Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 92 Part 1.djvu/419

 PUBLIC LAW 95-313--JULY 1, 1978

92 STAT. 365

Public Law 95-313 95th Congress An Act To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cooperative forestry assistance to States and others, and for other purposes.

July 1. 1978 [H.R. 117771

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may Cooperative Forestry be cited as the "Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978".

Assistance Act of 1978. POLICY AND PURPOSE 16 USC 2101 note. SEC. 2. (a) Congress finds and declares that— (1) most of the Nation's productive forest land is in private, 16 USC 2101.

State, and local governmental ownership, and the Nation's capacity to produce renewable forest resources is significantly dependent on these non-Federal forest lands; (2) adequate supplies of timber and other forest resources are essential to the Nation, and adequate supplies are dependent upon efficient methods for establishing, managing, and harvesting trees and processing, marketing, and using wood and wood products; (3) managed forest lands provide habitats for fish and wildlife, as well as esthetics, outdoor recreation opportunities, and other forest resources; (4) insects and diseases affecting trees occur and sometimes create emergency conditions on all land, whether Federal or nonFederal, and efforts to prevent and control such insects and diseases often require coordinated action by both Federal and non-Federal land managers; (5) fires in rural areas threaten human lives, property, and forests and other resources, and Federal-State cooperation in forest fire protection has proven effective and valuable; (6) trees and forests are of great environmental and economic value to urban areas; and (7) managed forests contribute to improving the quality, quantity, and timing of water yields, which are of broad benefit to society. (b) The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Secretary"), with respect to non-Federal forest lands, to assist in— (1) the advancement of forest resources management; (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, includIziii ing the recycling of wood fiber; (6) the improvement and maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat; and (7) the planning and conduct of urban forestry programs. (c) It is in the national interest for the Secretary to work through and in cooperation with State foresters or equivalent State officials in implementing Federal programs affecting non-Federal forest lands.

�