# The White Oak Resilience Act: What It Does

White oak trees are disappearing from American forests, and this bill is designed to bring them back. White oaks have been declining for decades due to disease, pests, climate change, and competition from other tree species. These trees matter because they provide food and shelter for wildlife, support forest ecosystems, and have cultural and economic importance to many communities. This bill creates a coordinated national effort to restore white oak forests across the country.

The bill establishes several concrete actions. It creates a White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition—essentially a team made up of federal agencies, state governments, tribal nations, local communities, and conservation organizations that will work together to coordinate restoration efforts and recommend policy changes to speed up white oak recovery. The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service will run five pilot projects in national forests specifically focused on restoring white oak through planting and natural regeneration. Similarly, the Department of Interior will assess federal lands like wildlife refuges and abandoned mines to identify where white oak restoration is possible, then launch five pilot projects on those lands. Both of these pilot programs will run for seven years.

The bill also addresses a major practical problem: there aren't enough white oak seedlings available from tree nurseries to meet restoration needs. The Department of Agriculture must develop a national strategy within one year to increase nursery capacity and expand the supply of white oak seedlings. Additionally, the bill funds research partnerships with universities and tribal nations to study white oak genetics, develop disease-resistant varieties, create seed banks, and improve reforestation techniques. Finally, the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service will establish a formal initiative to help private landowners restore and manage white oak on their property through technical assistance and grants. All of these programs are set to expire after seven years unless Congress extends them.