The bill was reported by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 11.

The long title of the act is A bill to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, and the Department of Energy, to implement further the Act approving the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, to amend the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003, and for other purposes.

Title I is entitled "Forest Service Authorizations": Title II is entitled "Bureau of Land Management Authorizations": Title III is entitled "National Park Service Authorizations": Subtitle A—Cooperative Agreements has only one section, Sec.

301, which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to "enter into cooperative agreements with State, local, or tribal governments, other Federal agencies, other public entities, educational institutions, private nonprofit organizations, or participating private landowners for the purpose of protecting natural resources of units of the National Park System through collaborative efforts on land inside and outside of National Park System units," and sets terms and conditions, limitations, and authorizes appropriations for such cooperative agreements.

One of the terms is that cooperative agreements must provide clear and direct benefits to natural resources in units of the NPS such as the preservation of riparian systems, eradication of invasive exotic species, and restoration of native wildlife habitat" (S. 241 and H.R.