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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1011. Watershed restoration and enhancement agreements
(a) In general
For fiscal year 1997 and each fiscal year thereafter,
appropriations made for the Bureau of Land Management including
appropriations for the Wildland Fire Management account allocated
to the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau
of Indian Affairs may be used by the Secretary of the Interior for
the purpose of entering into cooperative agreements with the heads
of other Federal agencies, tribal, State, and local governments,
private and nonprofit entities, and landowners for the protection,
restoration, and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat and other
resources on public or private land and the reduction of risk from
natural disaster where public safety is threatened that benefit
these resources on public lands within the watershed.
(b) Direct and indirect watershed agreements
The Secretary of the Interior may enter into a watershed
restoration and enhancement agreement -
(1) directly with a willing private landowner; or
(2) indirectly through an agreement with a state, local, or
tribal government or other public entity, educational
institution, or private nonprofit organization.
(c) Terms and conditions
In order for the Secretary to enter into a watershed restoration
and enhancement agreement -
(1) the agreement shall -
(A) include such terms and conditions mutually agreed to by
the Secretary and the landowner;
(B) improve the viability of and otherwise benefit the fish,
wildlife, and other biotic resources on public land in the
watershed;
(C) authorize the provision of technical assistance by the
Secretary in the planning of management activities that will
further the purposes of the agreement;
(D) provide for the sharing of costs of implementing the
agreement among the Federal government,(!1) the landowner, and
other entities, as mutually agreed on by the affected
interests; and
(E) ensure that any expenditure by the Secretary pursuant to
the agreement is determined by the Secretary to be in the
public interest; and
(2) the Secretary may require such other terms and conditions
as are necessary to protect the public investment on private
lands, provided such terms and conditions are mutually agreed to
by the Secretary and the landowner.
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