Washington, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) introduced the Fix Our Forests Act, a comprehensive, bipartisan bill that will restore forest health, increase resiliency to catastrophic wildfires and protect communities.
"America’s forests are in jeopardy. Insufficient management driven by bureaucratic red tape and frivolous litigation have turned vast swaths of our federal forests into overgrown and unhealthy tinderboxes. The Fix Our Forests Act will revolutionize the way we manage our forests and support active and responsible management of federal lands with the best available technology and science, leaving them more resilient for generations to come." - House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.)
"Wildfires are more intense, frequent, and widespread today because of climate change and over a century of poor land management. In California the eight largest wildfires on record have occurred during the last decade, and in just one year, California wildfires contributed more to climate change than the state’s entire power sector. Our bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act is a comprehensive approach to restore our forests and defend our communities from catastrophic wildfires. Our legislation meets the enormity of this challenge, gives forest managers the tools they need to conduct their work, and promotes scientifically backed land management methods that have been practiced by Native communities for centuries. Finally, we ensure that strong environmental protections are kept in place, while expediting the schedule of work and reducing the threat of frivolous litigation." - U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.)
Background
The Fix Our Forests Act is a historic and comprehensive package that will encourage active forest management and support community resiliency to wildfires by expediting environmental analyses, reducing frivolous lawsuits and increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration projects.
The bill will:
- Simplify and expedite environmental reviews for forest management projects
- Promote federal, state, tribal and local collaboration
- Deter frivolous litigation that delays essential projects
- Create a framework for prioritizing treatments in the forests at highest risk of wildfire
- Encourage the adoption of state-of-the-art science and techniques for federal land managers
- Encourage active management to improve the safety of powerlines and other infrastructure
- Strengthen tools like Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting
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