,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #hdi  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,april #be1 #bjac   
,mr4 ,bennet 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,baucus1
 and ,mr4 ,udall of ,colorado7          
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 
and ,forestry  ,a ,,bill  ,to amend the 
,healthy ,forests ,restoration ,act of  
#bjjc to provide for the conduct of     
stewardship contracting projects1 and   
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,permanent ,stewardship ,contracting    
,authority ,act of #bjac4  #b4          
,stewardship end result contracting     
projects  7a7 ,in general ,title ,,vi of
 the ,healthy ,forests ,restoration ,act
 of #bjjc 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #feia7 is      
amended by adding at the end the        
following3  #fjb4 ,stewardship end      
result contracting projects  7a7        
,definitions ,in this section3  7#a7    
,chief ,the term ,chief means the ,chief

 of the ,forest ,service4  7#b7         
,director ,the term ,director means the 
,director of the ,bureau of ,land       
,management4  7b7 ,projects ,the ,chief 
and the ,director1 via agreement or     
contract as appropriate1 may enter into 
stewardship contracting projects with   
private persons or other public or      
private entities to perform services to 
achieve land management goals for the   
national forests and public lands that  
meet local and rural community needs4   
7c7 ,land management goals ,the land    
management goals of a project under     
subsection 7b7 may include--  7#a7 road 
and trail maintenance or obliteration to
 restore or maintain water quality2     
7#b7 soil productivity1 habitat for     
wildlife and fisheries1 or other        
resource values2  7#c7 setting of       
prescribed fires to improve the         
composition1 structure1 condition1 and  
health of stands or to improve wildlife 
habitat2  7#d7 removing vegetation or   
other activities to promote healthy     

forest stands1 reduce fire hazards1 or  
achieve other land management           
objectives2  7#e7 watershed restoration 
and maintenance2  7#f7 restoration and  
maintenance of wildlife and fish2 or    
7#g7 control of noxious and exotic weeds
 and reestablishing native plant        
species4  7d7 ,agreements or contracts  
7#a7 ,procurement procedure ,a source   
for performance of an agreement or      
contract under subsection 7b7 shall be  
selected on a best-value basis1         
including consideration of source under 
other public and private agreements or  
contracts4  7#b7 ,contract for sale of  
property ,a contract entered into under 
this section may1 at the discretion of  
the ,secretary of ,agriculture1 be      
considered a contract for the sale of   
property under such terms as the        
,secretary may prescribe without regard 
to any other provision of law4  7#c7    
,term  7,a7 ,in general ,except as      
provided in subparagraph 7,b71 the      
,chief and the ,director may enter into 

a contract under subsection 7b7 in      
accordance with section #cijc of title  
#da1 ,united ,states ,code4  7,b7       
,maximum ,the period of the contract    
under subsection 7b7 may exceed #e years
 but may not exceed #aj years4  7#d7    
,offsets  7,a7 ,in general ,the ,chief  
and the ,director may apply the value of
 timber or other forest products removed
 as an offset against the cost of       
services received under the agreement or
 contract described in subsection 7b74  
7,b7 ,methods of appraisal ,the value of
 timber or other forest products used as
 an offset under subparagraph 7,a7--    
7i7 shall be determined using           
appropriate methods of appraisal        
commensurate with the quantity of       
products to be removed2 and  7ii7 may-- 
7,i7 be determined using a unit of      
measure appropriate to the contracts2   
and  7,,ii7 may include valuing products
 on a per-acre basis4  7#e7 ,relation to
 other laws ,notwithstanding subsections
 7d7 and 7g7 of section #ad of the      

,national ,forest ,management ,act of   
#aigf 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #dgb;a71 the ,chief
 may enter into an agreement or contract
 under subsection 7b74  7#f7            
,contracting officer ,notwithstanding   
any other provision of law1 the         
,secretary or the ,secretary of the     
,interior may determine the appropriate 
contracting officer to enter into and   
administer an agreement or contract     
under subsection 7b74  7e7 ,receipts    
7#a7 ,in general ,the ,chief and the    
,director may collect monies from an    
agreement or contract under subsection  
7b7 if the collection is a secondary    
objective of negotiating the contract   
that will best achieve the purposes of  
this section4  7#b7 ,use ,monies from an
 agreement or contract under subsection 
7b7--  7,a7 may be retained by the      
,chief and the ,director2 and  7,b7     
shall be available for expenditure      
without further appropriation at the    
project site from which the monies are  
collected or at another project site4   

7#c7 ,relation to other laws  7,a7 ,in  
general ,notwithstanding any other      
provision of law1 the value of services 
received by the ,chief or the ,director 
under a stewardship contract project    
conducted under this section1 and any   
payments made or resources provided by  
the contractor1 ,chief1 or ,director    
shall not be considered monies received 
from the ,national ,forest ,system or   
the public lands4  7,b7                 
,knutson-,vanderberg ,act ,the ,act of  
,june #i1 #aicj 7commonly known as the  
,knutson-,vanderberg ,act7 7#af         
,u4,s4,c4 #egf et seq47 shall not apply 
to any agreement or contract under      
subsection 7b74  7f7 ,costs of removal  
,notwithstanding the fact that a        
contractor did not harvest the timber1  
the ,chief may collect deposits from a  
contractor covering the costs of removal
 of timber or other forest products     
under--  7#a7 the ,act of ,august #aa1  
#aiaf 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #dij72 and  7#b7   
and the ,act of ,june #cj1 #aiad 7#af   

,u4,s4,c4 #dih74  7g7 ,performance and  
payment guarantees  7#a7 ,in general    
,the ,chief and the ,director may       
require performance and payment bonds   
under sections #bh4ajc-b and #bh4ajc-c  
of the ,federal ,acquisition            
,regulation1 in an amount that the      
contracting officer considers sufficient
 to protect the investment in receipts  
by the ,federal ,government generated by
 the contractor from the estimated value
 of the forest products to be removed   
under a contract under subsection 7b74  
7#b7 ,excess offset value ,if the offset
 value of the forest products exceeds   
the value of the resource improvement   
treatments1 the ,chief and the ,director
 may--  7,a7 collect any residual       
receipts under the ,act of ,june #i1    
#aicj 7commonly known as the            
,knutson-,vanderberg ,act7 7#af         
,u4,s4,c4 #egf et seq472 and  7,b7 apply
 the excess to other authorized         
stewardship projects4  7h7 ,monitoring  
and evaluation  7#a7 ,in general ,the   

,chief and the ,director shall establish
 a multiparty monitoring and evaluation 
process that accesses the stewardship   
contracting projects conducted under    
this section4  7#b7 ,participants ,other
 than the ,chief and ,director1         
participants in the process described in
 paragraph 7#a7 may include--  7,a7 any 
cooperating governmental agencies1      
including tribal governments2 and  7,b7 
any other interested groups or          
individuals4  7i7 ,reporting ,not later 
than #a year after the date of enactment
 of this section1 and annually          
thereafter1 the ,chief and the ,director
 shall report to the ,committee on      
,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 and ,forestry 
of the ,senate and the ,committee on    
,agriculture of the ,house of           
,representatives on--  7#a7 the status  
of development1 execution1 and          
administration of agreements or         
contracts under subsection 7b72  7#b7   
the specific accomplishments that have  
resulted2 and  7#c7 the role of local   

communities in the development of       
agreements or contract plans4  4  7b7   
,conforming amendment ,section #cdg of  
the ,department of the ,interior and    
,related ,agencies ,appropriations ,act1
 #aiii 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #bajd note2       
,public ,law #aje-bgg7 is repealed4