1993 Version

Principal Laws Relating to Forest Service Activities

A Preface

The Principal Laws Relating to Forest Service Activities is a reference for people interested in Forest Service programs and policies. This is the fourth version of the book.

As the title implies, it contains laws or portions of laws whose provisions have national application in terms of agency compliance or agency authority or discretion to act.

The arrangement of the laws is chronological, but the book contains two Tables of Contents: (1) chronologically and (2) alphabetically. Alphabetical listing is by statutory name if cited in the law or by popular name or subject reference, such as "Organic Administration Act" or "Twenty-five Percent Fund." Some laws are called by more than one name and we have tried to include the statutory name and common name (and versions thereof) in the alphabetical table. An example is the Forest Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 which is also known as the "Resources Planning Act," "RPA", and occasionally, the HumphreyRarick Act.

References to the Public Law number and citations to the United States Statutes at Large and the United States Code are provided in parentheses. For example, the National Forest Management Act will be cited as follows:

• "Act of October 22, 1976 (P.L. 94-588, 90 Stat. 2949, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 472a, 476, 513-516, 518, 521b, 528(note), 576b, 594-29(note), 1600(note), 1602(note), 1600-1602, 1604, 1606, 1608-1674)"

The citation provides the following information:

Act of October 22, 1976 The date the act was signed.

P.L. 94-588 The public law number assigned-it was the 588th statute of the 94th Congress signed into law. (Note: Laws enacted prior to 1957 were designated by a chapter number.)

90 Stat. 2949= Indicates volume 90 of the United States Statutes at Large, page 2949.

i

As amended = Indicates this is not the original act, but contains one or more amendments.

16 U.S.C. 472a et al = Title and section numbers in which the law is codified in the United States Code.

The **** within the body of the act indicates that sections of the Act did not apply to the Forest Service, therefore they were not included in this book.

The United States Statutes at Large and the United States Code are found in virtually all law libraries and most comprehensive libraries.

Readers should not infer anything more about the contents of this volume than what the plain reading of its title indicates. Enactment of a law is only one means of formulating public policy. There are other ways. In the legislative branch, public policy is also formulated in the budgetary process, particularly in appropriation acts. In the executive branch, public policy is routinely formulated in administrative rule making, in preparing the president's annual budget request, and through issuance of internal policy and direction. Finally, much public policy is made in adjudicating lawsuits in the judicial branch. Legal precedents are set which establish a body of case law.

One way to consider the body of law contained in the subsequent pages is to examine the four basic activities of the Forest Service, namely: national forest system, state and private forestry, research, and international forestry. Each is authorized by specific pieces of legislation. Administration of the national forests today is guided primarily through four laws:

the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act which established the multiple-use and sustained-yield polices for management of the national forests;

the National Environmental Policy Act which committed the federal government to a policy of creating and maintaining "conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony;"

- the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act which called for preparation of a strategic plan for all Forest Service activities every five years based on an assessment of renewable natural resources on all land ownerships every ten year; and

the National Forest Management Act which provided standards and

guidelines for national forest planning and management.

These four laws are supported by a rich legal history, including other laws such as:

the Creative Act of 1891 which authorized the president to set aside public lands as forest reserves;

the Organic Administration Act of 1897, which specified the purposes for which forest reserves might be established and provided for their protection and management;

the Transfer Act of 1905 which transferred administration of the forest reserves from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture; and,

- the Weeks Law of 1911 which authorized purchase of forested, cutover, or denuded lands within the watersheds of navigable

streams.

The state and private forestry activities of the Forest Service are authorized by the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 which recodified in one statute, authority for ten existing programs in cooperative forestry assistance to states and private forest landowners. The act was amended by Title XII of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (the 1990 Farm Bill) which, among other things, substantially increased educational, technical, and financial assistance for nonindustrial private forest landowners under the "Forest Stewardship Program", established a conservation easement program called "the Forest Legacy Program", and expanded educational and technical assistance for urban and community forestry programs.

The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Act of 1978 provides an updated and expanded authority for research by the Forest Service, which was formerly authorized under the McSweeney-McNary Act of 1928. The former statute was also modestly amended by Title XII of the 1990 Farm Bill.

International Forestry activities of the Forest Service are conducted under the authority of Title VI of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 1991 (P.L. 101-513) which was further expanded upon by Title XXIV of the 1990 Farm Bill. There was no statutory precedent to this legislation.

So what do the following pages offer you? A handy reference source. But for a comprehensive understanding of any particular Forest Service program or activity, you must also be familiar with committee reports, hearing records, appropriation acts, presidential budget requests, federal regulations, court decisions, and the Forest Service directives system.