Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 2771 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2771 To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 9, 2025 Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Calvert, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Harder of California, Mr. Mullin, and Mr. Costa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act''. SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS TO ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MANAGE CONSERVATION EASEMENTS UNDER THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM. (a) State Authorization.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended-- (1) in subsection (l)-- (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection (m)'' and inserting ``subsection (o)''; and (B) in paragraph (3)-- (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``the State of Vermont'' and inserting ``any State''; and (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking ``of Vermont'' and inserting ``involved''; (2) by redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (o); and (3) by inserting after subsection (l) the following: ``(m) Third-Party Conservation Easements.-- ``(1) In general.--At th