Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program Reauthorization Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- S. 1662
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-05-07: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
- Last Updated
- 2025-12-05T21:37:30Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 aims to extend and improve the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, originally established under the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. This program promotes collaborative efforts to restore forest landscapes, reduce wildfire risks, and enhance ecological health on federal lands, involving partnerships with local stakeholders.
Key Provisions
- Program Selection Criteria: Updates requirements for selecting restoration projects to include addressing threats from species, pathogens (disease-causing organisms), and standardized monitoring of environmental indicators.
- Support for Collaboratives: Requires federal plans to provide staffing and resources to support local collaborative groups formed under the program.
- Project Proposal Evaluation: Expands criteria for assessing proposals to prioritize:
- Innovative tools like conservation finance agreements (funding arrangements for environmental protection) and good neighbor agreements (partnerships between federal agencies and non-federal landowners for forest management).
- Efforts to reduce uncharacteristic wildfires (fires that burn more intensely than historical norms) and boost restoration across federal, state, tribal, and private lands, including the wildland-urban interface (areas where human development meets wildlands).
- Initiatives to improve watershed health (the condition of land that captures and filters water) and protect drinking water sources.
- Project Limits: Increases the maximum number of selected projects nationwide from 10 to 20 and per geographic region from 2 to 4.
- Funding and Uses: Allows program funds to support conflict resolution or collaborative governance (processes for group decision-making) in addition to biomass (woody material) utilization and other activities.
- Authorization and Budget: Extends the program's authorization through 2034 (previously 2023) and raises the annual funding cap from $4 million to $8 million.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
This bill amends Section 4003 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 by:
- Broadening threat considerations to explicitly include pathogens and monitoring standards.
- Mandating federal staffing support for collaboratives, which was not previously required.
- Adding new evaluation priorities for proposals, emphasizing cross-ownership collaboration, wildfire risk in urban-wildland areas, and water protection—expanding beyond original focuses on ecological restoration and wildfire reduction.
- Doubling project capacity and funding limits to allow for more extensive implementation.
- Inserting collaborative governance into allowable fund uses and extending the program's lifespan by over a decade.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: The U.S. Forest Service (under the Department of Agriculture) will face increased responsibilities for staffing, project oversight, and funding allocation, potentially straining resources but enabling broader forest management.
- Citizens: Communities in wildfire-prone or watershed-dependent areas may benefit from reduced fire risks, improved water quality, and enhanced local involvement in land decisions, leading to safer environments and economic opportunities from sustainable forestry.
- International Relations: Minimal direct impact, as the program focuses on domestic U.S. lands; however, it could indirectly support U.S. commitments to global climate and biodiversity goals through better forest health.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Federal Agencies: Primarily the U.S. Forest Service, which administers the program.
- Local and Collaborative Groups: Community-based collaboratives, including nonprofits, local governments, and residents involved in forest restoration.
- Landowners and Governments: State, tribal, and private landowners, who gain opportunities for cross-boundary projects and innovative funding.
- Bipartisan Supporters: Introduced by Senators from Western states (e.g., Merkley, Crapo, Wyden), representing regions with significant federal forests.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Strengthens collaborative federalism by encouraging partnerships across land ownerships, aligning with existing laws like the Healthy Forests Restoration Act and Agricultural Act of 2014, without altering core authorities.
- Constitutional: No apparent challenges; it supports Congress's authority over public lands under the Property Clause of the Constitution (Article IV, Section 3), promoting stewardship without infringing on states' rights.
- Political: Bipartisan sponsorship highlights cross-party consensus on wildfire and environmental issues in the West, potentially easing passage but raising debates on federal spending and local control in resource management.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (5)
Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID], Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR], Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID], Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO], Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Recent Actions
- 2025-05-07: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
- 2025-05-07: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 — issued 2025-05-07 — PDF (4 pages)