Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments Act of 2024

Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments Act of 2024

This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 the Tribal Forest Protection Act (TFPA) and expands the lands and activities eligible for inclusion in the TFPA.

Currently under the TFPA, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may enter into contracts and agreements with Indian tribes for tribes to carry out land management projects on federal lands. These projects are designed to protect Indian forest lands and rangelands from wildfire, disease, and other threats coming from federal lands. However, the TFPA is currently limited to projects on federal lands that border or are adjacent to Indian forest lands and rangelands under the jurisdiction of the tribe.

This bill removes certain limitations of the TFPA, first by expanding the definition of Indian forest land or rangeland to include land in Alaska that is held by Alaska Native corporations, thereby allowing these corporations to participate in TFPA projects.

Additionally, the bill removes the requirement that TFPA projects must occur on federal lands that border or are adjacent to Indian forest lands or rangelands. The bill instead requires the federal land involved to have a special geographic, historical, or cultural significance to the tribe.

The bill allows TFPA projects to be carried out directly on Indian forest lands and rangelands. (Currently, the TFPA only applies to work conducted on federal lands and not on tribal lands.)

The bill also updates a requirement for Interior and USDA to report to Congress on TFPA activities.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4370 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4370

To amend the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 to improve that Act, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2024

 Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 to improve that Act, 
                        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 ``Tribal Forest Protection Act 
Amendments Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. TRIBAL FOREST PROTECTION ACT OF 2004 AMENDMENTS.

    Section 2 of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 
3115a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)(A)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end and inserting 
                ``or'';
                    (B) by striking ``(A) is held'' and inserting ``(A) 
                (i) is held''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(ii) is in the State of Alaska and held by an 
                Alaska Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native 
                Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``or 
                Restore'' after ``Protect'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``to protect 
                Indian forest land or rangeland'' and all that follows 
                through ``Indian forest land or rangeland)'' and 
                inserting ``to protect or restore Indian forest land or 
                rangeland, or to carry out a project to protect or 
                restore Federal land''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``that is--'' and 
                all that follows through the period at the end of 
                subparagraph (B) and inserting ``or Indian forest land 
                or rangeland.'';
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``for 
                Federal Land'' after ``Criteria'';
                    (B) by striking ``an Indian tribe,'' in the matter 
                preceding paragraph (1) and all that follows through 
                ``Indian tribe--'' in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                (A) of paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 
                ``Federal land, are whether--
            ``(1) the Federal land has a special geographic, 
        historical, or cultural significance to the Indian tribe and--
        '';
                    (C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause 
                        (i) and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) Indian forest land or rangeland; 
                        or''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``or 
                        watershed'' after ``land'';
                    (D) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 
                paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;
                    (E) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), by 
                striking ``subject'' and inserting ``Federal''; and
                    (F) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by 
                striking ``Forest Service or Bureau of Land 
                Management'' and inserting ``Federal'';
            (4) in subsection (g), by striking ``date of enactment of 
        this Act'' and inserting ``date of enactment of the Tribal 
        Forest Protection Act Amendments Act of 2024''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2025 through 2030.''.
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