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S. 719 · Senate bill · 119th Congress
This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 the Tribal Forest Protection Act (TFPA) and expands the lands and activities eligible for inclusion in the TFPA.
Currently under the TFPA, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may enter into contracts and agreements with Indian tribes for tribes to carry out land management projects on federal lands. These projects are designed to protect Indian forest lands and rangelands from wildfire, disease, and other threats coming from federal lands. However, the TFPA is currently limited to projects on federal lands that border or are adjacent to Indian forest lands and rangelands under the jurisdiction of the tribe.
This bill removes certain limitations of the TFPA, first by expanding the definition of Indian forest land or rangeland to include land in Alaska that is held by Alaska Native corporations, thereby allowing these corporations to participate in TFPA projects.
Additionally, the bill removes the requirement that TFPA projects must occur on federal lands that border or are adjacent to Indian forest lands or rangelands. The bill instead requires the federal land involved to have a special geographic, historical, or cultural significance to the tribe.
The bill allows TFPA projects to be carried out directly on Indian forest lands and rangelands. (Currently, the TFPA only applies to work conducted on federal lands and not on tribal lands.)
The bill also updates a requirement for Interior and USDA to report to Congress on TFPA activities.
This Act may be cited as the “Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments Act of 2025”.
Section 2 of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
“(2) Indian forest land or rangeland.— The term Indian forest land or rangeland means—
(A) land that is held in trust by, or with a restriction against alienation by, the United States for an Indian tribe or a member of an Indian tribe, and—
(i) is Indian forest land (as defined in section 304 of the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3103));
(ii) has a cover of grasses, brush, or any similar vegetation; or
(iii) formerly had a forest cover or vegetative cover that is capable of restoration; and
(B) land that is in the State of Alaska and held by an Alaska Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).”;
(2) in subsection (b)—
(A) in the subsection heading, by inserting “or restore” after “protect”;
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking “to protect Indian forest land or rangeland” and all that follows through “Indian forest land or rangeland)” and inserting “to protect or restore Indian forest land or rangeland, or to carry out a project to protect or restore Federal land”; and
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking “that is—” and all that follows through the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting “or Indian forest land or rangeland.”;
(3) in subsection (c)—
(A) in the subsection heading, by inserting “for Federal land” after “criteria”;
(B) by striking “an Indian tribe,” in the matter preceding paragraph (1) and all that follows through “Indian tribe—” in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) and inserting the following: “Federal land, are whether—
“(1) the Federal land has a special geographic, historical, or cultural significance to the Indian tribe and—”;
(C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)—
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause (i) and inserting the following:
“(i) Indian forest land or rangeland; or”; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting “or watershed” after “land”;
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;
(E) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), by striking “subject” and inserting “Federal”; and
(F) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by striking “Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management” and inserting “Federal”;
(4) in subsection (g), by striking “date of enactment of this Act” and inserting “date of enactment of the Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments Act of 2025”; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
“(h) Authorization of appropriations.— There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031.”.