Federal · Title 16 — Conservation

16 U.S.C. § 576b: Purchasers of national-forest timber; deposits of money in addition to payments for timber; use of deposits; seedlings and young trees for burned-over areas in national parks

Read the full statutory text
The Secretary of Agriculture may, when in his or her judgment such action will be in the public interest, require any purchaser of national-forest timber to make deposits of money in addition to the payments for the timber, to cover the cost to the United States of (1) planting (including the production or purchase of young trees), (2) sowing with tree seeds (including the collection or purchase of such seeds), (3) cutting, destroying, or otherwise removing undesirable trees or other growth, on the national-forest land cut over by the purchaser, in order to improve the future stand of timber, (4) protecting and improving the future productivity of the renewable resources of the forest land on such sale area, including sale area improvement operations, maintenance and construction, reforestation and wildlife habitat management, or (5) watershed restoration, wildlife habitat improvement, control of insects, disease and noxious weeds, community protection activities, and the maintenance of forest roads, within the Forest Service region in which the timber sale occurred: Provided , That such activities may be performed through the use of contracts, forest product sales, and cooperative agreements. Such deposits shall be covered into the Treasury and shall constitute a special fund, which is appropriated and made available until expended, to cover the cost to the United States of such tree planting, seed sowing, and forest improvement work, as the Secretary of Agriculture may direct. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, upon application of the Secretary of the Interior, to furnish seedlings and/or young trees for replanting of burned-over areas in any national park. the excess amounts will not be needed for emergency wildfire suppression during the fiscal year in which the transfer would be made; and the amount to be transferred to miscellaneous receipts, National Forest Fund, exceeds the outstanding balance of unreimbursed funds transferred from the special fund in prior fiscal years for wildfire suppression.

Verify at the official source: Federal legislative text

Facing this? Know exactly what happens next.

MOFRD turns this code section into your situation: the deadlines that apply to you, the forms your county uses, and the resolution paths people in your position actually take. Free for 3 days — no card required.

This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.