H.R. 1459 — Protect the West Act of 2025

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Protect the West Act of 2025.”

This section defines terms used in the bill, including the Restoration Fund Advisory Council, the Outdoor and Watershed Restoration Fund, the restoration and resilience grant program, eligible entities, and restoration and ecological integrity. It also defines “covered authority” to include 12 existing Federal and State conservation, forestry, watershed, and land-management authorities and programs, including the good neighbor authority under 16 U.S.C. 2113a, the Water Source Protection Program, the Watershed Condition Framework, the stewardship end result contracting program, the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership, the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, the emergency watershed protection program, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, the legacy roads and trails program, the working lands for wildlife program, and conservation programs under title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985, including the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. It further defines “restoration and resilience project” as a project on Federal land, non-Federal land, or both that is designed using the best available science to measurably improve forest conditions, rangeland and native grassland health, watershed function, or wildlife habitat, and defines “wildland-urban interface” by reference to section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003.

This section establishes in the Treasury an Outdoor and Watershed Restoration Fund to finance, through a transparent process, the grant program and the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program under section 6. As background, these programs fund restoration and resilience activities, including projects on Federal and non-Federal land, to improve watershed and related natural resource conditions. This section directs that amounts in the Fund be used by the Secretary, in coordination with the Council, to carry out the grant program and to carry out the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program under section 6. It also provides that activities under the Act must complement, not duplicate or replace, existing Federal conservation, restoration, and resilience programs, and that any restoration and resilience project developed or implemented with amounts under the Act must comply with applicable law and available authorities. This section further requires that amounts provided under the Act supplement, not supplant, other Federal, State, or other funds otherwise available to an eligible entity for covered activities. It authorizes matching-fund or cost-sharing requirements under covered authorities to be satisfied through contributions from 1 or more other covered authorities or from funds appropriated under section 8, and directs the Secretary to modify, expand, or streamline eligibility and verification criteria for covered authorities to maximize flexibility, speed, and use of Federal funds. This section authorizes the Secretary to use contracts, grant agreements, or fixed amount awards to purchase successfully implemented restoration and resilience project outcomes from qualifying projects at a negotiated per-unit price. It also authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, or a designee, to establish an account in the Treasury to accept contributions of non-Federal funds for the Fund, and makes those contributions available without further appropriation and until expended to carry out the grant program and the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program. This section requires the Department of Agriculture Inspector General to submit a report to specified Senate and House committees not later than 1 year after enactment and annually thereafter describing the use, and any abuse or misuse, of the Fund with respect to the grant program and the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program.

This section establishes a Restoration Fund Advisory Council to provide recommendations to the Secretary on the disbursement of amounts from the Fund for the grant program, priority-setting for landscapes, and evaluation and monitoring of restoration and resilience project success. The Council is composed of the Secretary; 12 members appointed by the Secretary, including 3 representatives from resource-dependent industries, 3 national experts in natural resource restoration, economic development, and community and climate resilience, 3 representatives of conservation, wildlife, or watershed organizations, 1 representative of State government, 1 representative of local government, and 1 representative of Tribal government; and, as determined necessary by the Secretary, not more than 3 representatives from other Federal agencies. This section also requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Council, to submit a report to specified Senate and House committees not later than 1 year after enactment and annually thereafter describing the status of restoration and resilience projects that received amounts from the Fund, including environmental and climate benefits, restoration achievements, attainment of restoration and habitat improvement objectives, jobs created and retained, growth in outdoor industries supporting project capacity, and progress toward State-, Tribal-, and community-level resilience goals, as well as recommendations to improve coordination, align Federal, State, or Tribal resources or existing authorities, and expand workforce capacity through legislative and administrative changes.

This section establishes a restoration and resilience grant program, to be administered by the Secretary with guidance from the Council, to provide grants or pay-for-performance contracts from the Fund to eligible entities for planning, coordinating, monitoring, and implementing restoration and resilience projects on non-Federal land and for providing support for collaboration and monitoring on Federal land. As background, restoration and resilience projects generally include activities to improve ecological conditions, reduce wildfire risk, and expand outdoor access. This section directs the Secretary and the Council, to the maximum extent practicable, to coordinate with State and regional efforts to restore ecological integrity on Federal and non-Federal land and to complement existing partnerships. It also requires the Secretary to use amounts in the Fund for two types of awards: (1) capacity grants or pay-for-performance contracts for planning, coordination, and monitoring, and (2) implementation grants or pay-for-performance contracts for restoration, wildfire-resilient construction and home ignition zone risk reduction, and equitable outdoor access projects. This section requires applicants for capacity grants to submit an application containing, at a minimum, a clear expression of interest, an explanation of how the funds would complement existing Federal funds, a description of how the work would follow the best available ecological restoration science, and an estimate of the number and duration of jobs created or sustained. It also directs the Secretary, to the maximum extent practicable, to provide grant-writing training and mentoring to lower-capacity, less collaborative experience, or underserved communities and organizations to reduce barriers to participation. This section requires applicants for implementation grants to submit an application in the form and manner required by the Secretary, and authorizes the Secretary to waive matching requirements under covered authorities for applicants representing lower-capacity, less collaborative experience, or underserved communities and organizations and rural communities. It further directs the Secretary to prioritize projects that: (1) create or sustain jobs, use local or regional labor, or expand the outdoor workforce through training and education; (2) are developed collaboratively using the best available social ecological restoration science; (3) address shared Federal and non-Federal priorities; (4) advance State, local, and Tribal plans relating to forests, water, wildlife, or equitable outdoor access; (5) use watershed data analytics to quantify and measure outcomes; (6) are carried out by or in lower-capacity, less collaborative experience, or underserved communities and organizations; or (7) improve long-term economic security, particularly in regions transitioning from fossil-fuel extraction. This section authorizes eligible entities to use existing authorities, including a covered authority, when carrying out a restoration and resilience project.

This section establishes the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program, under which the Secretary of Agriculture shall carry out restoration and resilience projects on designated partnership areas of Federal and non-Federal land. It directs the Secretary, not later than 60 days after enactment, to designate areas appropriate for the program and allows a State governor or an authorized representative of an Indian Tribe to request designation of land in the State or Indian Country, respectively, and to include maps or recommendations. To be eligible, an area must have high or very high wildfire potential, high-priority wildlife habitat in need of restoration, or, for Federal land, be in the wildland-urban interface. This section requires the Secretary to prioritize projects that reintroduce low-intensity fire in frequent-fire ecosystems, reduce hazardous fuels through thinning and strategic fuel breaks, retain old and large trees where appropriate, improve habitat and water outcomes, establish project-success measures, and increase wildfire risk mitigation and fire adaptation in wildland-urban interface communities. It also requires coordination with the Secretary of the Interior on Federal land and with eligible entities and other stakeholders on non-Federal land. The section limits projects by prohibiting work in wilderness areas and wilderness study areas, on land where vegetation removal is restricted or prohibited by law or presidential proclamation, in inventoried roadless or comparable roadless areas, and for the removal of old-growth stands.

This section directs the Secretary, not later than 60 days after enactment, to submit a report to Congress on forestry funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169). The report must explain the Secretary’s methodology for selecting priority landscapes, describe the metrics used to measure performance and outcomes, and identify how funds are allocated to States, forests, and Indian Tribes.

This section provides $60 billion in mandatory appropriations for the Fund, to remain available until expended, including (1) $20 billion for the grant program and (2) $40 billion for the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program under section 6, of which not less than $20 billion must be used for restoration and resilience projects on Federal land. It also makes the $40 billion available for staffing, salaries, and other workforce needs and expenses related to administering the Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program.