S. 4548

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4548

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a program to 
promote upland species habitat restoration, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 14, 2026

Mr. Justice introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a program to 
promote upland species habitat restoration, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Growing and Restoring Operational 
Upland Species Ecosystems Act of 2026'' or the ``GROUSE Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. UPLAND SPECIES HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAM.

Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 
1985 is amended by inserting after section 1240M (16 U.S.C. 3839bb) the 
following:

``SEC. 1240N. UPLAND SPECIES HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAM.

``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program to 
provide payments to landowners that enter into contracts with the 
Secretary under this section for restoration of eligible forest land.
``(b) Eligible Forest Land.--
``(1) In general.--Forest land for which a landowner is 
eligible to receive a payment under this section is an area of 
not less than 10 acres of nonindustrial private forest land 
that--
``(A) was commercially logged within the previous 
180-day period;
``(B) is currently being commercially logged, but 
has not been cut and cleared into open land for the 
purpose of development;
``(C) is currently being commercially logged and 
will be cut and cleared for the purpose of forest 
management; or
``(D) was affected by a major natural disaster, as 
determined by the Secretary, such as a tornado, 
hurricane, wildfire, or insect infestation.
``(2) Limitation.--Of the eligible forest land described in 
paragraph (1) owned by a landowner, the landowner shall not 
receive payments under this section for more than the lesser 
of--
``(A) 5 percent; and
``(B) 250 acres.
``(c) Payments.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide payments to 
a landowner that enters into a contract with the Secretary 
under this section for 75 percent of the costs of habitat 
restoration activities incurred by the landowner in 
establishing native vegetation beneficial to upland wildlife, 
including planting native, soft-mast tree and shrub species and 
other native vegetation commonly found in early successional 
habitats, on eligible forest land, including costs of--
``(A) labor;
``(B) planting;
``(C) fertilizer;
``(D) seedlings; and
``(E) other materials and practices, as determined 
by the Secretary.
``(2) Determination of amounts.--The Secretary shall 
establish the amounts of eligible costs under paragraph (1).
``(d) Contracts.--
``(1) Applications.--To be eligible to enter into a 
contract under this section, a landowner shall submit to the 
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
``(2) Term.--A contract under this section shall have a 
term that does not exceed 5 years.
``(3) Habitat plan.--A contract under this section shall 
include a habitat plan developed by the applicable landowner, 
in consultation with private, nongovernmental, State, or 
Federal wildlife biologists or foresters.
``(e) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may provide to a 
landowner that enters into a contract under this section (including 
through a third-party provider pursuant to section 1242) technical 
assistance in the planting of trees and shrubs in accordance with the 
contract.''.
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