After 4 years of hard work by the House and Senate; the Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act was signed by President George W. Bush on October 11, 2006 and is now law. It is referenced as HR2720 or Public Law 109-320 and can be viewed online at the Library of Congress.

Numerous people were involved in making this law a reality – special thanks to the bill's two sponsors, Representative Steve Pearce (R - NM) and Senator Pete Domenici (R - NM). The principle components of the Act include:

• Authorization to fund $80 million for large-scale demonstrations and associated research over a five year period
• Assessment of the tamarisk and Russian olive problem during the first year
• Assessment of bio-mass reduction and utilization
• Demonstration projects for control and revegetation which will serve as research platforms to assess restoration effectiveness, water savings, wildfire potential, wildlife habitat, biomass removal, and economics of restoration
• Project funding will be 75% federal and 25% local with the federal share extending up to $7,000,000 per project
• Development of long-term management and funding strategies

The Department of the Interior will be the lead and will work with the United States Department of Agriculture through a memorandum of understanding to administer the Act.