| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 476 |
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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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY6 (legislative day, FEBRUARY5), 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. M |
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| 11 | 11 | | CCONNELL(for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; |
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| 12 | 12 | | which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- |
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| 13 | 13 | | trition, and Forestry |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary |
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| 16 | 16 | | of the Interior to carry out activities to provide for |
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| 17 | 17 | | white oak restoration, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘White Oak Resiliency 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF LAND-GRANT COLLEGE OR UNIVER-6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SITY. 7 |
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| 25 | 25 | | In this Act, the term ‘‘land-grant college or univer-8 |
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| 26 | 26 | | sity’’ means— 9 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 30 | 30 | | (1) an 1862 Institution (as defined in section 2 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu-2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | cation Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)); 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) an 1890 Institution (as defined in that sec-4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | tion); and 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (3) a 1994 Institution (as defined in section 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta-7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | 103–382)). 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | SEC. 3. WHITE OAK RESTORATION INITIATIVE COALITION. 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (a) I |
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| 41 | 41 | | NGENERAL.—There is established the White 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition (referred to in this 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | section as the ‘‘Coalition’’)— 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (1) as a voluntary collaborative group of public, 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | State, private, and nongovernmental organizations to 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | carry out the duties described in subsection (b); and 16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (2) in accordance with the charter entitled 17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ‘‘White Oak Initiative Coalition Charter’’ adopted by 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | the White Oak Initiative Board of Directors on 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | March 21, 2023 (or a successor charter). 20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (b) D |
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| 52 | 52 | | UTIES.—In addition to the duties specified in 21 |
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| 53 | 53 | | the charter described in subsection (a)(2), the duties of 22 |
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| 54 | 54 | | the Coalition are— 23 |
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| 56 | 56 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 58 | 58 | | (1) to coordinate public, State, local, private, 1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | and nongovernmental restoration of white oak in the 2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | United States; 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (2) to make program and policy recommenda-4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | tions with respect to— 5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (A) changes necessary to address Federal 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | and State policies that impede activities to im-7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | prove the health, resiliency, and natural regen-8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | eration of white oak; 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (B) adopting or modifying Federal and 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | State policies to increase the pace and scale of 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | white oak regeneration and resiliency of white 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | oak; 13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (C) options to enhance communication, co-14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ordination, and collaboration between forest 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | land owners, particularly for cross-boundary 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | projects, to improve the health, resiliency, and 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | natural regeneration of white oak; 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (D) research gaps that should be ad-19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | dressed to improve the best available science on 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | white oak; 21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (E) outreach to forest landowners with 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | white oak or white oak regeneration potential; 23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | and 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 85 | 85 | | (F) options and policies necessary to im-1 |
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| 86 | 86 | | prove the quality and quantity of white oak in 2 |
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| 87 | 87 | | tree nurseries; and 3 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (3) to submit the report under subsection (c). 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (c) R |
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| 90 | 90 | | EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 5 |
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| 91 | 91 | | of enactment of this Act, the Coalition shall submit to the 6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the 8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | a report describing the activities of the Coalition during 10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | including the recommendations described in subsection 12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (b)(2). 13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (d) A |
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| 100 | 100 | | DMINISTRATIVESUPPORT, TECHNICALSERV-14 |
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| 101 | 101 | | ICES, ANDSTAFFSUPPORT.—The Secretary of the Inte-15 |
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| 102 | 102 | | rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall make such per-16 |
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| 103 | 103 | | sonnel available to the Coalition for administrative sup-17 |
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| 104 | 104 | | port, technical services, and development and dissemina-18 |
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| 105 | 105 | | tion of educational materials as the Secretaries determine 19 |
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| 106 | 106 | | to be necessary to carry out this section. 20 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (e) N |
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| 108 | 108 | | ONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERALADVISORY 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | C |
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| 110 | 110 | | OMMITTEEACT.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United States 22 |
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| 111 | 111 | | Code, shall not apply to the Coalition. 23 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (f) P |
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| 113 | 113 | | RIVATEFUNDING OFWHITEOAKRESTORATION 24 |
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| 114 | 114 | | P |
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| 115 | 115 | | ROJECTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture may make 25 |
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| 117 | 117 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 119 | 119 | | available funds to the Coalition to carry out this section 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | from funds in the accounts established pursuant to section 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | 1241(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | 3841(f)). 4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | SEC. 4. FOREST SERVICE PILOT PROGRAM. 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (a) I |
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| 125 | 125 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-6 |
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| 126 | 126 | | ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall establish 7 |
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| 127 | 127 | | and carry out 5 pilot projects in national forests to restore 8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | white oak in those national forests through white oak res-9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | toration and natural regeneration practices. 10 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (b) N |
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| 131 | 131 | | ATIONALFORESTSRESERVED ORWITHDRAWN 11 |
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| 132 | 132 | | F |
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| 133 | 133 | | ROM THEPUBLICDOMAIN.—At least 3 pilot projects re-12 |
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| 134 | 134 | | quired under subsection (a) shall be carried out in national 13 |
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| 135 | 135 | | forests reserved or withdrawn from the public domain. 14 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (c) A |
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| 137 | 137 | | UTHORITYTOENTERINTOCOOPERATIVE 15 |
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| 138 | 138 | | A |
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| 139 | 139 | | GREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture may enter 16 |
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| 140 | 140 | | into cooperative agreements to carry out the pilot projects 17 |
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| 141 | 141 | | required under subsection (a). 18 |
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| 142 | 142 | | SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WHITE OAK AS-19 |
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| 143 | 143 | | SESSMENT AND PILOT PROJECTS. 20 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (a) D |
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| 145 | 145 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 |
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| 146 | 146 | | (1) C |
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| 147 | 147 | | OVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 22 |
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| 148 | 148 | | means land under the administrative jurisdiction of 23 |
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| 149 | 149 | | the Secretary, including a unit of the National Wild-24 |
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| 150 | 150 | | life Refuge System and abandoned mine land. 25 |
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| 152 | 152 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 153 | 153 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 154 | 154 | | (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 |
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| 155 | 155 | | the Secretary of the Interior. 2 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (b) A |
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| 157 | 157 | | SSESSMENT.— 3 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (1) I |
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| 159 | 159 | | N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 4 |
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| 160 | 160 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 5 |
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| 161 | 161 | | shall carry out an assessment of covered land to 6 |
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| 162 | 162 | | evaluate— 7 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (A) whether white oak is present on the 8 |
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| 164 | 164 | | covered land; and 9 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (B) the potential to restore white oak for-10 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ests on the covered land. 11 |
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| 167 | 167 | | (2) U |
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| 168 | 168 | | SE OF INFORMATION.—In carrying out the 12 |
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| 169 | 169 | | assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 13 |
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| 170 | 170 | | use information from sources other than the Depart-14 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ment of the Interior, including information from— 15 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (A) the White Oak Restoration Initiative 16 |
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| 173 | 173 | | Coalition established by section 3(a); and 17 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (B) the Chief of the Forest Service. 18 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (3) R |
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| 176 | 176 | | EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 19 |
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| 177 | 177 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 20 |
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| 178 | 178 | | shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con-21 |
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| 179 | 179 | | gress, and make publicly available on the website of 22 |
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| 180 | 180 | | the Department of the Interior, a report describing 23 |
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| 181 | 181 | | the results of the assessment carried out under para-24 |
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| 182 | 182 | | graph (1). 25 |
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| 185 | 185 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 186 | 186 | | (c) PILOTPROJECTS.— 1 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (1) I |
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| 188 | 188 | | N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 2 |
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| 189 | 189 | | the date on which the Secretary submits the report 3 |
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| 190 | 190 | | required under subsection (b)(3), the Secretary shall 4 |
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| 191 | 191 | | establish and carry out 5 pilot projects on various 5 |
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| 192 | 192 | | areas of covered land, the purpose of which is to re-6 |
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| 193 | 193 | | store and naturally regenerate white oak. 7 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (2) A |
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| 195 | 195 | | UTHORITY TO ENTER INTO COOPERATIVE 8 |
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| 196 | 196 | | AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into coop-9 |
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| 197 | 197 | | erative agreements to carry out the pilot projects re-10 |
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| 198 | 198 | | quired under paragraph (1). 11 |
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| 199 | 199 | | SEC. 6. WHITE OAK REGENERATION AND UPLAND OAK 12 |
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| 200 | 200 | | HABITAT. 13 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (a) E |
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| 202 | 202 | | STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 14 |
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| 203 | 203 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-15 |
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| 204 | 204 | | culture (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 16 |
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| 205 | 205 | | shall establish a nonregulatory program to be known as 17 |
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| 206 | 206 | | the ‘‘White Oak and Upland Oak Habitat Regeneration 18 |
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| 207 | 207 | | Program’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’). 19 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (b) D |
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| 209 | 209 | | UTIES.—In carrying out the Program, the Sec-20 |
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| 210 | 210 | | retary shall— 21 |
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| 211 | 211 | | (1) draw upon the best available science and 22 |
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| 212 | 212 | | management plans for species of white oak to iden-23 |
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| 213 | 213 | | tify, prioritize, and implement restoration and con-24 |
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| 215 | 215 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 216 | 216 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 217 | 217 | | servation activities that will improve the growth of 1 |
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| 218 | 218 | | white oak within the United States; 2 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (2) collaborate and coordinate with the White 3 |
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| 220 | 220 | | Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition to prioritize 4 |
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| 221 | 221 | | white oak restoration initiatives; 5 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (3) adopt a white oak restoration strategy 6 |
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| 223 | 223 | | that— 7 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (A) supports the implementation of a 8 |
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| 225 | 225 | | shared set of science-based restoration and con-9 |
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| 226 | 226 | | servation activities developed in accordance with 10 |
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| 227 | 227 | | paragraph (1); 11 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (B) targets cost-effective projects with 12 |
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| 229 | 229 | | measurable results; and 13 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (C) maximizes restoration outcomes with 14 |
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| 231 | 231 | | no net gain of Federal full-time equivalent em-15 |
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| 232 | 232 | | ployees; and 16 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (4) establish the voluntary grant and technical 17 |
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| 234 | 234 | | assistance program in accordance with subsection 18 |
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| 235 | 235 | | (e). 19 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (c) C |
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| 237 | 237 | | OORDINATION.—In establishing the Program, 20 |
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| 238 | 238 | | the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv-21 |
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| 239 | 239 | | ice, shall consult with— 22 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 23 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (A) the Director of the United States Fish 24 |
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| 242 | 242 | | and Wildlife Service; and 25 |
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| 245 | 245 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 246 | 246 | | (B) the Chief of the Natural Resources 1 |
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| 247 | 247 | | Conservation Service; and 2 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (2) the Governor of each State in which res-3 |
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| 249 | 249 | | toration efforts will be carried out pursuant to the 4 |
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| 250 | 250 | | Program. 5 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (d) P |
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| 252 | 252 | | URPOSES.—The purposes of the Program in-6 |
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| 253 | 253 | | clude— 7 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (1) coordinating restoration and conservation 8 |
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| 255 | 255 | | activities among Federal, State, local, and Tribal en-9 |
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| 256 | 256 | | tities and conservation partners to address white oak 10 |
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| 257 | 257 | | restoration priorities; 11 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (2) improving and regenerating white oak and 12 |
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| 259 | 259 | | upland oak forests and the wildlife habitat such for-13 |
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| 260 | 260 | | ests provide; 14 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (3) carrying out coordinated restoration and 15 |
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| 262 | 262 | | conservation activities that lead to the increased 16 |
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| 263 | 263 | | growth of species of white oak in native white oak 17 |
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| 264 | 264 | | regions on Federal, State, Tribal, and private land; 18 |
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| 265 | 265 | | (4) facilitating strategic planning to maximize 19 |
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| 266 | 266 | | the resilience of white oak systems and habitats 20 |
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| 267 | 267 | | under changing climate conditions; 21 |
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| 268 | 268 | | (5) engaging the public through outreach, edu-22 |
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| 269 | 269 | | cation, and citizen involvement to increase capacity 23 |
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| 270 | 270 | | and support for coordinated restoration and con-24 |
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| 271 | 271 | | servation activities for species of white oak; and 25 |
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| 274 | 274 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 275 | 275 | | (6) increasing scientific capacity to support the 1 |
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| 276 | 276 | | planning, monitoring, and research activities nec-2 |
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| 277 | 277 | | essary to carry out such coordinated restoration and 3 |
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| 278 | 278 | | conservation activities. 4 |
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| 279 | 279 | | (e) G |
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| 280 | 280 | | RANTS ANDASSISTANCE.— 5 |
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| 281 | 281 | | (1) I |
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| 282 | 282 | | N GENERAL.—To the extent that funds are 6 |
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| 283 | 283 | | available to carry out this section, the Secretary 7 |
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| 284 | 284 | | shall establish a voluntary grant and technical as-8 |
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| 285 | 285 | | sistance program (referred to in this subsection as 9 |
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| 286 | 286 | | the ‘‘grant program’’) to achieve the purposes of the 10 |
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| 287 | 287 | | Program described in subsection (d). 11 |
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| 288 | 288 | | (2) A |
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| 289 | 289 | | DMINISTRATION.— 12 |
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| 290 | 290 | | (A) I |
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| 291 | 291 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 13 |
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| 292 | 292 | | enter into a cooperative agreement with the Na-14 |
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| 293 | 293 | | tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation (referred 15 |
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| 294 | 294 | | to in this subsection as the ‘‘Foundation’’) to 16 |
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| 295 | 295 | | manage and administer the grant program. 17 |
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| 296 | 296 | | (B) F |
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| 297 | 297 | | UNDING.—After the Secretary enters 18 |
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| 298 | 298 | | into a cooperative agreement with the Founda-19 |
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| 299 | 299 | | tion under subparagraph (A), the Foundation 20 |
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| 300 | 300 | | shall— 21 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (i) for each fiscal year, receive 22 |
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| 302 | 302 | | amounts to carry out this subsection in an 23 |
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| 303 | 303 | | advance payment of the entire amount on 24 |
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| 306 | 306 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 307 | 307 | | October 1, or as soon as practicable there-1 |
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| 308 | 308 | | after, of that fiscal year; 2 |
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| 309 | 309 | | (ii) invest and reinvest such amounts 3 |
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| 310 | 310 | | for the benefit of the grant program; and 4 |
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| 311 | 311 | | (iii) otherwise administer the grant 5 |
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| 312 | 312 | | program to support partnerships between 6 |
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| 313 | 313 | | the public and private sectors in accord-7 |
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| 314 | 314 | | ance with this section. 8 |
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| 315 | 315 | | (3) A |
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| 316 | 316 | | PPLICATION OF NATIONAL FISH AND 9 |
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| 317 | 317 | | WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT .— 10 |
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| 318 | 318 | | Amounts received by the Foundation to carry out 11 |
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| 319 | 319 | | the grant program shall be subject to the National 12 |
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| 320 | 320 | | Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 13 |
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| 321 | 321 | | U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), excluding section 10(a) of that 14 |
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| 322 | 322 | | Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)). 15 |
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| 323 | 323 | | SEC. 7. WHITE OAK TREE NURSERY SHORTAGES. 16 |
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| 324 | 324 | | (a) I |
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| 325 | 325 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 17 |
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| 326 | 326 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-18 |
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| 327 | 327 | | culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 19 |
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| 328 | 328 | | shall develop and implement a national strategy to in-20 |
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| 329 | 329 | | crease the capacity of Federal, State, Tribal, and private 21 |
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| 330 | 330 | | tree nurseries to address the nationwide shortage of white 22 |
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| 331 | 331 | | oak tree seedlings. 23 |
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| 332 | 332 | | (b) E |
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| 333 | 333 | | LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-24 |
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| 334 | 334 | | section (a) shall— 25 |
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| 336 | 336 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 |
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| 337 | 337 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 338 | 338 | | (1) be based on the best available science and 1 |
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| 339 | 339 | | data, as established by land-grant colleges and uni-2 |
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| 340 | 340 | | versities that have demonstrated— 3 |
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| 341 | 341 | | (A) scientific expertise relating to white 4 |
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| 342 | 342 | | oak; 5 |
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| 343 | 343 | | (B) the ability to rapidly transfer tech-6 |
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| 344 | 344 | | nologies to the stave industry; 7 |
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| 345 | 345 | | (C) geographic proximity to concentrated 8 |
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| 346 | 346 | | areas of white oak; and 9 |
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| 347 | 347 | | (D) support for regional economic develop-10 |
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| 348 | 348 | | ment; and 11 |
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| 349 | 349 | | (2) identify and address— 12 |
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| 350 | 350 | | (A) regional shortages of bareroot and con-13 |
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| 351 | 351 | | tainer white oak tree seedlings; 14 |
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| 352 | 352 | | (B) regional white oak reforestation oppor-15 |
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| 353 | 353 | | tunities and the seedling supply necessary to 16 |
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| 354 | 354 | | fulfill those opportunities; 17 |
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| 355 | 355 | | (C) opportunities to enhance white oak 18 |
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| 356 | 356 | | seedling diversity and close gaps in seed inven-19 |
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| 357 | 357 | | tories; and 20 |
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| 358 | 358 | | (D) barriers to expanding, enhancing, or 21 |
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| 359 | 359 | | creating new infrastructure to increase nursery 22 |
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| 360 | 360 | | capacity for white oak tree seedlings. 23 |
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| 364 | 364 | | SEC. 8. WHITE OAK RESEARCH. 1 |
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| 365 | 365 | | (a) R |
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| 366 | 366 | | ESEARCH.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-2 |
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| 367 | 367 | | ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall enter 3 |
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| 368 | 368 | | into a memorandum of understanding with a land-grant 4 |
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| 369 | 369 | | college or university to conduct research on— 5 |
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| 370 | 370 | | (1) white oak genes with resistance and stress 6 |
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| 371 | 371 | | tolerance; 7 |
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| 372 | 372 | | (2) white oak trees that exhibit vigor for the 8 |
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| 373 | 373 | | purpose of increasing survival and growth; 9 |
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| 374 | 374 | | (3) establishing a diverse white oak seed bank 10 |
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| 375 | 375 | | capable of responding to stressors; 11 |
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| 376 | 376 | | (4) providing a sustainable supply of white oak 12 |
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| 377 | 377 | | seedlings and genetic resources; 13 |
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| 378 | 378 | | (5) reforestation of white oak through natural 14 |
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| 379 | 379 | | and artificial regeneration; and 15 |
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| 380 | 380 | | (6) the best methods for white oak reforestation 16 |
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| 381 | 381 | | on abandoned mine land sites. 17 |
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| 382 | 382 | | (b) C |
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| 383 | 383 | | ONSULTATION.—In carrying out the research 18 |
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| 384 | 384 | | under subsection (a), the land-grant college or university 19 |
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| 385 | 385 | | may consult with such States, nonprofit organizations, in-20 |
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| 386 | 386 | | stitutions of higher education, and other scientific bodies 21 |
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| 387 | 387 | | as the land-grant college or university determines to be 22 |
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| 388 | 388 | | appropriate. 23 |
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| 389 | 389 | | SEC. 9. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE. 24 |
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| 390 | 390 | | (a) P |
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| 391 | 391 | | ARTNERSHIPS.— 25 |
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| 395 | 395 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri-1 |
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| 396 | 396 | | culture, acting through the Director of the National 2 |
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| 397 | 397 | | Institute of Food and Agriculture, shall enter into a 3 |
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| 398 | 398 | | partnership with an eligible entity described in para-4 |
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| 399 | 399 | | graph (2) to conduct research on improving white 5 |
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| 400 | 400 | | oak species resiliency, health, and preservation, in-6 |
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| 401 | 401 | | cluding research on— 7 |
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| 402 | 402 | | (A) population-scale sequencing; 8 |
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| 403 | 403 | | (B) stress response traits; 9 |
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| 404 | 404 | | (C) seedling physiology and performance; 10 |
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| 405 | 405 | | and 11 |
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| 406 | 406 | | (D) white oak product development. 12 |
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| 407 | 407 | | (2) E |
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| 408 | 408 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—An eligible entity re-13 |
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| 409 | 409 | | ferred to in paragraph (1) is a land-grant college or 14 |
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| 410 | 410 | | university that has demonstrated— 15 |
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| 411 | 411 | | (A) scientific expertise relating to white 16 |
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| 412 | 412 | | oak; 17 |
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| 413 | 413 | | (B) the ability to rapidly transfer tech-18 |
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| 414 | 414 | | nologies to the stave industry; 19 |
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| 415 | 415 | | (C) geographic proximity to concentrated 20 |
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| 416 | 416 | | areas of white oak; and 21 |
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| 417 | 417 | | (D) support for regional economic develop-22 |
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| 418 | 418 | | ment. 23 |
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| 419 | 419 | | (b) P |
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| 420 | 420 | | RIORITIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-24 |
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| 421 | 421 | | ing through the Director of the National Institute of Food 25 |
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| 424 | 424 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 425 | 425 | | and Agriculture, shall prioritize research relating to the 1 |
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| 426 | 426 | | resistance of white oak to disease, pest, heat, and drought 2 |
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| 427 | 427 | | in cultivated, new, and old-growth white oak timber 3 |
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| 428 | 428 | | stands. 4 |
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| 429 | 429 | | SEC. 10. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE 5 |
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| 430 | 430 | | INITIATIVE. 6 |
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| 431 | 431 | | The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 7 |
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| 432 | 432 | | Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall 8 |
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| 433 | 433 | | establish an initiative on white oak— 9 |
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| 434 | 434 | | (1) to re-establish white oak forests where ap-10 |
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| 435 | 435 | | propriate; 11 |
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| 436 | 436 | | (2) to improve the management of existing 12 |
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| 437 | 437 | | white oak forests to foster natural regeneration of 13 |
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| 438 | 438 | | white oak; and 14 |
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| 439 | 439 | | (3) to provide technical assistance to private 15 |
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| 440 | 440 | | landowners to re-establish, improve management of, 16 |
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| 441 | 441 | | and naturally regenerate white oak. 17 |
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| 442 | 442 | | SEC. 11. AUTHORITIES. 18 |
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| 443 | 443 | | To the maximum extent practicable, to carry out ac-19 |
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| 444 | 444 | | tivities under this Act and the amendments made by this 20 |
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| 445 | 445 | | Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Ag-21 |
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| 446 | 446 | | riculture shall use the authorities provided under this Act 22 |
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| 447 | 447 | | and those amendments, in combination with authorities 23 |
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| 448 | 448 | | under other provisions of law, including— 24 |
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| 451 | 451 | | •S 476 IS |
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| 452 | 452 | | (1) good neighbor agreements under section 1 |
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| 453 | 453 | | 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2 |
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| 454 | 454 | | 2113a); and 3 |
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| 455 | 455 | | (2) stewardship contracting projects under sec-4 |
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| 456 | 456 | | tion 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 5 |
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| 457 | 457 | | 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c). 6 |
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| 458 | 458 | | Æ |
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