Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2003

The Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the Forest Service, to: (1) establish three Institutes (one each in Arizona at Northern Arizona University, New Mexico, and Colorado) to promote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk of wildfires, and improve the health of forest and woodland ecosystems in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah; and (2) assist the Institutes to promote such management.

Defines adaptive ecosystem management as a natural resource management process under which planning, implementation, monitoring, research, evaluation, and incorporation of new knowledge are combined into a management approach that is: (1) based on scientific findings and the needs of society; and (2) used to modify future management methods and policy.

Prescribes requirements for cooperation among the Institutes and Federal programs relating to ecological restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and wildfire management technologies.