II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 476
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY6 (legislative day, FEBRUARY5), 2025
Mr. M
CCONNELL(for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu-
trition, and Forestry
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 ‘‘White Oak Resiliency 4
Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF LAND-GRANT COLLEGE OR UNIVER-6
SITY. 7
In this Act, the term ‘‘land-grant college or univer-8
sity’’ means— 9
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(1) an 1862 Institution (as defined in section 2 1
of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu-2
cation Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)); 3
(2) an 1890 Institution (as defined in that sec-4
tion); and 5
(3) a 1994 Institution (as defined in section 6
532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta-7
tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 8
103–382)). 9
SEC. 3. WHITE OAK RESTORATION INITIATIVE COALITION. 10
(a) I
NGENERAL.—There is established the White 11
Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition (referred to in this 12
section as the ‘‘Coalition’’)— 13
(1) as a voluntary collaborative group of public, 14
State, private, and nongovernmental organizations to 15
carry out the duties described in subsection (b); and 16
(2) in accordance with the charter entitled 17
‘‘White Oak Initiative Coalition Charter’’ adopted by 18
the White Oak Initiative Board of Directors on 19
March 21, 2023 (or a successor charter). 20
(b) D
UTIES.—In addition to the duties specified in 21
the charter described in subsection (a)(2), the duties of 22
the Coalition are— 23
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(1) to coordinate public, State, local, private, 1
and nongovernmental restoration of white oak in the 2
United States; 3
(2) to make program and policy recommenda-4
tions with respect to— 5
(A) changes necessary to address Federal 6
and State policies that impede activities to im-7
prove the health, resiliency, and natural regen-8
eration of white oak; 9
(B) adopting or modifying Federal and 10
State policies to increase the pace and scale of 11
white oak regeneration and resiliency of white 12
oak; 13
(C) options to enhance communication, co-14
ordination, and collaboration between forest 15
land owners, particularly for cross-boundary 16
projects, to improve the health, resiliency, and 17
natural regeneration of white oak; 18
(D) research gaps that should be ad-19
dressed to improve the best available science on 20
white oak; 21
(E) outreach to forest landowners with 22
white oak or white oak regeneration potential; 23
and 24
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(F) options and policies necessary to im-1
prove the quality and quantity of white oak in 2
tree nurseries; and 3
(3) to submit the report under subsection (c). 4
(c) R
EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 5
of enactment of this Act, the Coalition shall submit to the 6
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 7
Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the 8
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 9
a report describing the activities of the Coalition during 10
the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 11
including the recommendations described in subsection 12
(b)(2). 13
(d) A
DMINISTRATIVESUPPORT, TECHNICALSERV-14
ICES, ANDSTAFFSUPPORT.—The Secretary of the Inte-15
rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall make such per-16
sonnel available to the Coalition for administrative sup-17
port, technical services, and development and dissemina-18
tion of educational materials as the Secretaries determine 19
to be necessary to carry out this section. 20
(e) N
ONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERALADVISORY 21
C
OMMITTEEACT.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United States 22
Code, shall not apply to the Coalition. 23
(f) P
RIVATEFUNDING OFWHITEOAKRESTORATION 24
P
ROJECTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture may make 25
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available funds to the Coalition to carry out this section 1
from funds in the accounts established pursuant to section 2
1241(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3
3841(f)). 4
SEC. 4. FOREST SERVICE PILOT PROGRAM. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-6
ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall establish 7
and carry out 5 pilot projects in national forests to restore 8
white oak in those national forests through white oak res-9
toration and natural regeneration practices. 10
(b) N
ATIONALFORESTSRESERVED ORWITHDRAWN 11
F
ROM THEPUBLICDOMAIN.—At least 3 pilot projects re-12
quired under subsection (a) shall be carried out in national 13
forests reserved or withdrawn from the public domain. 14
(c) A
UTHORITYTOENTERINTOCOOPERATIVE 15
A
GREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture may enter 16
into cooperative agreements to carry out the pilot projects 17
required under subsection (a). 18
SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WHITE OAK AS-19
SESSMENT AND PILOT PROJECTS. 20
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 21
(1) C
OVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 22
means land under the administrative jurisdiction of 23
the Secretary, including a unit of the National Wild-24
life Refuge System and abandoned mine land. 25
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(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1
the Secretary of the Interior. 2
(b) A
SSESSMENT.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 4
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 5
shall carry out an assessment of covered land to 6
evaluate— 7
(A) whether white oak is present on the 8
covered land; and 9
(B) the potential to restore white oak for-10
ests on the covered land. 11
(2) U
SE OF INFORMATION.—In carrying out the 12
assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 13
use information from sources other than the Depart-14
ment of the Interior, including information from— 15
(A) the White Oak Restoration Initiative 16
Coalition established by section 3(a); and 17
(B) the Chief of the Forest Service. 18
(3) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 19
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 20
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con-21
gress, and make publicly available on the website of 22
the Department of the Interior, a report describing 23
the results of the assessment carried out under para-24
graph (1). 25
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(c) PILOTPROJECTS.— 1
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 2
the date on which the Secretary submits the report 3
required under subsection (b)(3), the Secretary shall 4
establish and carry out 5 pilot projects on various 5
areas of covered land, the purpose of which is to re-6
store and naturally regenerate white oak. 7
(2) A
UTHORITY TO ENTER INTO COOPERATIVE 8
AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into coop-9
erative agreements to carry out the pilot projects re-10
quired under paragraph (1). 11
SEC. 6. WHITE OAK REGENERATION AND UPLAND OAK 12
HABITAT. 13
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 14
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-15
culture (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 16
shall establish a nonregulatory program to be known as 17
the ‘‘White Oak and Upland Oak Habitat Regeneration 18
Program’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’). 19
(b) D
UTIES.—In carrying out the Program, the Sec-20
retary shall— 21
(1) draw upon the best available science and 22
management plans for species of white oak to iden-23
tify, prioritize, and implement restoration and con-24
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servation activities that will improve the growth of 1
white oak within the United States; 2
(2) collaborate and coordinate with the White 3
Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition to prioritize 4
white oak restoration initiatives; 5
(3) adopt a white oak restoration strategy 6
that— 7
(A) supports the implementation of a 8
shared set of science-based restoration and con-9
servation activities developed in accordance with 10
paragraph (1); 11
(B) targets cost-effective projects with 12
measurable results; and 13
(C) maximizes restoration outcomes with 14
no net gain of Federal full-time equivalent em-15
ployees; and 16
(4) establish the voluntary grant and technical 17
assistance program in accordance with subsection 18
(e). 19
(c) C
OORDINATION.—In establishing the Program, 20
the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv-21
ice, shall consult with— 22
(1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 23
(A) the Director of the United States Fish 24
and Wildlife Service; and 25
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(B) the Chief of the Natural Resources 1
Conservation Service; and 2
(2) the Governor of each State in which res-3
toration efforts will be carried out pursuant to the 4
Program. 5
(d) P
URPOSES.—The purposes of the Program in-6
clude— 7
(1) coordinating restoration and conservation 8
activities among Federal, State, local, and Tribal en-9
tities and conservation partners to address white oak 10
restoration priorities; 11
(2) improving and regenerating white oak and 12
upland oak forests and the wildlife habitat such for-13
ests provide; 14
(3) carrying out coordinated restoration and 15
conservation activities that lead to the increased 16
growth of species of white oak in native white oak 17
regions on Federal, State, Tribal, and private land; 18
(4) facilitating strategic planning to maximize 19
the resilience of white oak systems and habitats 20
under changing climate conditions; 21
(5) engaging the public through outreach, edu-22
cation, and citizen involvement to increase capacity 23
and support for coordinated restoration and con-24
servation activities for species of white oak; and 25
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(6) increasing scientific capacity to support the 1
planning, monitoring, and research activities nec-2
essary to carry out such coordinated restoration and 3
conservation activities. 4
(e) G
RANTS ANDASSISTANCE.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—To the extent that funds are 6
available to carry out this section, the Secretary 7
shall establish a voluntary grant and technical as-8
sistance program (referred to in this subsection as 9
the ‘‘grant program’’) to achieve the purposes of the 10
Program described in subsection (d). 11
(2) A
DMINISTRATION.— 12
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 13
enter into a cooperative agreement with the Na-14
tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation (referred 15
to in this subsection as the ‘‘Foundation’’) to 16
manage and administer the grant program. 17
(B) F
UNDING.—After the Secretary enters 18
into a cooperative agreement with the Founda-19
tion under subparagraph (A), the Foundation 20
shall— 21
(i) for each fiscal year, receive 22
amounts to carry out this subsection in an 23
advance payment of the entire amount on 24
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October 1, or as soon as practicable there-1
after, of that fiscal year; 2
(ii) invest and reinvest such amounts 3
for the benefit of the grant program; and 4
(iii) otherwise administer the grant 5
program to support partnerships between 6
the public and private sectors in accord-7
ance with this section. 8
(3) A
PPLICATION OF NATIONAL FISH AND 9
WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT .— 10
Amounts received by the Foundation to carry out 11
the grant program shall be subject to the National 12
Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 13
U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), excluding section 10(a) of that 14
Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)). 15
SEC. 7. WHITE OAK TREE NURSERY SHORTAGES. 16
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 17
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-18
culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 19
shall develop and implement a national strategy to in-20
crease the capacity of Federal, State, Tribal, and private 21
tree nurseries to address the nationwide shortage of white 22
oak tree seedlings. 23
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-24
section (a) shall— 25
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(1) be based on the best available science and 1
data, as established by land-grant colleges and uni-2
versities that have demonstrated— 3
(A) scientific expertise relating to white 4
oak; 5
(B) the ability to rapidly transfer tech-6
nologies to the stave industry; 7
(C) geographic proximity to concentrated 8
areas of white oak; and 9
(D) support for regional economic develop-10
ment; and 11
(2) identify and address— 12
(A) regional shortages of bareroot and con-13
tainer white oak tree seedlings; 14
(B) regional white oak reforestation oppor-15
tunities and the seedling supply necessary to 16
fulfill those opportunities; 17
(C) opportunities to enhance white oak 18
seedling diversity and close gaps in seed inven-19
tories; and 20
(D) barriers to expanding, enhancing, or 21
creating new infrastructure to increase nursery 22
capacity for white oak tree seedlings. 23
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SEC. 8. WHITE OAK RESEARCH. 1
(a) R
ESEARCH.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-2
ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall enter 3
into a memorandum of understanding with a land-grant 4
college or university to conduct research on— 5
(1) white oak genes with resistance and stress 6
tolerance; 7
(2) white oak trees that exhibit vigor for the 8
purpose of increasing survival and growth; 9
(3) establishing a diverse white oak seed bank 10
capable of responding to stressors; 11
(4) providing a sustainable supply of white oak 12
seedlings and genetic resources; 13
(5) reforestation of white oak through natural 14
and artificial regeneration; and 15
(6) the best methods for white oak reforestation 16
on abandoned mine land sites. 17
(b) C
ONSULTATION.—In carrying out the research 18
under subsection (a), the land-grant college or university 19
may consult with such States, nonprofit organizations, in-20
stitutions of higher education, and other scientific bodies 21
as the land-grant college or university determines to be 22
appropriate. 23
SEC. 9. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE. 24
(a) P
ARTNERSHIPS.— 25
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri-1
culture, acting through the Director of the National 2
Institute of Food and Agriculture, shall enter into a 3
partnership with an eligible entity described in para-4
graph (2) to conduct research on improving white 5
oak species resiliency, health, and preservation, in-6
cluding research on— 7
(A) population-scale sequencing; 8
(B) stress response traits; 9
(C) seedling physiology and performance; 10
and 11
(D) white oak product development. 12
(2) E
LIGIBLE ENTITY.—An eligible entity re-13
ferred to in paragraph (1) is a land-grant college or 14
university that has demonstrated— 15
(A) scientific expertise relating to white 16
oak; 17
(B) the ability to rapidly transfer tech-18
nologies to the stave industry; 19
(C) geographic proximity to concentrated 20
areas of white oak; and 21
(D) support for regional economic develop-22
ment. 23
(b) P
RIORITIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act-24
ing through the Director of the National Institute of Food 25
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and Agriculture, shall prioritize research relating to the 1
resistance of white oak to disease, pest, heat, and drought 2
in cultivated, new, and old-growth white oak timber 3
stands. 4
SEC. 10. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE 5
INITIATIVE. 6
The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 7
Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall 8
establish an initiative on white oak— 9
(1) to re-establish white oak forests where ap-10
propriate; 11
(2) to improve the management of existing 12
white oak forests to foster natural regeneration of 13
white oak; and 14
(3) to provide technical assistance to private 15
landowners to re-establish, improve management of, 16
and naturally regenerate white oak. 17
SEC. 11. AUTHORITIES. 18
To the maximum extent practicable, to carry out ac-19
tivities under this Act and the amendments made by this 20
Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Ag-21
riculture shall use the authorities provided under this Act 22
and those amendments, in combination with authorities 23
under other provisions of law, including— 24
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(1) good neighbor agreements under section 1
8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2
2113a); and 3
(2) stewardship contracting projects under sec-4
tion 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 5
2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c). 6
Æ
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