Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 5.djvu/724

 104 STAT. 4046 PUBLIC LAW 101-624—NOV. 28, 1990 National Forest CHAPTER 2—NATIONAL FOREST-DEPENDENT RURAL Dependent COMMUNITIES Communities Economic SEC. 2372. SHORT TITLE. Act of 1991).°'^ T^^s chapter may be cited as the "National Forest-Dependent 7 USC 6601 note. Rural Communities Economic Diversification Act of 1990". 7 USC 6611. SEC. 2373. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that— (1) the economic well-being of rural America is vital to our national growth and prosperity; (2) the economic well-being of many rural communities depends upon the goods and services that are derived from national forests; (3) the economies of many of these communities suffer from a lack of industrial and business diversity; (4) this lack of diversity is particularly serious in communities whose economies are predominantly dependent on timber and recreation resources and where management decisions made on the national forests by Federal and private organizations may disrupt the supply of those resources; (5) the Forest Service has expertise and resources that could be directed to promote modernization and economic diversification of existing industries and services based on forest resources; (6) the Forest Service has the technical expertise to provide leadership, in cooperation with other governmental agencies and the private sector, to assist rural communities dependent upon national forest resources to upgrade existing industries and diversify by developing new economic activity in non-forestrelated industries; and (7) technical assistance, training, education, and other assistance provided by the Department of Agriculture can be targeted to provide immediate help to those rural communities in greatest need. (b) PURPOSES.— The purposes of this chapter are— (1) to provide assistance to rural communities that are located in or near national forests and that are economically dependent upon forest resources or are likely to be economically disadvantaged by Federal or private sector land management practices; (2) to aid in diversifying such communities' economic bases; and (3) to improve the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of rural America. 7 USC 6612. SEC. 2374. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter: (1) The term "action team" means a rural forestry and economic diversification action team established by the Secretary pursuant to section 2375(b). (2) The term "economically disadvantaged" means economic hardship due to the loss of jobs or income (labor or proprietor) derived from forestry, the wood products industry, or related commercial enterprises such as recreation and tourism in the national forest. (3) The term "rural community" means—

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