required under subsection (a). 9 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (d) S |
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| 137 | 137 | | UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 10 |
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| 138 | 138 | | terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 11 |
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| 139 | 139 | | enactment of this Act. 12 |
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| 140 | 140 | | SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WHITE OAK RE-13 |
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| 141 | 141 | | VIEW AND RESTORATION. 14 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (a) A |
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| 143 | 143 | | SSESSMENT.— 15 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (1) I |
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| 145 | 145 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-16 |
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| 146 | 146 | | rior shall carry out an assessment of land under the 17 |
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| 147 | 147 | | administrative jurisdiction of the Department of the 18 |
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| 148 | 148 | | Interior, including fish and wildlife refuges and 19 |
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| 149 | 149 | | abandoned mine land, to evaluate— 20 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (A) whether white oak is present on such 21 |
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| 151 | 151 | | land; and 22 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (B) the potential to restore white oak for-23 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ests on such land. 24 |
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| 156 | 156 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 157 | 157 | | (2) USE OF INFORMATION.—In carrying out the 1 |
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| 158 | 158 | | assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 2 |
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| 159 | 159 | | use information from sources other than the Depart-3 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ment of the Interior, including from the White Oak 4 |
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| 161 | 161 | | Initiative and the Forest Service. 5 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (3) R |
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| 163 | 163 | | EPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 6 |
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| 164 | 164 | | date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 7 |
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| 165 | 165 | | submit to Congress, and make publicly available on 8 |
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| 166 | 166 | | the website of the Department of the Interior, a re-9 |
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| 167 | 167 | | port regarding the results of the assessment carried 10 |
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| 168 | 168 | | out under this subsection. 11 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (b) P |
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| 170 | 170 | | ILOTPROJECTS.—After the date on which the 12 |
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| 171 | 171 | | report required under subsection (a)(3) is submitted, the 13 |
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| 172 | 172 | | Secretary shall establish and carry out 5 pilot projects in 14 |
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| 173 | 173 | | different areas of land described in subsection (a)(1) to 15 |
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| 174 | 174 | | restore and naturally regenerate white oak. 16 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (c) A |
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| 176 | 176 | | UTHORITYTOENTERINTOCOOPERATIVE 17 |
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| 177 | 177 | | A |
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| 178 | 178 | | GREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into cooperative 18 |
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| 179 | 179 | | agreements to carry out the pilot projects required under 19 |
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| 180 | 180 | | subsection (b). 20 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (d) S |
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| 182 | 182 | | UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 21 |
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| 183 | 183 | | terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 22 |
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| 184 | 184 | | enactment of this Act. 23 |
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| 187 | 187 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 188 | 188 | | SEC. 6. WHITE OAK REGENERATION AND UPLAND OAK 1 |
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| 189 | 189 | | HABITAT. 2 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (a) E |
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| 191 | 191 | | STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 3 |
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| 192 | 192 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-4 |
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| 193 | 193 | | culture shall establish a non-regulatory program to be 5 |
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| 194 | 194 | | known as the ‘‘White Oak and Upland Oak Habitat Re-6 |
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| 195 | 195 | | generation Program’’ (in this section referred to as the 7 |
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| 196 | 196 | | ‘‘Program’’). 8 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (b) D |
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| 198 | 198 | | UTIES.—In carrying out the Program, the Sec-9 |
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| 199 | 199 | | retary shall— 10 |
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| 200 | 200 | | (1) draw upon the best available science and 11 |
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| 201 | 201 | | management plans for species of white oak to iden-12 |
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| 202 | 202 | | tify, prioritize, and implement restoration and con-13 |
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| 203 | 203 | | servation activities that will improve the growth of 14 |
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| 204 | 204 | | white oak within the United States; 15 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (2) collaborate and coordinate with the White 16 |
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| 206 | 206 | | Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition to prioritize 17 |
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| 207 | 207 | | white oak restoration initiatives; 18 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (3) adopt a white oak restoration strategy 19 |
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| 209 | 209 | | that— 20 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (A) supports the implementation of a 21 |
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| 211 | 211 | | shared set of science-based restoration and con-22 |
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| 212 | 212 | | servation activities developed in accordance with 23 |
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| 213 | 213 | | paragraph (1); 24 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (B) targets cost effective projects with 25 |
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| 215 | 215 | | measurable results; and 26 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (C) maximizes restoration outcomes with 1 |
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| 220 | 220 | | no net gain of Federal full-time equivalent em-2 |
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| 221 | 221 | | ployees; and 3 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (4) establish the voluntary grant and technical 4 |
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| 223 | 223 | | assistance programs in accordance with subsection 5 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (e). 6 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (c) C |
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| 226 | 226 | | OORDINATION.—In establishing the Program, 7 |
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| 227 | 227 | | the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv-8 |
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| 228 | 228 | | ice, shall consult with— 9 |
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| 229 | 229 | | (1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 10 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (A) the Director of the United States Fish 11 |
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| 231 | 231 | | and Wildlife Service; and 12 |
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| 232 | 232 | | (B) the Chief of the Natural Resources 13 |
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| 233 | 233 | | Conservation Service; and 14 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (2) the Governor of each State in which res-15 |
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| 235 | 235 | | toration efforts will be carried out pursuant to the 16 |
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| 236 | 236 | | Program. 17 |
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| 237 | 237 | | (d) P |
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| 238 | 238 | | URPOSES.—The purposes of the Program in-18 |
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| 239 | 239 | | clude— 19 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (1) coordinating restoration and conservation 20 |
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| 241 | 241 | | activities among Federal, State, local, and Tribal en-21 |
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| 242 | 242 | | tities and conservation partners to address white oak 22 |
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| 243 | 243 | | restoration priorities; 23 |
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| 246 | 246 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 247 | 247 | | (2) improving and regenerating white oak and 1 |
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| 248 | 248 | | upland oak forests and the wildlife habitat such for-2 |
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| 249 | 249 | | ests provide; 3 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (3) carrying out coordinated restoration and 4 |
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| 251 | 251 | | conservation activities that lead to the increased 5 |
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| 252 | 252 | | growth of species of white oak in native white oak 6 |
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| 253 | 253 | | regions on Federal, State, Tribal, and private land; 7 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (4) facilitating strategic planning to maximize 8 |
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| 255 | 255 | | the resilience of white oak systems and habitats 9 |
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| 256 | 256 | | under changing climate conditions; 10 |
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| 257 | 257 | | (5) engaging the public through outreach, edu-11 |
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| 258 | 258 | | cation, and citizen involvement to increase capacity 12 |
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| 259 | 259 | | and support for coordinated restoration and con-13 |
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| 260 | 260 | | servation activities for species of white oak; and 14 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (6) increasing scientific capacity to support the 15 |
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| 262 | 262 | | planning, monitoring, and research activities nec-16 |
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| 263 | 263 | | essary to carry out such coordinated restoration and 17 |
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| 264 | 264 | | conservation activities. 18 |
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| 265 | 265 | | (e) G |
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| 266 | 266 | | RANTS ANDASSISTANCE.— 19 |
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| 267 | 267 | | (1) I |
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| 268 | 268 | | N GENERAL.—To the extent that funds are 20 |
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| 269 | 269 | | available to carry out this section, the Secretary 21 |
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| 270 | 270 | | shall establish a voluntary grant and technical as-22 |
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| 271 | 271 | | sistance program (in this section referred to as the 23 |
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| 272 | 272 | | ‘‘grant program’’) to achieve the purposes of the 24 |
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| 273 | 273 | | Program described in subsection (d). 25 |
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| 276 | 276 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 277 | 277 | | (2) ADMINISTRATION.— 1 |
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| 278 | 278 | | (A) I |
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| 279 | 279 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 2 |
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| 280 | 280 | | enter into a cooperative agreement with the Na-3 |
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| 281 | 281 | | tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation (in this 4 |
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| 282 | 282 | | subsection referred to as the ‘‘Foundation’’) to 5 |
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| 283 | 283 | | manage and administer the grant program. 6 |
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| 284 | 284 | | (B) F |
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| 285 | 285 | | UNDING.—Subject to the availability 7 |
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| 286 | 286 | | of appropriations made in advance for such 8 |
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| 287 | 287 | | purpose, after the Secretary enters into a coop-9 |
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| 288 | 288 | | erative agreement with the Foundation under 10 |
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| 289 | 289 | | subparagraph (A), the Foundation shall for 11 |
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| 290 | 290 | | each fiscal year, receive amounts to carry out 12 |
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| 291 | 291 | | this subsection in an advance payment of the 13 |
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| 292 | 292 | | entire amount on October 1, or as soon as prac-14 |
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| 293 | 293 | | ticable thereafter, of that fiscal year. 15 |
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| 294 | 294 | | (3) A |
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| 295 | 295 | | PPLICATION OF NATIONAL FISH AND 16 |
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| 296 | 296 | | WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT .— 17 |
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| 297 | 297 | | Amounts received by the Foundation to carry out 18 |
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| 298 | 298 | | the grant program shall be subject to the National 19 |
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| 299 | 299 | | Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 20 |
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| 300 | 300 | | U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), excluding section 10(a) of that 21 |
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| 301 | 301 | | Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)). 22 |
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| 302 | 302 | | (f) S |
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| 303 | 303 | | UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 23 |
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| 304 | 304 | | terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 24 |
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| 305 | 305 | | enactment of this Act. 25 |
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| 308 | 308 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 309 | 309 | | SEC. 7. TREE NURSERY SHORTAGES. 1 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (a) I |
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| 311 | 311 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 2 |
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| 312 | 312 | | date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Agri-3 |
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| 313 | 313 | | culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 4 |
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| 314 | 314 | | shall— 5 |
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| 315 | 315 | | (1) develop and implement a national strategy 6 |
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| 316 | 316 | | to increase the capacity of Federal, State, Tribal, 7 |
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| 317 | 317 | | and private tree nurseries to address the nationwide 8 |
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| 318 | 318 | | shortage of tree seedlings; and 9 |
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| 319 | 319 | | (2) coordinate such strategy with— 10 |
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| 320 | 320 | | (A) the national reforestation strategy of 11 |
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| 321 | 321 | | the Forest Service; and 12 |
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| 322 | 322 | | (B) each regional implementation plan for 13 |
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| 323 | 323 | | National Forests. 14 |
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| 324 | 324 | | (b) E |
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| 325 | 325 | | LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-15 |
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| 326 | 326 | | section (a) shall— 16 |
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| 327 | 327 | | (1) be based on the best available science and 17 |
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| 328 | 328 | | data; and 18 |
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| 329 | 329 | | (2) identify and address— 19 |
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| 330 | 330 | | (A) regional seedling shortages of bareroot 20 |
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| 331 | 331 | | and container tree seedlings; 21 |
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| 332 | 332 | | (B) regional reforestation opportunities 22 |
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| 333 | 333 | | and the seedling supply necessary to fulfill such 23 |
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| 334 | 334 | | opportunities; 24 |
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| 335 | 335 | | (C) opportunities to enhance seedling di-25 |
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| 336 | 336 | | versity and close gaps in seed inventories; and 26 |
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| 339 | 339 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 340 | 340 | | (D) barriers to expanding, enhancing, or 1 |
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| 341 | 341 | | creating new infrastructure to increase nursery 2 |
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| 342 | 342 | | capacity. 3 |
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| 343 | 343 | | SEC. 8. WHITE OAK RESEARCH. 4 |
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| 344 | 344 | | (a) I |
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| 345 | 345 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 5 |
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| 346 | 346 | | enter into a memorandum of understanding with an In-6 |
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| 347 | 347 | | dian Tribe or institution, including a covered land grant 7 |
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| 348 | 348 | | college, to collaboratively conduct research on— 8 |
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| 349 | 349 | | (1) white oak genes with resistance or tolerance 9 |
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| 350 | 350 | | to stress; 10 |
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| 351 | 351 | | (2) white oak trees that exhibit vigor for the 11 |
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| 352 | 352 | | purpose of increasing survival and growth; 12 |
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| 353 | 353 | | (3) establishing a genetically diverse white oak 13 |
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| 354 | 354 | | seeds bank capable of responding to stressors; 14 |
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| 355 | 355 | | (4) providing a sustainable supply of white oak 15 |
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| 356 | 356 | | seedlings and genetic resources; 16 |
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| 357 | 357 | | (5) improved methods for aligning seed sources 17 |
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| 358 | 358 | | with the future climate at planting sites; 18 |
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| 359 | 359 | | (6) reforestation of white oak through natural 19 |
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| 360 | 360 | | and artificial regeneration; 20 |
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| 361 | 361 | | (7) improved methods for retaining and increas-21 |
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| 362 | 362 | | ing white oak trees in forests; 22 |
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| 363 | 363 | | (8) improved methods for reforesting aban-23 |
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| 364 | 364 | | doned mine land sites; and 24 |
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| 367 | 367 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 368 | 368 | | (9) economic and social aspects of white oak 1 |
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| 369 | 369 | | forest management across land ownerships. 2 |
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| 370 | 370 | | (b) C |
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| 371 | 371 | | ONSULT.—In carrying out the research under 3 |
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| 372 | 372 | | subsection (a), the Indian Tribe or institution, including 4 |
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| 373 | 373 | | a covered land grant college, that enters into the memo-5 |
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| 374 | 374 | | randum of understanding under such subsection may con-6 |
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| 375 | 375 | | sult with such States, nonprofit organizations, institutions 7 |
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| 376 | 376 | | of higher education, and other scientific bodies, as the en-8 |
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| 377 | 377 | | tity subject to such memorandum determines appropriate. 9 |
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| 378 | 378 | | (c) S |
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| 379 | 379 | | UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 10 |
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| 380 | 380 | | terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 11 |
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| 381 | 381 | | enactment of this Act. 12 |
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| 382 | 382 | | (d) C |
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| 383 | 383 | | OVEREDLANDGRANTCOLLEGEDEFINED.— 13 |
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| 384 | 384 | | In this section, the term ‘‘covered land grant college’’ 14 |
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| 385 | 385 | | means an 1862 Institution, an 1890 Institution, or a 1994 15 |
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| 386 | 386 | | Institution (as such terms are defined, respectively, in sec-16 |
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| 387 | 387 | | tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu-17 |
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| 388 | 388 | | cation Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)). 18 |
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| 389 | 389 | | SEC. 9. USDA FORMAL INITIATIVE. 19 |
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| 390 | 390 | | (a) I |
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| 391 | 391 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-20 |
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| 392 | 392 | | ing through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conserva-21 |
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| 393 | 393 | | tion Service and in coordination with the Chief of the For-22 |
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| 394 | 394 | | est Service, shall establish a formal initiative on white oak 23 |
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| 395 | 395 | | to— 24 |
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| 398 | 398 | | •HR 2405 IH |
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| 399 | 399 | | (1) re-establish white oak forests where appro-1 |
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| 400 | 400 | | priate; 2 |
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| 401 | 401 | | (2) improve management of existing white oak 3 |
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| 402 | 402 | | forests to foster natural regeneration of white oak; 4 |
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| 403 | 403 | | (3) provide technical assistance to private land-5 |
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| 404 | 404 | | owners to re-establish, improve management of, and 6 |
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| 405 | 405 | | naturally regenerate white oak; 7 |
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| 406 | 406 | | (4) improve and expand white oak nursery 8 |
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| 407 | 407 | | stock; and 9 |
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| 408 | 408 | | (5) adapt and improve white oak seedlings. 10 |
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| 409 | 409 | | (b) S |
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| 410 | 410 | | UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 11 |
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| 411 | 411 | | terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 12 |
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| 412 | 412 | | enactment of this Act. 13 |
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| 413 | 413 | | SEC. 10. AUTHORITIES. 14 |
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| 414 | 414 | | To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of 15 |
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| 415 | 415 | | the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall use the 16 |
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| 416 | 416 | | authorities provided under this title in combination with 17 |
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| 417 | 417 | | other authorities to carry out projects, including— 18 |
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| 418 | 418 | | (1) good neighbor agreements entered into 19 |
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| 419 | 419 | | under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 20 |
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| 420 | 420 | | (16 U.S.C. 2113a); and 21 |
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| 421 | 421 | | (2) stewardship contracting projects entered 22 |
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| 422 | 422 | | into under section 604 of the Healthy Forests Res-23 |
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| 423 | 423 | | toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c). 24 |
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| 424 | 424 | | Æ |
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