§1601 Renewable Resource Assessment

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture must prepare a Renewable Resource Assessment. The first one was due by December 31, 1975, it must be updated in 1979, and then every ten years after that. The report must look at uses, demand, supply, and price trends (including international matters); list current and possible future renewable resources and ways to get more goods and services from them; describe Forest Service programs and how they link with other public and private work; discuss laws and policies that affect how these lands are used and managed; and analyze how global climate change and urban and rural forestry can affect or help reduce carbon dioxide buildup. Starting in 1979 and in later Assessments the Secretary must also report on three timber-related topics: extra fiber available in National Forests, ways to use wood and urban wood wastes better (with recommendations to Congress), and where mills and wood-product facilities are, how well they use harvested wood, and what technology could reduce waste. The Secretary must allow public input and talk with other agencies when making those reports. The Secretary must also send Congress each year a report on what herbicides and pesticides are used in the National Forest System and whether they help or harm. Congress says National Forest lands must be kept in proper tree cover for multiple uses. The Secretary must report every year with the President’s budget (starting with the budget for fiscal year 1978) how much land, and where, needs reforestation or is not growing at its best. Treated lands must be checked after the first and third growing seasons and certified; lands that fail must go back into the backlog for prompt work. For the 10 years beginning after November 15, 2021, the Secretary must each year tell Congress how much extra money is needed to replant the area cut that year plus enough of the backlog to finish the backlog in 10 years; after that the Secretary must give annual estimates to keep up replanting and prevent a growing backlog. The law authorizes $200,000,000 each year for reforesting and treating National Forest lands starting with the fiscal year that began October 1, 1977; those funds remain available until spent. Key terms in the law are defined simply: natural regeneration (trees regrow on their own), priority land (land needing help after an unplanned event), reforestation (renewing tree cover by seeding or planting), the Secretary (acting through the Forest Service Chief), and unplanned events (like wildfire, insects, storms, or animal damage). Reforestation must follow Forest Service practices. The Secretary must make a regional priority list of reforestation projects and rank them by plan quality, measurability, and benefits such as forest and soil health, wildlife habitat, water and air quality, carbon storage, jobs, and recreation.