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Forest Legislation
The 2002 Farm
Bill provided a critical opportunity to improve the management of
private forestland through nonregulatory tools and incentives for
maintaining a working forest base. These tools include financial
assistance for implementing sustainable practices, technical assistance
for informing land management decisions, and education and outreach
for alerting landowners to the economic and environmental benefits
of innovative management approaches. Replacing the Forestry Incentives Program and Stewardship Incentive Program with a Forest Land Enhancement Program. This program's objectives include enhancing the health and productivity of nonindustrial private forestlands; reducing the risk of forest damage by fire, insects, invasive species, and other causes; and increasing carbon sequestration opportunities. Administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the program will provide cost-share assistance to nonindustrial private forest landowners who agree to develop a management plan and implement approved activities for at least ten years. Activities under a plan may include timber production; water quality protection; enhancement of forest habitats, wetlands, and riparian areas; energy conservation; hazardous fuels reduction; and invasive species control. The program will receive $200 million ($20 million per year) in Commodity Credit Corporation funds from fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2011. Reauthorizing Renewable Resources Extension activities, including a new Sustainable Forestry Outreach Initiative. This initiative will educate landowners about the value of sustainable forestry, the importance of professional advice, and public and private resources to assist in planning for and practicing sustainable forest management. Its funding authorization will be doubled to $30 million per year through fiscal 2011. Establishing a Community and Private Land Fire Assistance Program. The law authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with state authorities in managing lands to aid in preventing and controlling wildfire, protecting communities from wildfire threats, enhancing the growth and maintenance of trees that promote forest health, and ensuring the continued conservation of forest cover on watershed, shelterbelts, and windbreaks. Projects under the community and private land fire assistance program, to be federally administered and state implemented, may include fuel hazard mitigation, invasive species management, community protection planning, and improved wood utilization. The program is authorized at $35 million for each of the fiscal years 2002 through 2011. Members of Congress have launched numerous proposals to preserve open space. Although some of these proposals focus exclusively on farm and ranch land, others include forestland or forested areas of agricultural land. The leading open space legislation would increase and assure annual appropriations to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) through revenues accrued from oil and gas exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 701) is almost identical to a broadly supported bill that passed the House and was favorably reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the 106th Congress. The bill would dedicate more than $3 billion annually for various natural resource protection programs through the Outer Continental Shelf royalty system. The funds would be allocated to the Land and Water Conservation Fund at its fully authorized level of $900 million and also support wildlife restoration, historic preservation, urban forestry, and shoreline restoration and conservation for coastal states. With 242 cosponsors, the bill was favorably reported by the House Resources Committee on July 25, 2001. Sen. Mary Landrieu introduced a companion bill (S. 1328) in the Senate, and Sen. Frank Murkowski proposed a somewhat different version (S. 1318) as well. The Suburban
and Community Forestry and Open Space Initiative Act (S.
1633), introduced by Sens. Susan Collins and Jack Reed, aims
to protect private forestland by limiting suburban sprawl. The bill
would authorize $50 million for matching grants to state governments
and nonprofit organizations to preserve private forestland while
providing public access to the land. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
would work with state foresters and planning officials to establish
criteria for identifying eligible suburban, privately owned forestland
that is threatened by sprawl, or at risk of being converted to other
non-forest uses. Grants would support the purchase of both land
and conservation easements at market value. The Cooperative Landscape Conservation Act (H.R. 1381), introduced by Reps. Mark Udall, David Price, and Robert Wexler, would authorize $100 million a year for fiscal years 2002 through 2007 to provide matching grants for the acquisition of permanent conservation easements on private lands. The easements would apply to land that provides important wildlife, fisheries, recreational, open space, and other conservation benefits consistent with continuing the traditional land uses of private landowners. The Highlands Stewardship Act (H.R. 5146), introduced by Rep. Benjamin Gilman and eight cosponsors, would assist state and local governments in the conservation and restoration of the Highlands ecosystem, which extends from eastern Pennsylvania into New York, New Jersey, and Western Connecticut. Although the Highlands supply water to more than 11 million people and are home to several threatened and endangered species, the region has become increasingly threatened by development and sprawl. To aid conservation efforts, the bill would create a Highlands Stewardship Area with annual funding of $25 million over ten years, starting in 2004, from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Administered by a new Office of Highlands Stewardship, the program would assist public and private entities in protecting and restoring the Highlands' resources. Sen. Jon Corzine and five cosponsors have introduced identical legislation (S. 2749) in the Senate.
As an alternative to providing grants for land conservation, several legislative proposals would provide tax relief for conservation easements that limit development of forest lands. In the Senate, the bipartisan Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act (S. 822), introduced by Sens. Patty Murray, Larry Craig, Thomas Daschle, Patrick Leahy, and Gordon Smith, aims to preserve open space while maintaining existing land uses and jobs. It would allow communities to issue bonds for nonprofit organizations to buy easements on forests and farmland. The bond would be tax-exempt if the revenues from it were used in a manner consistent with the charitable purpose. The Reforestation Tax Act of 2001 (S. 1002) aims to promote private forest investment by reducing the amount of income from timber sales subject to capital gains tax by 3 percent each year the timber is held, up to a 50 percent maximum exclusion. Introduced by Sen. Olympia Snow and 12 cosponsors, the bill also would lift the current $10,000 limit on reforestation expenses that are eligible for a 10 percent tax credit, making all reforestation expenses eligible for the tax credit. Identical legislation has been introduced in the House (H.R. 1581) by Rep. Jennifer Dunn and 97 cosponsors. The Conservation Tax Incentives Act (S. 1329) would allow a 50-percent exclusion of any gain from the sale of land or an interest in land or water to an eligible entity if (1) such land or interest in land or water was owned by the taxpayer or a member of the taxpayer's family at all times during the 3-year period ending on the date of the sale, and (2) such land or interest in land or water was being acquired by an eligible entity for specified conservation purposes. The bipartisan bill was introduced by Sens. Jim Jeffords, Jeff Bingaman, Orrin Hatch, Charles Grassley, Tom Daschle, Richard Durbin, Lincoln Chafee, and Kit Bond, and its companion (H.R. 2290) was introduced by Reps. Rob Portman, Robert Matsui, Spencer Bachus, John Tanner, Mark Udall, John McHugh, and John Sununu. Rep. Jennifer Dunn and 20 cosponsors introduced a similar bill, the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act (H.R. 1711). Rep. Nancy Johnson has proposed a H.R. 1309, with nine cosponsors, to provide capital gains tax relief for conserving land. The bill would exclude contributions of any qualified conservation contribution or capital gain real property made for conservation purposes from the application of the special limitation on contributions of capital gain property and from the application of the five-year carryover limitation. It also repeals specified property location restrictions on the estate tax exclusion for property subject to a qualified conservation easement. Community-Based Forest Management The Community-Based Forest and Public Lands Restoration Act (S. 2672), introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman and cosponsored by Sen. Larry Craig, would assist forest-dependent communities and encourage the preservation and rehabilitation of national forest lands. The bill would establish a joint community-based program that would help rural areas carry out forest restoration projects. The legislation also would serve as a means for the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to act cooperatively with local conservation groups and small businesses to perform restoration services, and use the byproducts from these services to carry out value-added manufacturing.
As concern grows about the effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, Congress has begun examining ways to reduce them through the carbon-absorbing capacity of trees. This strategy to combat climate change requires better science to measure a forest's ability to sequester carbon and methods to monitor their effects. The Carbon Conservation Incentive Act (S. 785), introduced by Sens. Sam Brownback, Tim Johnson, and Frank Murkowski, would establish a carbon sequestration program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Under the bill, an advisory panel would develop criteria for evaluating carbon sequestration practices and estimates of sequestration rates. The Agricultural Extension Service would conduct education and outreach programs on practices to increase carbon sequestration while preserving economic and social well-being. Sens. Ron Wyden
and Sam Brownback also introduced the Carbon Sequestration and Reporting
Act (S.
1255), to create a Carbon Advisory Council to advise on reporting
guidelines for greenhouse gas sequestration from soil carbon and
forest management actions, and their potential effects and effectiveness.
The bill would amend the Global Climate Change Prevention Act of
1990 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative
agreements for forest carbon activities on private, state, or Indian
lands. The department of agriculture also would assist states in
establishing revolving loan programs for forest carbon activities
on nonindustrial private forest land. Authorizes Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, and Montana to apply for funding from the Bonneville Power
Administration for loans for related purposes or for specified fish
and wildlife purposes. Forests | Home | Top of Page
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