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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 2101. Findings, purpose, and policy
(a) Findings
Congress finds that -
(1) most of the productive forest land of the United States is
in private, State, and local governmental ownership, and the
capacity of the United States to produce renewable forest
resources is significantly dependent on such non-Federal forest
lands;
(2) adequate supplies of timber and other forest resources are
essential to the United States, and adequate supplies are
dependent on efficient methods for establishing, managing, and
harvesting trees and processing, marketing, and using wood and
wood products;
(3) nearly one-half of the wood supply of the United States
comes from nonindustrial private timberlands and such percentage
could rise with expanded assistance programs;
(4) managed forest lands provide habitats for fish and
wildlife, as well as aesthetics, outdoor recreation
opportunities, and other forest resources;
(5) the soil, water, and air quality of the United States can
be maintained and improved through good stewardship of privately
held forest resources;
(6) insects and diseases affecting trees occur and sometimes
create emergency conditions on all land, whether Federal or
non-Federal, and efforts to prevent and control such insects and
diseases often require coordinated action by both Federal and
non-Federal land managers;
(7) fires in rural areas threaten human lives, property,
forests and other resources, and Federal-State cooperation in
forest fire protection has proven effective and valuable;
(8) trees and forests are of great environmental and economic
value to urban areas;
(9) managed forests contribute to improving the quality,
quantity, and timing of water yields that are of broad benefit to
society;
(10) over half the forest lands of the United States are in
need of some type of conservation treatment;
(11) forest landowners are being faced with increased pressure
to convert their forest land to development and other purposes;
(12) increased population pressures and user demands are being
placed on private, as well as public, landholders to provide a
wide variety of products and services, including fish and
wildlife habitat, aesthetic quality, and recreational
opportunities;
(13) stewardship of privately held forest resources requires a
long-term commitment that can be fostered through local, State,
and Federal governmental actions;
(14) the Department of Agriculture, through the coordinated
efforts of its agencies with forestry responsibilities,
cooperating with other Federal agencies, State foresters, and
State political subdivisions, has the expertise and experience to
assist private landowners in achieving individual goals and
public benefits regarding forestry;
(15) the products and services resulting from nonindustrial
private forest land stewardship provide income and employment
that contribute to the economic health and diversity of rural
communities; (!1)
(16) sustainable agroforestry systems and tree planting in
semiarid lands can improve environmental quality and maintain
farm yields and income; and (!1)
(18) (!2) the same forest resource supply, protection, and
management issues that exist in the United States are also
present on an international scale, and the forest and rangeland
renewable resources of the world are threatened by deforestation
due to conversion to agriculture of lands better suited to other
purposes, over-grazing, over-harvesting, and other causes which
pose a direct adverse threat to people, the global environment,
and the world economy.(!1)
(b) Purpose
It is the purpose of this chapter to authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture (hereafter in this chapter referred to as the
"Secretary"), with respect to non-Federal forest lands in the
United States, and forest lands in foreign countries, of the United
States, to assist in -
(1) the establishment of a coordinated and cooperative Federal,
State, and local forest stewardship program for management of the
non-Federal forest lands;
(2) the encouragement of the production of timber;
(3) the prevention and control of insects and diseases
affecting trees and forests;
(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
non-Federal forest lands in the United States, and forest lands
in foreign countries,.(!3)
(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 chapter 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.).
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