Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act - Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize states to allow certain entities to acquire, hold, and manage conservation easements under the forest legacy program.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4551 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4551
To amend the Forest Legacy Program of the Cooperative Forestry
Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize States to allow certain entities to
acquire, hold, and manage conservation easements under the program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2014
Mr. Gibson (for himself and Mr. Garamendi) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Forest Legacy Program of the Cooperative Forestry
Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize States to allow certain entities to
acquire, hold, and manage conservation easements under the program.
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 ``Forest Legacy Management Flexibility
Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS TO
ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MANAGE CONSERVATION EASEMENTS UNDER
THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.
Section 7(l) of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16
U.S.C. 2103c) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(4) State authorization.--
``(A) In general.--At the request of a State acting
through the State Lead Agency, the Secretary shall
authorize the State to allow qualified organizations,
as defined in section 170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, and organized for one or more of the
purposes described in section 170(h)(4)(A) of that
Code, to acquire, hold, and manage conservation
easements, using funds granted to the State under this
subsection, for purposes of the Forest Legacy Program
in the State.
``(B) Eligibility.--To be eligible to acquire and
manage conservation easements under this paragraph, a
qualified organization described in subparagraph (A)
must demonstrate to the Secretary the abilities
necessary to acquire, monitor, and enforce interests in
forestland consistent with the Forest Legacy Program
and the assessment of need for the State.
``(C) Reversion.--If the Secretary, or a State
acting through the State Lead Agency, makes any of the
determinations described in subparagraph (D) with
respect to a conservation easement acquired by a
qualified organization under the authority of
subparagraph (A)--
``(i) all right, title, and interest of the
qualified organization in and to the
conservation easement shall terminate; and
``(ii) all right, title, and interest in
and to the conservation easement shall revert
to the State or other qualified designee as
approved by the State.
``(D) Determinations.--The determinations required
for operation of the reversionary interest retained in
subparagraph (C) are that--
``(i) the qualified organization is unable
to carry out its responsibilities under the
Forest Legacy Program in the State with respect
to the conservation easement;
``(ii) the conservation easement has been
modified in a way that is inconsistent with the
purposes of the Forest Legacy Program or the
assessment of need for the State; or
``(iii) the conservation easement has been
conveyed to another person (other than a
qualified organization approved by the State
and the Secretary).''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line