Save Our Sequoias Act

IB Union Calendar No. 757 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2989 [Report No. 118–927, Part I] To improve the health and resiliency of giant sequoias, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Mr. MCCARTHY (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. COSTA, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. KILEY, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr. BERA, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. ISSA, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. CORREA, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. TIFFANY, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Ms. ROSS, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. FULCHER, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. LAMBORN, Mrs. PELTOLA, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. MOORE of Utah) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned DECEMBER 18, 2024 Additional sponsors: Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. JACKSON of North Caro- lina, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. LAWLER, Ms. CARAVEO, and Mr. FONG DECEMBER 18, 2024 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2989 RH [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] DECEMBER 18, 2024 Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 28, 2023] A BILL To improve the health and resiliency of giant sequoias, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2989 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Save Our Sequoias Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Shared stewardship agreement for giant sequoias. Sec. 4. Giant sequoia lands coalition. Sec. 5. Giant sequoia health and resiliency assessment. Sec. 6. Giant sequoia emergency response. Sec. 7. Giant sequoia reforestation and rehabilitation strategy. Sec. 8. Giant sequoia strike teams. Sec. 9. Giant sequoia collaborative restoration grants. Sec. 10. Good neighbor authority for giant sequoias. Sec. 11. Stewardship contracting for giant sequoias. Sec. 12. Giant Sequoia Emergency Protection Program and Fund. Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘Assessment’’ 9 means the Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency As- 10 sessment required by section 5. 11 (2) COALITION.—The term ‘‘Coalition’’ means 12 the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition codified under 13 section 4(a). 14 (3) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term ‘‘col- 15 laborative process’’ means a process relating to the 16 management of covered National Forest system lands 17 or covered public lands by which a project or forest 18 management activity is developed and implemented 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2989 RH by the Secretary concerned through collaboration with 1 multiple interested persons representing diverse inter- 2 ests. 3 (4) COVERED NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM 4 LANDS.—The term ‘‘covered National Forest System 5 lands’’ means the proclaimed National Forest System 6 lands reserved or withdrawn from the public domain 7 of the United States covering the Sequoia National 8 Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument, Si- 9 erra National Forest, and Tahoe National Forest. 10 (5) COVERED PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘cov- 11 ered public lands’’ means— 12 (A) the Case Mountain Extensive Recre- 13 ation Management Area in California managed 14 by the Bureau of Land Management; and 15 (B) Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia 16 National Park, and Yosemite National Park in 17 California managed by the National Park Serv- 18 ice. 19 (6) GIANT SEQUOIA.—The term ‘‘giant sequoia’’ 20 means a tree of the species Sequoiadendron 21 giganteum. 22 (7) GROVE-SPECIFIC HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUC- 23 TION PLAN.—The term ‘‘grove-specific hazardous fuels 24 reduction plan’’ means a plan developed by the appli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2989 RH cable land management agency prior to conducting 1 an analysis under the National Environmental Policy 2 Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to address hazardous 3 fuels in 1 or more giant sequoia groves. 4 (8) PROTECTION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Protec- 5 tion Project’’ means a Giant Sequoia Protection 6 Project carried out under section 6. 7 (9) REFORESTATION.—The term ‘‘reforestation’’ 8 means the act of renewing tree cover, taking into con- 9 sideration species composition and resilience, by es- 10 tablishing young trees through natural regeneration, 11 artificial or natural regeneration with site prepara- 12 tion, planting or direct seeding, or vegetation com- 13 petition control following artificial or natural regen- 14 eration. 15 (10) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘‘rehabilita- 16 tion’’ means any action taken during the 5-year pe- 17 riod beginning on the last day of a wildland fire to 18 repair or improve fire-impacted lands which are un- 19 likely to recover to management-approved conditions. 20 (11) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 21 The term ‘‘relevant Congressional Committees’’ 22 means— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2989 RH (A) the Committees on Natural Resources, 1 Agriculture, and Appropriations of the House of 2 Representatives; and 3 (B) the Committees on Energy and Natural 4 Resources, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, 5 and Appropriations of the Senate. 6 (12) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘re- 7 sponsible official’’ means an employee of the Depart- 8 ment of the Interior or Forest Service who has the au- 9 thority to make and implement a decision on a pro- 10 posed action. 11 (13) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of the Interior. 13 (14) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 14 retary concerned’’ means— 15 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 16 spect to covered National Forest System lands, or 17 their designee; and 18 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 19 spect to covered public lands, or their designee. 20 (15) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 21 the Giant Sequoia Reforestation and Rehabilitation 22 Strategy established under section 7. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2989 RH (16) STRIKE TEAM.—The term ‘‘Strike Team’’ 1 means a Giant Sequoia Strike Team established 2 under section 8. 3 (17) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Tule 4 River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 5 California. 6 SEC. 3. SHARED STEWARDSHIP AGREEMENT FOR GIANT SE- 7 QUOIAS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after receiv- 9 ing a request from the Governor of the State of California 10 or the Tribe, the Secretary shall enter into or expand an 11 existing shared stewardship agreement or enter into a simi- 12 lar agreement with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Gov- 13 ernor of the State of California, and the Tribe to jointly 14 carry out the short-term and long-term management and 15 conservation of giant sequoias. 16 (b) PARTICIPATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary has not re- 18 ceived a request from the Governor of the State of 19 California or the Tribe under subsection (a) before the 20 date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of 21 this Act, the Secretary shall enter into the agreement 22 under subsection (a) and jointly implement such 23 agreement with the Secretary of Agriculture. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2989 RH (2) FUTURE PARTICIPATION.—If the Secretary 1 receives a request from the Governor of the State of 2 California or the Tribe any time after entering into 3 the agreement with the Secretary of Agriculture under 4 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall accept the Gov- 5 ernor of the State of California or the Tribe as a 6 party to such agreement. 7 SEC. 4. GIANT SEQUOIA LANDS COALITION. 8 (a) CODIFICATION.—The Coalition is the entity estab- 9 lished under the charter titled ‘‘Giant Sequoia Lands Coali- 10 tion Charter’’ (or successor charter) signed during the pe- 11 riod beginning June 2, 2022 and ending August 2, 2022 12 by each of the following: 13 (1) The National Park Service, representing Se- 14 quoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. 15 (2) The National Park Service, representing Yo- 16 semite National Park. 17 (3) The Forest Service, representing Sequoia Na- 18 tional Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument. 19 (4) The Forest Service, representing Sierra Na- 20 tional Forest. 21 (5) The Forest Service, representing Tahoe Na- 22 tional Forest. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2989 RH (6) The Bureau of Land Management, rep- 1 resenting Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Man- 2 agement Area. 3 (7) The Tribe, representing the Tule River In- 4 dian Reservation. 5 (8) The State of California, representing 6 Calaveras Big Trees State Park. 7 (9) The State of California, representing Moun- 8 tain Home Demonstration State Forest. 9 (10) The University of California, Berkeley, rep- 10 resenting Whitaker’s Research Forest. 11 (11) The County of Tulare, California, rep- 12 resenting Balch Park. 13 (b) DUTIES.—In addition to the duties specified in the 14 charter referenced in subsection (a), the Coalition shall— 15 (1) produce the Assessment under section 5; 16 (2) observe implementation, and provide policy 17 recommendations to the Secretary concerned, with re- 18 spect to— 19 (A) Protection Projects carried out under 20 section 6; and 21 (B) the Strategy established under section 7; 22 (3) facilitate collaboration and coordination on 23 Protection Projects, particularly projects that cross 24 jurisdictional boundaries; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2989 RH (4) facilitate information sharing, including best 1 available science as described in section 5(c) and 2 mapping resources; and 3 (5) support the development and dissemination 4 of educational materials and programs that inform 5 the public about the threats to the health and resil- 6 iency of giant sequoia groves and actions being taken 7 to reduce the risk to such groves from high-severity 8 wildfire, insects, and drought. 9 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, TECHNICAL SERVICES, 10 AND STAFF SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall make personnel 11 of the Department of the Interior available to the Coalition 12 for administrative support, technical services, development 13 and dissemination of educational materials, and staff sup- 14 port that the Secretary determines necessary to carry out 15 this section. 16 SEC. 5. GIANT SEQUOIA HEALTH AND RESILIENCY ASSESS- 17 MENT. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Coalition shall submit 20 to the relevant Congressional Committees a Giant Sequoia 21 Health and Resiliency Assessment that, based on the best 22 available science— 23 (1) identifies— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2989 RH (A) each giant sequoia grove that has expe- 1 rienced a— 2 (i) stand-replacing disturbance; or 3 (ii) disturbance but continues to have 4 living giant sequoias within the grove, in- 5 cluding identifying the tree mortality and 6 regeneration of giant sequoias within such 7 grove; 8 (B) each giant sequoia grove that is at high 9 risk of experiencing a stand-replacing disturb- 10 ance; 11 (C) lands located near giant sequoia groves 12 that are at risk of experiencing high-severity 13 wildfires that could adversely impact such giant 14 sequoia groves; and 15 (D) each giant sequoia grove that has expe- 16 rienced a disturbance and is unlikely to natu- 17 rally regenerate and is in need of reforestation; 18 (2) analyzes the resiliency of each giant sequoia 19 grove to threats, such as— 20 (A) high-severity wildfire; 21 (B) insects, including beetle kill; and 22 (C) drought; 23 (3) with respect to Protection Projects, proposes 24 a list of highest priority Protection Projects to be car- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Dec 21, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2989.RH H2989 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2989 RH ried out under section 6, giving priority to projects 1 located on lands identified under subparagraphs (B) 2 and (C) of subsection (a)(1); 3 (4) examines how historical, Tribal, or current 4 approaches to wildland fire suppression and forest 5 management activities across various jurisdictions 6 have impacted the health and resiliency of giant se- 7 quoia groves with respect to— 8 (A) high-severity wildfires; 9 (B) insects, including beetle kill; and 10 (C) drought; and 11 (5) includes program and policy recommenda- 12 tions that address— 13 (A) Federal and State policies that impede 14 activities to improve the health and resiliency of 15 giant sequoias and proposed policy changes to 16 address such impediments; 17 (B) new Federal and State policies nec- 18 essary to increase the pace and scale of treat- 19 ments that improve the health and resiliency of 20 giant sequo [Text truncated for display. 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