Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 92 Part 1.djvu/421

 PUBLIC LAW 95-313—JULY 1, 1978 FORESTRY

92 STAT. 367

INCENTIVES

SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary is authorized to develop and implement a forestry incentives program to encourage the development, management, and protection of nonindustrial private forest lands. The purposes of such program shall be to encourage landowners to apply practices that will provide for afforestation of suitable open lands, reforestation of cutover or other nonstocked or understocked forest lands, timber stand improvement practices, including thinning, prescribed burning, and other silvicultural treatments, and forest resources management and protection, so as to provide for the production of timber and other forest resources associated therewith. (b) For the purposes of this section, the term "private forest land" means land capable of producing crops of industrial wood and owned by any private individual, group, Indian tribo or other native group, association, corporation, or other legal entity. (c) Landowners shall be eligible for cost sharing under this program if they own one thousand acres or less of private forest land, except that the Secretary may approve cost sharing.with landowners owning more than one thousand acres of such land if significant public benefits will accrue. In no case, however, may the Secretary approve cost sharing with landowners owning more than five thousand acres of private forest land. (d) The Secretary shall administer this section in accordance with regulations the Secretary shall develop in consultation with the committee described in section 10(c) of this Act. Regulations issued under title X of the Agricultural Act of 1970, as added by the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, shall remain in effect until revoked or amended by regulations issued under this subsection. The regulations issued under this subsection shall include guidelines for the administration of this section at the Federal and State levels, and shall identify the measures and activities eligible for cost sharing under this section. (e) Individual forest management plans developed by the landowner in cooperation with and approved by the State forester or equivalent State official shall be the basis for agreements between the landowner and the Secretary under this section. The Secretary shall encourage participating States to use private agencies, consultants, organizations, and firms to the extent feasible for the preparation of individual forest management plans. (f) In return for the agreement 'by the landowner, the Secretary shall agree to share the cost of implementing those forestry practices and measures set forth in the agreement for which the Secretary determines that cost sharing is appropriate. The portion of such cost (including labor) to be shared shall be that portion that the Secretary determines is necessary and appropriate to implement the forestry practices and measures under the agreement, but not more than 75 percent of the actual costs incurred by the landowner. The maximum amount any individual may receive annually under the program authorized by this section shall be determined by the Secretary in consultation with the committee described in section 10(c) of this Act. (g) The Secretary shall, for the purposes of this section, distribute funds available for cost sharing among the States only after assessing the public benefit incident thereto, and after giving appropriate consideration to (1) the acreage of private commerical forest land in

16 USC 2103.

"Private forest land."

eost sharing

Regulations,

16 USC 1501.

Funds, distribution.

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