I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2405
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior
to carry out activities to provide for white oak restoration, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH27, 2025
Mr. B
ARR(for himself, Mr. COMER, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. ROGERSof Ken-
tucky, Mr. G
UTHRIE, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. BERA) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture, 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 com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary
of the Interior to carry out activities to provide for
white oak restoration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘The White Oak Resil-4
ience Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
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(1) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 1
the Governor or any appropriate executive official of 2
an affected State or Indian Tribe or the Common-3
wealth of Puerto Rico. 4
(2) I
NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 5
has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 6
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 7
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 8
(3) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 9
the several States, the District of Columbia, and 10
each territory of the United States. 11
SEC. 3. WHITE OAK RESTORATION INITIATIVE COALITION. 12
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The White Oak Restoration Ini-13
tiative Coalition shall be established— 14
(1) as a voluntary collaborative group of Fed-15
eral, State, Tribal, and local governments and pri-16
vate and non-governmental organizations to carry 17
out the duties described in subsection (b); and 18
(2) in accordance with the charter titled ‘‘White 19
Oak Initiative Coalition Charter’’ adopted by the 20
White Oak Initiative Board of Directors on March 21
21, 2023 (or a successor charter). 22
(b) D
UTIES.—In addition to the duties specified in 23
the charter described in subsection (a)(2), the duties of 24
the White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition are— 25
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(1) to coordinate Federal, State, Tribal, local, 1
private, and non-governmental restoration of white 2
oak in the United States; and 3
(2) to make program and policy recommenda-4
tions, consistent with applicable forest management 5
plans, with respect to— 6
(A) changes necessary to address Federal 7
and State policies that impede activities to im-8
prove the health, resiliency, and natural regen-9
eration of white oak; 10
(B) adopting or modifying Federal and 11
State policies to increase the pace and scale of 12
white oak regeneration and resiliency of white 13
oak; 14
(C) options to enhance communication, co-15
ordination, and collaboration between forest 16
land owners, particularly for cross-boundary 17
projects, to improve the health, resiliency, and 18
natural regeneration of white oak; 19
(D) research gaps that should be ad-20
dressed to improve the best available science on 21
white oak; 22
(E) outreach to forest landowners with 23
white oak or white oak regeneration potential; 24
and 25
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(F) options and policies necessary to im-1
prove the quality and quantity of white oak in 2
tree nurseries. 3
(c) A
DMINISTRATIVESUPPORT, TECHNICALSERV-4
ICES, ANDSTAFFSUPPORT.—The Secretary of the Inte-5
rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall make such per-6
sonnel available to the White Oak Restoration Initiative 7
Coalition for administrative support, technical services, 8
and development and dissemination of educational mate-9
rials as the Secretaries determine necessary to carry out 10
this section. 11
(d) P
RIVATEFUNDING OFWHITEOAKRESTORA-12
TIONPROJECTS.—Subject to the availability of appropria-13
tions made in advance for such purpose, the Secretary of 14
Agriculture may make funds available to the White Oak 15
Restoration Initiative Coalition to carry out this section 16
from the account established pursuant to section 1241(f) 17
of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(f)). 18
SEC. 4. FOREST SERVICE PILOT PROGRAM. 19
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-20
ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall establish 21
and carry out 5 pilot projects in national forests to restore 22
white oak in such forests through white oak restoration 23
and natural regeneration practices that are consistent with 24
applicable forest management plans. 25
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(b) NATIONALFORESTSRESERVED ORWITHDRAWN 1
F
ROM THEPUBLICDOMAIN.—At least 3 pilot projects re-2
quired under subsection (a) shall be carried out on na-3
tional forests reserved or withdrawn from the public do-4
main. 5
(c) A
UTHORITYTOENTERINTOCOOPERATIVE 6
A
GREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture may enter 7
into cooperative agreements to carry out the pilot projects 8
required under subsection (a). 9
(d) S
UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 10
terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 11
enactment of this Act. 12
SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WHITE OAK RE-13
VIEW AND RESTORATION. 14
(a) A
SSESSMENT.— 15
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-16
rior shall carry out an assessment of land under the 17
administrative jurisdiction of the Department of the 18
Interior, including fish and wildlife refuges and 19
abandoned mine land, to evaluate— 20
(A) whether white oak is present on such 21
land; and 22
(B) the potential to restore white oak for-23
ests on such land. 24
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(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—In carrying out the 1
assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 2
use information from sources other than the Depart-3
ment of the Interior, including from the White Oak 4
Initiative and the Forest Service. 5
(3) R
EPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 6
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 7
submit to Congress, and make publicly available on 8
the website of the Department of the Interior, a re-9
port regarding the results of the assessment carried 10
out under this subsection. 11
(b) P
ILOTPROJECTS.—After the date on which the 12
report required under subsection (a)(3) is submitted, the 13
Secretary shall establish and carry out 5 pilot projects in 14
different areas of land described in subsection (a)(1) to 15
restore and naturally regenerate white oak. 16
(c) A
UTHORITYTOENTERINTOCOOPERATIVE 17
A
GREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into cooperative 18
agreements to carry out the pilot projects required under 19
subsection (b). 20
(d) S
UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 21
terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 22
enactment of this Act. 23
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SEC. 6. WHITE OAK REGENERATION AND UPLAND OAK 1
HABITAT. 2
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 3
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-4
culture shall establish a non-regulatory program to be 5
known as the ‘‘White Oak and Upland Oak Habitat Re-6
generation Program’’ (in this section referred to as the 7
‘‘Program’’). 8
(b) D
UTIES.—In carrying out the Program, the Sec-9
retary shall— 10
(1) draw upon the best available science and 11
management plans for species of white oak to iden-12
tify, prioritize, and implement restoration and con-13
servation activities that will improve the growth of 14
white oak within the United States; 15
(2) collaborate and coordinate with the White 16
Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition to prioritize 17
white oak restoration initiatives; 18
(3) adopt a white oak restoration strategy 19
that— 20
(A) supports the implementation of a 21
shared set of science-based restoration and con-22
servation activities developed in accordance with 23
paragraph (1); 24
(B) targets cost effective projects with 25
measurable results; and 26
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(C) maximizes restoration outcomes with 1
no net gain of Federal full-time equivalent em-2
ployees; and 3
(4) establish the voluntary grant and technical 4
assistance programs in accordance with subsection 5
(e). 6
(c) C
OORDINATION.—In establishing the Program, 7
the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv-8
ice, shall consult with— 9
(1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 10
(A) the Director of the United States Fish 11
and Wildlife Service; and 12
(B) the Chief of the Natural Resources 13
Conservation Service; and 14
(2) the Governor of each State in which res-15
toration efforts will be carried out pursuant to the 16
Program. 17
(d) P
URPOSES.—The purposes of the Program in-18
clude— 19
(1) coordinating restoration and conservation 20
activities among Federal, State, local, and Tribal en-21
tities and conservation partners to address white oak 22
restoration priorities; 23
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(2) improving and regenerating white oak and 1
upland oak forests and the wildlife habitat such for-2
ests provide; 3
(3) carrying out coordinated restoration and 4
conservation activities that lead to the increased 5
growth of species of white oak in native white oak 6
regions on Federal, State, Tribal, and private land; 7
(4) facilitating strategic planning to maximize 8
the resilience of white oak systems and habitats 9
under changing climate conditions; 10
(5) engaging the public through outreach, edu-11
cation, and citizen involvement to increase capacity 12
and support for coordinated restoration and con-13
servation activities for species of white oak; and 14
(6) increasing scientific capacity to support the 15
planning, monitoring, and research activities nec-16
essary to carry out such coordinated restoration and 17
conservation activities. 18
(e) G
RANTS ANDASSISTANCE.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—To the extent that funds are 20
available to carry out this section, the Secretary 21
shall establish a voluntary grant and technical as-22
sistance program (in this section referred to as the 23
‘‘grant program’’) to achieve the purposes of the 24
Program described in subsection (d). 25
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(2) ADMINISTRATION.— 1
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 2
enter into a cooperative agreement with the Na-3
tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation (in this 4
subsection referred to as the ‘‘Foundation’’) to 5
manage and administer the grant program. 6
(B) F
UNDING.—Subject to the availability 7
of appropriations made in advance for such 8
purpose, after the Secretary enters into a coop-9
erative agreement with the Foundation under 10
subparagraph (A), the Foundation shall for 11
each fiscal year, receive amounts to carry out 12
this subsection in an advance payment of the 13
entire amount on October 1, or as soon as prac-14
ticable thereafter, of that fiscal year. 15
(3) A
PPLICATION OF NATIONAL FISH AND 16
WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT .— 17
Amounts received by the Foundation to carry out 18
the grant program shall be subject to the National 19
Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 20
U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), excluding section 10(a) of that 21
Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)). 22
(f) S
UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 23
terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 24
enactment of this Act. 25
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SEC. 7. TREE NURSERY SHORTAGES. 1
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 2
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Agri-3
culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 4
shall— 5
(1) develop and implement a national strategy 6
to increase the capacity of Federal, State, Tribal, 7
and private tree nurseries to address the nationwide 8
shortage of tree seedlings; and 9
(2) coordinate such strategy with— 10
(A) the national reforestation strategy of 11
the Forest Service; and 12
(B) each regional implementation plan for 13
National Forests. 14
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-15
section (a) shall— 16
(1) be based on the best available science and 17
data; and 18
(2) identify and address— 19
(A) regional seedling shortages of bareroot 20
and container tree seedlings; 21
(B) regional reforestation opportunities 22
and the seedling supply necessary to fulfill such 23
opportunities; 24
(C) opportunities to enhance seedling di-25
versity and close gaps in seed inventories; and 26
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(D) barriers to expanding, enhancing, or 1
creating new infrastructure to increase nursery 2
capacity. 3
SEC. 8. WHITE OAK RESEARCH. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 5
enter into a memorandum of understanding with an In-6
dian Tribe or institution, including a covered land grant 7
college, to collaboratively conduct research on— 8
(1) white oak genes with resistance or tolerance 9
to stress; 10
(2) white oak trees that exhibit vigor for the 11
purpose of increasing survival and growth; 12
(3) establishing a genetically diverse white oak 13
seeds bank capable of responding to stressors; 14
(4) providing a sustainable supply of white oak 15
seedlings and genetic resources; 16
(5) improved methods for aligning seed sources 17
with the future climate at planting sites; 18
(6) reforestation of white oak through natural 19
and artificial regeneration; 20
(7) improved methods for retaining and increas-21
ing white oak trees in forests; 22
(8) improved methods for reforesting aban-23
doned mine land sites; and 24
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(9) economic and social aspects of white oak 1
forest management across land ownerships. 2
(b) C
ONSULT.—In carrying out the research under 3
subsection (a), the Indian Tribe or institution, including 4
a covered land grant college, that enters into the memo-5
randum of understanding under such subsection may con-6
sult with such States, nonprofit organizations, institutions 7
of higher education, and other scientific bodies, as the en-8
tity subject to such memorandum determines appropriate. 9
(c) S
UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 10
terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 11
enactment of this Act. 12
(d) C
OVEREDLANDGRANTCOLLEGEDEFINED.— 13
In this section, the term ‘‘covered land grant college’’ 14
means an 1862 Institution, an 1890 Institution, or a 1994 15
Institution (as such terms are defined, respectively, in sec-16
tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu-17
cation Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)). 18
SEC. 9. USDA FORMAL INITIATIVE. 19
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-20
ing through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conserva-21
tion Service and in coordination with the Chief of the For-22
est Service, shall establish a formal initiative on white oak 23
to— 24
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(1) re-establish white oak forests where appro-1
priate; 2
(2) improve management of existing white oak 3
forests to foster natural regeneration of white oak; 4
(3) provide technical assistance to private land-5
owners to re-establish, improve management of, and 6
naturally regenerate white oak; 7
(4) improve and expand white oak nursery 8
stock; and 9
(5) adapt and improve white oak seedlings. 10
(b) S
UNSET.—The authority under this section shall 11
terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of 12
enactment of this Act. 13
SEC. 10. AUTHORITIES. 14
To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of 15
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall use the 16
authorities provided under this title in combination with 17
other authorities to carry out projects, including— 18
(1) good neighbor agreements entered into 19
under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 20
(16 U.S.C. 2113a); and 21
(2) stewardship contracting projects entered 22
into under section 604 of the Healthy Forests Res-23
toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c). 24
Æ
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