Republican Washington Fourth District Congressman Dan Newhouse has joined with Democrat Representative Scott Peters of California, Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana, and Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein of California to introduce a bill to provide the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management a clear statutory tool to efficiently treat forests and empower collaborative processes.  The Root & Stem Act would authorize the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to propose and enter into stewardship contracts and agreements prior to the completion of environmental review.  It also allows the preparation of the environmental analysis to be paid for with timber receipts, provided the environmental analysis would be completed by an independent third party and the agency retains final decision authority for both the environmental analysis and the project.