Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2025
The Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2025 would amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to give the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, new authority to work with partners on ecosystem restoration. Specifically, it authorizes contracts, grants, and agreements with state forestry agencies, local private or nonprofit entities, colleges and universities, Indian Tribes, and multistate coalitions to collect and maintain native seeds (including material from seed orchards) and to produce seedlings for revegetation. The bill also expands the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to explicitly include seed collection, seed maintenance, and seedling production, and to include institutions of higher education as eligible partners. In short, the bill aims to strengthen forest and habitat restoration by building seed and seedling capacity through partnerships with a broad set of organizations, including universities, tribes, and multistate coalitions, and by codifying seed-related activities within existing restoration programs.
Key Points
- 1Creates authority for the Forest Service, through the Secretary of Agriculture, to enter into contracts, grants, and agreements for ecosystem restoration activities focused on seeds and seedlings.
- 2Authorized activities include collection and maintenance of native seeds (including seed orchard material) and production of seedlings for revegetation.
- 3Eligible partners for these activities include State forestry agencies, local private or nonprofit entities, institutions of higher education, Indian Tribes, and multistate coalitions.
- 4Expands the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to cover seed collection, seed maintenance for revegetation, and seedling production.
- 5Adds institutions of higher education to the CFLRP eligible partner list and adjusts the program’s subparagraph structure accordingly.