Congress funds white oak forest restoration across federal and private lands.
H.R. 2405 — The White Oak Resilience Act · Filed by Andy Barr (R-KY) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 27, 2025 · Reported out
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill establishes a coordinated federal effort to restore and regenerate white oak forests across the United States. It creates a voluntary coalition of government agencies, tribes, and private organizations to develop restoration strategies; funds pilot projects in national forests and Interior Department lands; establishes grant programs administered through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; and directs research into white oak genetics, seedling production, and reforestation methods. All major authorities sunset after 7 years.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is establishing a multi-agency white oak restoration program with research, pilot projects, and voluntary grants. It is straightforward environmental stewardship legislation with no hidden provisions or private carve-outs.
What the text implies
- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation receives advance payment of entire fiscal-year appropriations on October 1, creating a cash-flow advantage and reducing administrative friction compared to standard grant administration.
- The 7-year sunset on all authorities means the program must be reauthorized to continue; this creates periodic legislative leverage points but also risks discontinuity in long-term restoration efforts.
- The bill's reliance on 'best available science' and coordination with existing forest management plans may create implementation delays if plans conflict or science is contested.
- Private landowners and tree nurseries benefit from technical assistance and grants but are not named as exclusive beneficiaries; the program is open to all eligible applicants.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill funds ecosystem restoration and research with clear public benefits (healthier forests, wildlife habitat, climate resilience, scientific capacity) and imposes no new restrictions on citizens' rights or access. The grant program is voluntary and open to diverse stakeholders. No private entity receives immunity, liability shields, or exclusive benefits.
Who stands to gain
- tree nurseries (federal, state, tribal, and private)
- land grant colleges and universities (research contracts)
- conservation nonprofits and NGOs (grant recipients)
- private forest landowners (technical assistance and grants)
Named in the bill
Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of the Interior, Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition, Indian Tribes, State Governors, Land grant colleges (1862, 1890, 1994 Institutions)
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans.
- Mar 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period…”
- Jul 15, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jul 15, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,310,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 6 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Andy Barr, the sponsor, reported $2,160,072 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $6,000 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.
- Brown-forman Corporation — $600,000 on 2 filings
- Sazerac Company, Inc. — $480,000 on 2 filings
- White Oak Initiative Government Policy Committee — $100,000 on 2 filings
- Appalachian Voices — $70,000 on 2 filings
- Sazerac Company, Inc. — $60,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (12,868 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress funds white oak forest restoration across federal and private lands.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr2405 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.