Proposed Forest Products Laboratory Agreement With the University of Wisconsin

An advance decision was requested as to whether the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) could enter into a proposed cooperative agreement with the University of Wisconsin. FPL has the authority to accept a bequest from a private citizen only for the purpose of establishing and operating forestry research facilities. It may not enter into a cooperative agreement to invest the proceeds of the bequest and use the income for special university seminars and student aid since the agency may not do indirectly what it cannot do directly. The proposed agreement provision which would permit the university to use funds for unspecified purposes in the future at its own option is not proper since the proposed provision does not limit future use of the funds to authorized purposes only.