HR3818DEC9

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending December 9, 2005

H.R.3818 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into partnership agreements with entities and local communities to encourage greater cooperation in the administration of Forest Service activities on and near National Forest System lands, and for other purposes.

BRIEF

The bill aims to facilitate agreements between the National Forest Service and individuals or businesses to promote public awareness and participation in the restoration and management of Forest Service programs and resources.

The agreements would include cost sharing of the expense of activities or services such as printing services for jointly produced publications. One example might be a NFS brochure about a national Forest that includes reference to a commercial operation that provides pack horse tours would be printed at the expense of the NPS and the private business rather than both printing separate brochures.

As such, developing, producing, publishing, distributing or selling education and interpretive materials and products, programs and services would be a shared expense or effort as would be constructing, maintaining and operating facilities from which to sell or distribute those materials and services whether the facility is on public or private land. Also included would be the sale of health and safety convenience products, photography supplies and similar items. The bill also calls for cooperative agreements for the restoration and maintenance of the ecological integrity and biodiversity of NFS lands.

Payment cost sharing may be in-kind and could include contributions of volunteers from the private sector but actual cash would be deposited in the Forest Service Cooperative Work Trust Fund and would be available to the Secretary of Interior to fund the agreements.

Those eligible to enter into such an agreement are Federal agencies, Tribal, State or local government, private individuals or organizations and non-profit organizations.

Sponsor: Representative Greg Walden (R-OR-2^nd)

Vote:

Cost to the taxpayers: Cost data was not addressed in this, an authorization bill.