February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025
Mr. Rounds introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National Forest System to submit to the Chief of the Forest Service a harvesting improvement report, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Timber Harvesting Restoration Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Harvesting improvement on National Forest System land
(a) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Allowable sale quantity
The term allowable sale quantity means the maximum volume of timber potentially available in a unit of the National Forest System as part of regularly scheduled timber sales from land suitable for timber production over a 10-year period.
(2) Covered NFS unit
The term covered NFS unit means a unit of the National Forest System with respect to which, as determined by the Secretary, the actual volume of timber sold from the unit during the fiscal year preceding the date of enactment of this Act is not more than 2/3 of the allowable sale quantity.
(3) Forest supervisor
The term forest supervisor means a forest supervisor of a unit of the National Forest System.
(4) Harvesting improvement report
The term harvesting improvement report means a harvesting improvement report described in subsection (b)(1).
(5) Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
(b) Harvesting improvement reports
(1) In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor of a covered NFS unit shall submit to the Secretary a harvesting improvement report that identifies areas of the covered NFS unit that could be used, and any actionable steps that may be taken, to increase the volume of timber sold from the covered NFS unit.
(2) Consultation
In preparing a harvesting improvement report, a forest supervisor shall consult with—
(A)
relevant members of private industry;
(B)
relevant advisory committees;
(C)
State, local, and Tribal governments; and
(D)
relevant stakeholder groups.
(3) Notification
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify each forest supervisor of whether that forest supervisor is required to file a harvesting improvement report.
(c) Actionable steps
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor required to submit a harvesting improvement report shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that the forest supervisor has taken actionable steps toward increasing the volume of timber sold from the applicable covered NFS unit.
(d) Measuring performance
(1) Review of progress
1 year after the date on which a forest supervisor submits a harvesting improvement report, the Secretary shall review the progress made toward increasing the volume of timber sold from the applicable covered NFS unit.
(2) Improvement
If the Secretary determines, after a review under paragraph (1), that the actual volume of timber sold from the unit is more than 3/4 of the allowable sale quantity for the unit, the forest supervisor of that unit shall not be required to submit any additional harvesting improvement reports under this section.
(3) Lack of improvement
If the Secretary determines, after a review under paragraph (1), that the actual volume of timber sold from the unit is not more than 3/4 of the allowable sale quantity for the unit, the forest supervisor of that unit shall, not later than 180 days after the review under paragraph (1), submit to the Secretary another harvesting improvement report.
(e) Supporting harvesting improvements
With respect to a unit described in subsection (d)(3), the Secretary shall allocate any available resources to that unit for the purpose of increasing the volume of timber sold, which resources may include—
(1)
providing additional personnel;
(2)
expanding the use of good neighbor agreements under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a); and
(3)
using any feasible actions and authorities to expedite environmental review processes.
(f) Waiver
The Secretary may waive a requirement to submit a harvesting improvement report under this section with respect to a unit of the National Forest System if the Secretary determines that there is a plausible reason, such as a natural disaster, for the lack of progress toward increasing the volume of timber sold.