RCRC strongly supports the Fix Our Forests Act (H.R. 471/S. 1462), which is co-sponsored by 21 members of California’s Congressional delegation, including U.S. Senator Alex Padilla. This measure would provide pathways to improve and expedite forest management and wildfire prevention measures on USDA Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, as well as on tribal lands; and to improve forest resilience, watershed health, and resistance to wildfire.
Specifically, the Fix our Forests Act would significantly improve the health of federal forest lands by prioritizing fire risk for federal lands nationwide; expanding collaborative tools to improve forest health such as allowing intra-agency strike teams; expanding the revenue provisions under Good Neighbor Authority; and addressing frivolous litigation under NEPA that can keep projects tied up in court for months or even years. The Fix Our Forests Act would create a number of categorical exclusions to expedite fuels treatment projects and would create programs designed to enhance and sustain interagency coordination and transparency.
RCRC member counties are home to more than 80 percent of USDA Forest Service (USFS) land across California, and the vast majority of the state’s BLM lands can be found in our rural counties. California’s catastrophic wildfires have profoundly impacted our rural communities over the past fifteen years, many of which originated on federally managed lands, such as the Caldor Fire, the August Complex Fire and the North Complex Fire. Wildfires on federal lands have cost the federal government billions of dollars in suppression, clean-up and disaster relief costs and have required unprecedented investments by state and local governments to provide firefighting, recovery and rebuilding resources to communities impacted by these fires. Reputable forest science has shown that our national forest lands are overstocked due to decades of overconservative timber harvest policies and overzealous fire suppression practices.
H.R. 471 passed the U.S. House in January and awaits action in the U.S. Senate. S. 1462 was introduced in April and awaits action in committee. RCRC’s most recent letter of support can be found here.
For additional information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate Staci Heaton.