Public Forests Emergency Act of 1999

Public Forests Emergency Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to request authority to remove dead, downed, or severely root-sprung trees in a similar manner to arrangements approved for national forests and grasslands in Texas in 1998 for specified public and forest lands in: (1) Alaska; (2) Idaho; (3) Oregon; (4) South Dakota; (5) California; (6) Pennsylvania; (7) Mississippi; (8) Virginia; (9) Arkansas; (10) Louisiana; (11) North Carolina; (12) Kentucky; (13) Alabama (14) Tennessee; and (15) Florida.

[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1524 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1524

    To authorize the continued use on public lands of the expedited 
processes successfully used for windstorm-damaged national forests and 
                          grasslands in Texas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 1999

Mrs. Chenoweth (for herself, Mr. Herger, and Mr. Doolittle) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the continued use on public lands of the expedited 
processes successfully used for windstorm-damaged national forests and 
                          grasslands in Texas.

    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 ``Public Forests Emergency Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Natural catastrophic events in February 1998 created 
        potentially dangerous fire and insect infestation conditions in 
        areas of national forests and national grasslands in Texas, and 
        the removal of ``dead, down, and severely root-sprung trees 
        where mortality is expected'' in these areas was expedited by 
        the approval of alternative arrangements for that removal.
            (2) The Administration should be commended for approving 
        those alternative arrangements, which helped prevent the 
        wildfires and insect and disease infestations often associated 
        with dead and dying trees on land, administered by the 
        Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture.
            (3) Numerous catastrophic forest conditions similar to, 
        equal to, or worse than the conditions in Texas described in 
        paragraph (1) exist on public lands, including National Forest 
        System lands, throughout the United States, and treatment 
        equivalent to that expedited under the alternative arrangements 
        is warranted and needed on these public lands.

SEC. 3. REQUEST FOR EXPEDITED TREATMENT OF DEAD, DOWNED, AND SEVERELY 
              ROOT-SPRUNG TREES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of 
Agriculture, as the case may be, shall request from the appropriate 
officials in the executive branch the authority to remove dead, downed, 
or severely root-sprung trees in the areas described in subsection (b) 
in a manner similar to the alternative arrangements approved for 
national forests and national grasslands in Texas in March 1998.
    (b) Areas Described.--The areas referred to in subsection (a) are 
the following:
            (1) Approximately 3,900 acres of spruce beetle infested 
        lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management within the 
        Kenai Quadrangle in the State of Alaska.
            (2) Approximately 30,000 acres of spruce beetle infested 
        lands in the Chugach National Forest in the State of Alaska.
            (3) Approximately 100,000 acres of ice storm damaged and 
        Douglas Fir bark beetle infested lands in the Colville National 
        Forest in the State of Washington and the Idaho-Panhandle 
        National Forests in the State of Idaho.
            (4) Approximately 50,000 acres of fire damaged and spruce 
        budworm infested lands in the Malheur National Forest in the 
        State of Oregon.
            (5) Approximately 20,000 acres of mountain pine beetle 
        infested lands in the Black Hills National Forest in the State 
        of South Dakota.
            (6) Approximately 20,000 acres of National Forest System 
        lands in the Tahoe Basin of California with insect infestation 
        and fuel-loading conditions.
            (7) Approximately 10,000 acres of gypsy moth infested lands 
        in the Allegheny National Forest in the State of Pennsylvania.
            (8) National Forest System lands in Region 8 of the Forest 
        Service, including the following:
                    (A) Approximately 3,000 acres of wind damaged lands 
                in the Desoto, Homochito, and Tombigbee National 
                Forests in the State of Mississippi.
                    (B) Approximately 500 acres of ice storm damaged 
                and gypsy moth infested lands in the George Washington 
                and Jefferson National Forests in the State of 
                Virginia.
                    (C) Approximately 3,000 acres of tornado damaged 
                lands in the Ouachita National Forest in the State of 
                Arkansas and the Kisatchie National Forest in the State 
                of Louisiana.
                    (D) Approximately 500 acres of southern pine beetle 
                infested lands in the Croatan National Forest in the 
                State of North Carolina.
                    (E) Approximately 3,500 acres of ice storm and wind 
                damaged lands in the Daniel Boone National Forest in 
                the State of Kentucky.
                    (F) Approximately 1,500 acres of ice storm damaged 
                lands in the Bankhead National Forest in the State of 
                Alabama and the Cherokee National Forest in the State 
                of Tennessee.
                    (G) Approximately 1,000 acres of southern pine 
                beetle infested National Forest System lands in 
                Florida.
    (c) Consideration of Requests.--Upon receipt of a request under 
subsection (a), the official in the executive branch responsible for 
considering the request shall promptly consider and either approve or 
disapprove the request. Not later than 90 days after receiving each 
request, the responsible official shall submit to the Committee on 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and National Resources in the Senate a report describing the specific 
reasons for approving or disapproving the request.
                                 <all>