Pub. L. 105-83, tit. III, sec. 334

Sec. 334. (a) Watershed Restoration and Enhancement Agreements.—For fiscal year 1998, appropriations for the Forest Service may be used by the Secretary of Agriculture for the purpose of entering into cooperative agreements with willing State and local governments, private and nonprofit entities and landowners for protection, restoration and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat, and other resources on public or private land or both that benefit these resources within the watershed. (b) Direct and Indirect Watershed Agreements.—The Secretary of Agriculture 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 resources on national forests lands within 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, the landowner(s), 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 non-Federal lands, provided such terms and conditions are mutually agreed to by the Secretary and other landowners, State and local governments or both.