Cooperative Funds Act  The Cooperative Funds Act is a United States law, or series of laws, which authorized the United States Forest Service (FS) to collect donations from private partners to perform FS work. Contributions had to be voluntary, and by cash, check, or money order only. It was also stipulated that there could be no conflict of interest between the donor and the FS. The FS must have appropriate statutory authority prior to entering into any grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement which could result in the use, obligation, or other commitment of any Forest Service resources. To this end, the Congress has passed several authorizations, including:   Cooperative agreements used may include the types of instruments contemplated under Section 1587.03 of the Forest Service Manual. Also, Federal Financial Assistance instruments (grants or cooperative agreements) may be used. Authority to use all these instruments is the Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, FSM 1587.15, FSH 1509.11, Chapter 60, Wyden Amendment, Section 323(A), as included in Public Law 105-277, Div. A, Section 101 (e) as amended by Public Law 107-63, Section 330.