Bill > HR2989

This bill, the Save Our Sequoias Act, aims to improve the health and resiliency of giant sequoias. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Requiring the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a shared stewardship agreement with the Governor of California, the Tule River Indian Tribe, and the Secretary of Agriculture to manage and conserve giant sequoias. 2. Codifying the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition to coordinate efforts across various federal, state, tribal, and local entities to assess the health and resiliency of giant sequoia groves, facilitate collaboration on protection projects, and support public education. 3. Requiring the Coalition to produce a comprehensive assessment of giant sequoia groves, identify high-priority protection projects, and provide recommendations for policy changes to improve sequoia health. 4. Authorizing emergency measures, including categorical exclusions from environmental review, to allow the Secretary concerned to quickly implement protection projects to reduce hazardous fuels and address insects and disease in giant sequoia groves. 5. Directing the Secretary to develop a reforestation and rehabilitation strategy to address the backlog of sequoia reforestation needs. 6. Establishing grant programs and utilizing good neighbor authority and stewardship contracting to facilitate the implementation of protection, reforestation, and rehabilitation activities. 7. Creating the Giant Sequoia Emergency Protection Program and Fund to support philanthropic efforts to conserve and manage giant sequoias. The bill authorizes up to $40 million annually through 2030 to carry out these provisions, with at least 90% of the funds dedicated to emergency protection projects and collaborative restoration grants.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Government Affairs

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2989/all-info