# White Oak Resiliency Act of 2025 - Plain Language Summary

## What This Bill Does

The White Oak Resiliency Act directs the federal government to work on restoring and protecting white oak forests across the United States. The bill establishes a collaborative coalition bringing together government agencies, private landowners, nonprofits, and universities to coordinate white oak restoration efforts. It also requires the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to conduct pilot projects (test programs) on federal lands to demonstrate effective white oak restoration techniques and to assess the potential for restoring white oak on lands they manage.

## Who Benefits and Who Is Affected

**Beneficiaries include:**
- Forest landowners and timber companies (through improved forest health and potential economic value)
- Environmental organizations and conservation groups
- Land-grant universities (which will participate in research and coordination)
- Communities that depend on healthy forests for wildlife habitat, recreation, and watershed protection

**Agencies responsible for implementation:**
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (Forest Service)
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- The newly created White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition

## Key Provisions

- **Coalition establishment**: Creates a voluntary collaborative group to coordinate white oak restoration efforts and make policy recommendations to address barriers to restoration
- **Pilot projects**: Requires at least 5 pilot projects in national forests and 5 on Interior Department lands to test restoration methods
- **Assessment requirement**: The Interior Department must evaluate federal lands within 180 days to identify where white oak restoration is possible
- **Report deadline**: The Coalition must submit recommendations to Congress within 2 years of the bill's enactment
- **Funding**: Makes existing conservation funds available to support restoration activities