16 U.S.C. § 2101 — Findings, purpose, and policy

(a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) most productive forest land in the United States is privately owned or owned by State or local governments, so the United States’ ability to produce renewable forest resources depends greatly on non-Federal forest lands; (2) the United States needs adequate supplies of timber and other forest resources, and those supplies depend on efficient ways to establish, manage, and harvest trees and to process, market, and use wood and wood products; (3) nearly half of the United States’ wood supply comes from nonindustrial private timberlands, and that share could increase if assistance programs expand; (4) managed forest lands provide fish and wildlife habitat, beauty, outdoor recreation, and other forest resources; (5) good stewardship of privately held forest resources can maintain and improve the Nation’s soil, water, and air quality; (6) tree insects and diseases occur on all land, Federal and non-Federal, and can sometimes create emergencies, and preventing and controlling them often requires coordinated action by Federal and non-Federal land managers; (7) rural fires threaten human lives, property, forests, and other resources, and cooperation between the Federal Government and States in protecting forests from fire has proved effective and valuable; (8) trees and forests have great environmental and economic value to urban areas; (9) managed forests help improve the quality, quantity, and timing of water yields, which broadly benefit society; (10) more than half of the Nation’s forest lands need some kind of conservation treatment; (11) forest landowners face increasing pressure to convert forest land to development and other uses; (12) population growth and user demands are placing pressure on private and public landholders to provide many products and services, including fish and wildlife habitat, beauty, and recreational opportunities; (13) stewardship of privately held forest resources requires a long-term commitment that local, State, and Federal government actions can encourage; (14) through the coordinated work of its forestry agencies, and in cooperation with other Federal agencies, State foresters, and State political subdivisions, the Department of Agriculture has the expertise and experience to help private landowners achieve their forestry goals and provide public benefits; (15) products and services from stewardship of nonindustrial private forest land provide income and jobs that help the economic health and diversity of rural communities; (16) sustainable agroforestry systems and planting trees in semiarid lands can improve environmental quality and maintain farm yields and income; and (18) the forest-resource supply, protection, and management issues found in the United States also occur internationally. The world’s renewable forest and rangeland resources are threatened by deforestation caused by converting to agriculture land better suited to other uses, overgrazing, overharvesting, and other causes. These threats directly harm people, the global environment, and the world economy. (b) Purpose It is the purpose of this chapter to authorize and enable the Secretary of Agriculture, called the “Secretary” in this chapter, to assist, with respect to non-Federal forest lands in the United States and forest lands in foreign countries of the United States, in— (1) establishing a coordinated and cooperative Federal, State, and local forest stewardship program to manage non-Federal forest lands; (2) encouraging timber production; (3) preventing and controlling insects and diseases affecting trees and forests; (4) preventing and controlling rural fires; (5) using wood and wood residues efficiently, including recycling wood fiber; (6) improving and maintaining fish and wildlife habitat; (7) planning and carrying out urban forestry programs; (8) expanding existing forest management, fire protection, and insect and disease protection programs on non-Federal forest lands so they meet landowners’ multiple-use objectives in an environmentally sensitive way; (9) giving private landowners opportunities to protect ecologically valuable and threatened non-Federal forest lands; and (10) strengthening educational, technical, and financial assistance programs that assist owners of non-Federal forest lands in the United States and forest lands in foreign countries. (c) Priorities When allocating money appropriated or otherwise made available under this chapter, the Secretary must focus on these national private forest conservation priorities, despite other priorities stated elsewhere in this chapter: (1) conserving and managing working forest landscapes for multiple values and uses; (2) protecting forests from threats, including catastrophic wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, windstorms, snow or ice storms, floods, drought, invasive species, insect or disease outbreaks, and development, and restoring appropriate forest types in response to those threats; and (3) increasing public benefits from private forests, including air and water quality, soil conservation, biological diversity, carbon storage, forest products, forestry-related jobs, renewable-energy production, wildlife, wildlife corridors and habitat, and recreation. (d) Reporting requirement By September 30, 2011, the Secretary must submit a report to Congress describing how funds were used under this chapter and through other programs the Secretary administers to address the national priorities in subsection (c), and describing the results achieved in meeting those priorities. (e) Policy Congress’s policy is that it is in the national interest for the Secretary to work through and cooperate with State foresters or equivalent State officials, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector when carrying out Federal programs affecting non-Federal forest lands. (f) Construction This chapter must be interpreted to complement the policies and direction in the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.).