1997 U.S. Code
Title 16 - CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 68 - PACIFIC YEW CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
Sec. 4801 - Findings, purposes, and definitions

View Metadata

§4801. Findings, purposes, and definitions (a) Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1) Over 12,000 women die each year from ovarian cancer and 44,500 women die from breast cancer.

(2) Taxol, a drug made from the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), has been successful in treating ovarian cancer in clinical trials and shows promise in the treatment of breast cancer and other types of cancer.

(3) The production of small amounts of taxol currently requires the use of large numbers of Pacific yew.

(4) The Pacific yew is a slow-growing tree species found in the Western United States.

(5) Significant numbers of Pacific yew trees are found in old-growth forests on Federal lands in the Pacific Northwest.

(6) Before the importance of taxol was discovered, the Pacific yew was considered a trash tree and was often burned in slash piles after timber operations.

(7) Remaining Pacific yew resources must be carefully managed in order to ensure a steady supply of taxol for the treatment of cancer, while also providing for the long-term conservation of the species.

(8) Appropriate management guidelines must be implemented promptly in order to prevent any wasting of the Pacific yew in current and future timber sales on Federal lands, while successful and affordable alternative methods of manufacturing taxol are being developed.

(b) Purposes

The purposes of this chapter are to contribute to the successful treatment of cancer by ensuring that Pacific yew trees located on lands of the National Forest System and on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management are managed to—

(1) provide for the efficient collection and utilization of those parts of the Pacific yew that can be used in the manufacture of taxol for the treatment of cancer;

(2) provide for the sale of Pacific yew from such lands for the commercial production and subsequent sale of taxol at a reasonable cost to cancer patients;

(3) ensure the long-term conservation of the Pacific yew; and

(4) prevent the wasting of Pacific yew resources while successful and affordable alternative methods of manufacturing taxol are being developed.

(c) “Secretary concerned” defined

For purposes of this chapter, the term “Secretary concerned” means—

(1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to lands and interests in lands under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service; and

(2) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to lands and interests in lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

(Pub. L. 102–335, §2, Aug. 7, 1992, 106 Stat. 859.)

Short Title

Section 1(a) of Pub. L. 102–335 provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Pacific Yew Act’.”