Congress finds that—
(1) there has been a dramatic shift in public attitudes and perceptions about forest management, particularly in the understanding and practice of sustainable forest management;
(2) it is commonly recognized that the proper stewardship of forest land is essential to sustaining and restoring the health of watersheds;
(3) forests can provide essential ecological services in filtering pollutants, buffering important rivers and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which makes forest restoration worthy of special focus; and
(4) strengthened education, technical assistance, and financial assistance for nonindustrial private forest landowners and communities, relating to the protection of watershed health, is needed to realize the expectations of the general public.
The purposes of this subchapter are—
(1) to improve landowner and public understanding of the connection between forest management and watershed health;
(2) to encourage landowners to maintain tree cover on property and to use tree plantings and vegetative treatments as creative solutions to watershed problems associated with varying land uses;
(3) to enhance and complement forest management and buffer use for watersheds, with an emphasis on community watersheds;
(4) to establish new partnerships and collaborative watershed approaches to forest management, stewardship, and conservation;
(5) to provide technical and financial assistance to States to deliver a coordinated program that enhances State forestry best-management practices programs, and conserves and improves forested land and potentially forested land, through technical, financial, and educational assistance to qualifying individuals and entities; and
(6) to maximize the proper management and conservation of wetland forests and to assist in the restoration of those forests.
(Pub. L. 108–148, title III, §301, Dec. 3, 2003, 117 Stat. 1902.)
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