Save Our Sequoias Act

The entire authorization of appropriations section was removed. This eliminated $10M for FY2026, $25M for FY2027, $30M each for FY2028-2030, and $40M each for FY2031-2032 (roughly $245M total), along with a 90% minimum allocation requirement for Protection Projects and collaborative restoration grants.

The Giant Sequoia Emergency Protection Fund was expanded to include the Foundation for America's Public Lands as a partner alongside the National Park Foundation and National Forest Foundation. The fund's scope was also broadened from 'National Park Service and covered National Forest System lands' to 'covered public lands and covered National Forest System lands,' which includes BLM-managed lands.

The entire section amending the good neighbor authority in the Agricultural Act of 2014 was removed. This had allowed national parks (Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite) to enter good neighbor agreements, permitted Indian tribes as parties, and established revenue-sharing rules for timber sales with a 2030 termination date.

The amendment to the Wilderness Act was removed. The introduced version had added language stating that nothing in the Wilderness Act precludes reforestation activities to reestablish giant sequoias following a wildfire.

The Assessment's land identification requirement in section 5(a)(1)(C) was expanded from simply 'lands located near giant sequoia groves at risk of high-severity wildfires' to include both lands contiguous or adjacent to groves at risk AND lands where fuel break placement could reduce wildfire risk to groves.

A new section 10 on giant sequoia insect monitoring and technology was added, requiring the Secretary to develop an insect monitoring strategy within one year, seek public-private partnerships for monitoring technology, and submit a report to Congress within two years.

A new public notice requirement was added in section 6(c), requiring the Secretary to provide notice of each Protection Project on a publicly available website.

A new public meeting requirement was added in section 4(d), requiring the Coalition to hold at least one public meeting annually, with limited exceptions for closed sessions involving sensitive law enforcement matters or confidential commercial/property information.

The Assessment's policy recommendations were narrowed. The introduced version required recommendations on Federal and State policies that impede giant sequoia activities, new policies needed to increase treatment pace and scale, communication options, and research gaps. The engrossed version removed the first two categories, keeping only communication/collaboration options and research gaps.

The NEPA categorical exclusion for Protection Projects was significantly simplified. The introduced version required projects to be proposed by the Assessment, developed through a collaborative process, or proposed by a resource advisory committee, and limited 2,000-acre projects to groves with a grove-specific plan or lands identified as high-risk. The engrossed version removes all of those conditions, requiring only that projects stay within acreage limits (2,000 acres in groves; 3,000 acres on adjacent lands) and occur on Federal land or non-Federal land with consent.

The provision allowing a responsible official to carry out Protection Projects before initiating NEPA analysis, Endangered Species Act consultation, and National Historic Preservation Act consultation was removed.

A new extraordinary circumstances provision was added requiring that the procedures under 7 CFR 1b.3(e) through (g) apply to categorically excluded Protection Projects and reforestation activities.

The definition of 'collaborative process' was changed from a standalone definition describing a multi-stakeholder development process to a cross-reference to section 4003(b)(2) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The definition of 'grove-specific hazardous fuels reduction plan' was removed entirely.

The definition of 'reforestation' was restructured from a single sentence into three discrete methods: (A) natural regeneration; (B) natural regeneration with site preparation and vegetation competition control; or (C) planting or direct seeding.