(4) the prevention and control of rural fires;

(5) the efficient utilization of wood and wood residues, including the recycling of wood fiber;

(6) the improvement and maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat;

(7) the planning and conduct of urban forestry programs; (8) broadening existing forest management, fire protection, and insect and disease protection programs on non-Federal forest lands to meet the multiple use objectives of landowners in an environmentally sensitive manner;

(9) providing opportunities to private landowners to protect ecologically valuable and threatened non-Federal forest lands; and

(10) strengthening educational, technical, and financial assistance programs that provide assistance to owners of nonFederal forest lands.

(c) POLICY. It is the policy of Congress that it is in the national interest for the Secretary to work through and in cooperation with State foresters, or equivalent State officials, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector in implementing Federal programs affecting non-Federal forest lands.

(d) CONSTRUCTION.-This Act shall be construed to complement the policies and direction under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.). SEC. 3. [16 U.S.C. 2102] RURAL FORESTRY ASSISTANCE.

(a) ASSISTANCE TO FOREST LANDOWNERS AND OTHERS.—The Secretary may provide financial, technical, educational, and related assistance to State foresters or equivalent State officials, and State extension directors, to enable such officials to provide technical information, advice, and related assistance to private forest land owners and managers, vendors, forest resource operators, forest resource professionals, public agencies, and individuals to enable such persons to carry out activities that are consistent with the purposes of this Act, including

(1) protecting, maintaining, enhancing, restoring, and preserving forest lands and the multiple values and uses that depend on such lands;

(2) identifying, protecting, maintaining, enhancing, and preserving wildlife and fish species, including threatened and endangered species, and their habitats;

(3) implementing forest management technologies;

(4) selecting, producing, and marketing alternative forest crops, products and services from forest lands;

(5) protecting forest land from damage caused by fire, insects, disease, and damaging weather;

(6) managing the rural-land and urban-land interface to balance the use of forest resources in and adjacent to urban and community areas;

(7) identifying and managing recreational forest land re

sources;

(8) identifying and protecting the aesthetic character of

(9) protecting forest land from conversion to alternative uses; and

(10) the management of resources of forest lands, including

(A) the harvesting, processing, and marketing of timber and other forest resources and the marketing and utilization of wood and wood products;

(B) the conversion of wood to energy for domestic, industrial, municipal, and other uses;

(C) the planning, management, and treatment of forest land, including site preparation, reforestation, thinning, prescribed burning, and other silvicultural activities designed to increase the quantity and improve the quality of timber and other forest resources;

(D) ensuring that forest regeneration or reforestation occurs if needed to sustain long-term resource productivity; (E) protecting and improving forest soil fertility and the quality, quantity, and timing of water yields; and

(F) encouraging the investment of a portion of the proceeds from the sale of timber or other forest resources in stewardship activities that preserve, protect, maintain, and enhance their forest land.

(b) STATE FORESTRY ASSISTANCE.-The Secretary is authorized to provide financial, technical, and related assistance to State foresters, or equivalent State officials, to

(1) develop genetically improved tree seeds;

(2) develop and contract for the development of field arboretums, greenhouses, and tree nurseries, in cooperation with a State, to facilitate production and distribution of tree seeds and seedlings in States where the Secretary determines that there is an inadequate capacity to carry out present and future reforestation needs;

(3) procure, produce, and distribute tree seeds and trees for the purpose of establishing forests, windbreaks, shelterbelts, woodlots, and other plantings;

(4) plant tree seeds and seedlings on non-Federal forest lands that are suitable for the production of timber, recreation, and for other benefits associated with the growing of trees;

(5) plan, organize, and implement measures on non-Federal forest lands, including thinning, prescribed burning, and other silvicultural activities designed to increase the quantity and improve the quality of trees and other vegetation, fish and wildlife habitat, and water yielded therefrom; and

(6) protect or improve soil fertility on non-Federal forest lands and the quality, quantity, and timing of water yields therefrom.

(c) IMPLEMENTATION.-In implementing this section, the Secretary shall cooperate with other Federal, State, and local natural resource management agencies, universities and the private sector.

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

FORESTRY INCENTIVES

SEC. 4. [16 U.S.C. 2103] (a) The Secretary is authorized to develop and implement a forestry incentives program to encourage the development, management, and protection of nonindustrial private forest lands. The purposes of such program shall be to encourage landowners to apply practices that will provide for afforestation of suitable open lands, reforestation of cutover or other nonstocked or understocked forest lands, timber stand improvement practices, including thinning, prescribed burning, and other silvicultural treatments, and forest resources management and protection, so as to provide for the production of timber and other forest resources associated therewith.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the term "private forest. land" means land capable of producing crops of industrial wood and owned by any private individual, group, Indian tribe or other native group, association, corporation, or other legal entity.

(c) Landowners shall be eligible for cost sharing under this program if they own one thousand acres or less of private forest land, except that the Secretary may approve cost sharing with landowners owning more than one thousand acres of such land if significant public benefits will accure. In no case, however, may the Secretary approve cost sharing with landowners owning more than five thousand acres of private forest land.

(d) The Secretary shall administer this section in accordance with regulations the Secretary shall develop in consultation with the committee described in section 13(c) of this Act. Regulations issued under title X of the Agricultural Act of 1970, as in effect before the amendment made by section 336(d)(1) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, shall remain in effect until revoked or amended by regulations issued under this subsection. The regulations issued under this subsection shall include guidelines for the administration of this section at the Federal and State levels, and shall identify the measures and activities eligible for cost sharing under this section.

(e) Individual forest management plans developed by the landowner in cooperation with and approved by the State forester or equivalent State official shall be the basis for agreements between the landowners and the Secretary under this section. The Secretary shall encourage participating States to use private agencies, consultants, organizations, and firms to the extent feasible for the preparation of individual forest management plans.

(f) In return for the agreement by the landowner, the Secretary shall agree to share the cost of implementing those forestry practices and measures set forth in the agreement for which the Secretary determines that cost sharing is appropriate. The portion of such cost (including labor) to be shared shall be that portion that the Secretary determines is necessary and appropriate to implement the forestry practices and measures under the agreement, but not more than 75 percent of the actual costs incurred by the landowner. The maximum amount any individual may receive annually

by the Secretary in consultation with the committee described in section 13(c) of this Act.

(g) The Secretary shall, for the purposes of this section, distribute funds available for cost sharing among the States only after assessing the public benefit incident thereto, and after giving appropriate consideration to (1) the acreage of private commercial forest land in each State, (2) the potential productivity of such land, (3) the number of ownerships eligible for cost sharing in each State, (4) the need for reforestation, timber stand improvement, or other forestry investments on such ownerships, and (5) the enhancement of other forest resources.

(h) The Secretary may, if the Secretary determines that doing so will contribute to the effective and equitable administration of the program authorized by this section, use an advertising and bid procedure in determining the lands in any area to be covered by agreements under this section.

(i) In implementing this section, the Secretary may use the authorities provided in section 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, and 1008 of the Agricultural Act of 1970, as in effect before the amendment made by section 336(d)(1) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996.

(j) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 1996 through 2002 such sums as may be needed to implement this section, including funds necessary for technical assistance and expenses associated therewith.

SEC. 5. [16 U.S.C. 2103a] FOREST STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary, in consultation with State foresters or equivalent State officials, shall establish a Forest Stewardship Program (hereafter referred to in this section as the "Program") to encourage the long-term stewardship of nonindustrial private forest lands by assisting owners of such lands to more actively manage their forest and related resources by utilizing existing State, Federal, and private sector resource management expertise and assistance programs.

(b) GOAL. The goal of the Program shall be to enter at least 25,000,000 acres of nonindustrial private forest lands in the Program by December 31, 1995.

(c) DEFINITION.-For the purposes of this section, the term "nonindustrial private forest lands" means rural, as determined by the Secretary, lands with existing tree cover, or suitable for growing trees, and owned by any private individual, group, association, corporation, Indian tribe, or other private legal entity.

(d) IMPLEMENTATION.-In carrying out the Program the Secretary, in consultation with State foresters or equivalent State officials, shall provide financial, technical, educational, and related assistance to State foresters or equivalent State officials, including assistance to help such State foresters or equivalent officials to provide financial assistance to other State and local natural resource entities, both public and private, and land-grant universities for the delivery of information and professional assistance to owners of nonindustrial private forest lands. Such information and assistance shall be directed to help such owners understand and evaluate alternative actions they might take, including

(1) managing and enhancing the productivity of timber, fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, wetlands, recreational resources, and the aesthetic value of forest lands;

(2) investing in practices to protect, maintain, and enhance the resources identified in paragraph (1);

(3) ensuring that afforestation, reforestation, improvement of poorly stocked stands, timber stand improvement, practices necessary to improve seedling growth and survival, and growth enhancement practices occur where needed to enhance and sustain the long-term productivity of timber and nontimber forest resources to help meet future public demand for all forest resources and provide the environmental benefits that result; and

(4) protecting their forests from damage caused by fire, insects, disease, and damaging weather.

(e) ELIGIBILITY.-All nonindustrial private forest lands that are not in management under Federal, State, or private sector financial and technical assistance programs existing on the date of enactment of this section are eligible for assistance under the Program. Nonindustrial private forest lands that are managed under such existing programs are eligible for assistance under the Program if forest management activities are expanded and enhanced and the landowner agrees to meet the requirements of this Act.

(f) DUTIES OF OWNERS.-To enter forest land into the Program, landowners shall

(1) prepare and submit to the State forester or equivalent State official a forest stewardship plan that meets the requirements of this section and that

(A) is prepared by a professional resource manager;

(B) identifies and describes actions to be taken by the landowner to protect soil, water, range, aesthetic quality, recreation, timber, water, and fish and wildlife resources on such land in a manner that is compatible with the objectives of the landowner; and

(C) is approved by the State forester, or equivalent State official; and

(2) agree that all activities conducted on such land shall be consistent with the stewardship plan.

(g) STEWARDSHIP RECOGNITION.-The Secretary, in consultation with State foresters or equivalent State officials, is encouraged to develop an appropriate recognition program for landowners who practice stewardship management on their lands, with an appropriate, special recognition symbol and title.

(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are hereby authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1991 through 1995, and such sums as may be necessary thereafter, to carry out this section.

SEC. 6. [16 U.S.C. 2103b] STEWARDSHIP INCENTIVE PROGRAM.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary, in consultation with State foresters or equivalent State officials, shall establish a program within the Forest Service, to be known as the "Stewardship Incentive Program" (hereafter referred to in this section as the "Pro