A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Wood Utilization Program to improve the use of renewable resources in timber harvesting, forest protection and management, and the manufacture of wood products including energy through guaranteed loans, timber sales, and other activities.
Wood Utilization Act of 1979 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a wood utilization program.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) make, insure, and guarantee loans to eligible recipients for demonstration and pilot projects in the utilization and manufacture of forest products; (2) require removals of specified materials by timber purchasers or contractors to enhance long-term forest resource productivity; and (3) sell, consolidate for sale, or otherwise dispose of slash, other underutilized material, and dead and dying timber for energy production giving first priority for such purchases to public bodies or cooperatives.
Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, and other arrangements and to provide technical, financial, and related assistance for such purposes. Requires that non-Federal cooperators contribute at least 50 percent to projects established under this Act.
Authorizes appropriations to carry out such purposes.
Directs the Secretary to make annual reports to the Congress on such program, to make specified surveys, and to coordinate such reports and surveys with other specified comprehensive surveys, land management plans, and forest resource programs.
Requires that the administration of this Act be consistent with the administration of the National Forest Management Act and the Multiple-Use Sustained Yield Act.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Committee on Agriculture.
checking server…
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line