H.R. 3637 — Locally Led Restoration Act of 2025

This section revises stewardship contracting authority under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (i.e., projects in which the Chief of the Forest Service and Director of Bureau of Land Management enter agreements or contracts with private or public entities, using the value of removed timber or forest products to offset the cost of services for land management goals such as fire hazard reduction, watershed restoration, and wildlife habitat improvement) to expressly authorize projects proposed by such entities. The revision (1) requires that third-party-proposed projects include vegetation removal with at least 10% salvage material (i.e., wildfire kill, beetle kill, or dead or dying organic material); (2) directs annual public notice of proposal opportunities and a response to each proposal within 120 days (including denial reasons and suggested remedies if applicable); (3) authorizes initiation of environmental review notice within 120 days of a proposal, followed by potential contract execution upon review completion; (4) grants agency discretion to select among conflicting proposals and requires best-value determinations, compliance with applicable land management plans, and prohibitions on projects in wilderness areas, inventoried roadless areas, or statutorily protected lands; and (5) directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress within five years on related proposal, contract, and treatment acre numbers.

This section increases the threshold appraised value below which the Secretary of Agriculture may waive advertisement of National Forest System timber sales to $55,000 (from $10,000) and requires annual adjustment of that threshold for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, beginning the first year after enactment of the Locally Led Restoration Act of 2025.