
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC581j]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
      CHAPTER 3--FORESTS; FOREST SERVICE; REFORESTATION; MANAGEMENT
 
    SUBCHAPTER II--INVESTIGATIONS, EXPERIMENTS, AND TESTS AFFECTING 
                    REFORESTATION AND FOREST PRODUCTS
 
Sec. 581j. Congressional declaration of policy on reforestation 
        and revegetation
        
    It is the declared policy of the Congress to accelerate and provide 
a continuing basis for the needed reforestation and revegetation of 
national-forest lands and other lands under administration or control of 
the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture in order to obtain 
the benefits hereinbefore enumerated.

(Oct. 11, 1949, ch. 674, Sec. 1, 63 Stat. 763.)

                       References in Text

    The benefits hereinbefore enumerated, referred to in text, means the 
benefits enumerated in the preamble to Joint Res. 53, Oct. 11, 1949, ch. 
674, 63 Stat. 762. The preamble is set out as a note below.

                          Transfer of Functions

    Functions of all officers, agencies, and employees of Department of 
Agriculture transferred with certain exceptions, to Secretary of 
Agriculture by Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1953, Sec. 1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 
F.R. 3219, 67 Stat. 633, set out as a note in Appendix to Title 5, 
Government Organization and Employees.


                                Preamble

    The preamble to act Oct. 11, 1949, provided that:
    ``Whereas the national forests of the United States contain 
approximately eighty million acres of the Nation's commercial timber 
lands and approximately eighty-three million acres of the Nation's 
important grazing lands; and
    ``Whereas these national-forest lands comprise the principal source 
of water supply for domestic, irrigation, and industrial purposes for 
thousands of communities, farms, and industries, and good forest and 
other vegetative cover is essential for watershed protection; and
    ``Whereas these lands annually supply approximately four billion 
board-feet of forest products through twenty-seven thousand sales 
transactions and the demand for national forest timber is steadily 
increasing; and
    ``Whereas these lands are the sole or main source of summer range 
for ten million cattle and sheep grazed by thirty thousand livestock 
permittees whose livelihood is wholly or partially dependent upon 
livestock grazed on national-forest ranges; and
    ``Whereas these lands contain over four million acres of denuded and 
unsatisfactorily stocked timberlands and an additional four million 
acres of seriously depleted range lands; and
    ``Whereas all of these lands are potentially capable of producing an 
important part of the timber and forage needs of local communities, and 
contributing to the protection of watersheds, thereby alleviating flood 
damage and insuring a continuing water supply, increasing opportunity 
for local employment, bringing greater stability to local communities, 
and increasing returns to counties in the national forests from their 
share of national forests receipts, together with other benefits; and
    ``Whereas these lands will not restock or revegetate satisfactorily 
or within a reasonable time except through reforestation and 
revegetation or other measures to induce restocking or revegetation; and
    ``Whereas it is practical to reforest these denuded and 
unsatisfactorily stocked timber lands and revegetate these seriously 
depleted range lands in a period of fifteen years; and
    ``Whereas it is necessary to provide reasonable continuity of 
reforestation and revegetation programs in order to insure effective, 
efficient, and economical operations: Therefore be it''.
