Amend SB 646 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____.  Section 88.103, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 88.103.  ENFORCEMENT; APPOINTMENT OF PEACE OFFICERS. The director may appoint not to exceed 25 employees of the Texas Forest Service who are certified by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education as qualified to be peace officers to serve as peace officers under the [his] direction of the director in executing the enforcement duties of that agency. The appointments must be approved by the board which shall commission the appointees as peace officers. Any officer commissioned under this section is vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers in the performance of the officer's [his] duties. The officer shall take the oath required of peace officers.

SECTION ____.  Section 88.105, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 88.105.  COOPERATION WITH PERSONS AND AGENCIES. On request, under the sanction of the board, and whenever the director [he] deems it essential to the best interests of the people of the state, the director shall cooperate with counties, towns, corporations, or individuals in preparing plans for the protection, management, and replacement of trees, woodlots, and timber tracts, under an agreement that the parties obtaining the assistance pay at least the field expenses of the persons [men] employed in preparing the plans. The board may cooperate with the National Forest Service under terms it deems desirable.

SECTION ____.  Section 88.106(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a)  The director, under the supervision of the board, may cooperate on forestry projects with the National Forest Service and other federal agencies.  Subject[; and, subject] to the authorization of the board, the director [he] may execute agreements relating to forest protection projects in cooperation with federal agencies and timberland owners and may also execute agreements with timberland owners involving supervision of forest protection and forest development projects when the projects are developed with the aid of loans from a federal agency and when the supervision by the state is required by federal statute or is deemed necessary by the federal agency.