The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-148) contains a variety of provisions to expedite hazardous-fuel reduction and forest-restoration projects on specific types of Federal land that are at risk of wildland fire or insect and disease epidemics. The act helps rural communities, States, Tribes, and landowners restore healthy forest and rangeland conditions on State, Tribal, and private lands. It also:

• Encourages biomass removal from public and private lands.
• Provides technical, educational, and financial assistance to improve water quality and address watershed issues on non-Federal lands.
• Authorizes large-scale silvicultural research.
• Authorizes acquisition of Healthy Forest Reserves on private land to promote recovery of threatened and endangered species, and improve biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
• Directs the establishment of monitoring and early warning systems for insect or disease outbreaks.

Title I provides authorities for expedited vegetation treatments on certain types of NFS and BLM lands that are at risk of wildland fire; have experienced wind throw, blowdown, or ice-storm damage; are currently experiencing disease or insect epidemics; or are at imminent risk of such epidemics because of conditions on adjacent land. This title:

• Provides expedited environmental analysis of HFRA projects.
• Provides administrative review before decisions are issued on proposed HFRA projects on NFS lands.
• Contains requirements governing the maintenance and restoration of old-growth forest stands when the USDA Forest Service and DOI BLM carry out HFRA projects in such stands.
• Requires HFRA projects on NFS and BLM land to maximize retention of larger trees in areas other than old-growth stands, consistent with the objective of restoring fire-resilient stands and protecting at-risk communities and Federal lands.
• Requires collaboration between Federal agencies and local communities, particularly when Community Wildfire Protection Plans are prepared.
• Requires using at least 50 percent of the dollars allocated to HFRA projects to protect communities at risk of wildland fire.
• Requires performance to be monitored when agencies conduct hazardous-fuel reduction projects and encourages multiparty monitoring that includes communities and other diverse stakeholders (including interested citizens and Tribes).
• Encourages courts to expedite judicial review of legal challenges to HFRA projects.
• Directs courts that consider a request for an injunction on an HFRA-authorized project to balance the short- and long-term environmental effects of undertaking the project against the effects of taking no action.