In a renewed push to address the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires across the American West, a group of senators has introduced the Fix Our Forests Act—bipartisan legislation aimed at streamlining federal forest management, restoring forest health and curbing the destructive wildfire seasons that have become all too common. The bill mirrors a similar measure that passed the House earlier this year with broad support.
“After months of bipartisan cooperation and consensus-building, my colleagues and I are introducing comprehensive legislation to support forest health, accelerate restoration, and equip local leaders—from fire chiefs to mayors—with the tools and data they need to protect lives, property, and landscapes,” said Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) who introduced the bill with Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and Alex Padilla (D-CA).
Fueled by climate change, prolonged drought, and decades of fuel buildup, wildfires in the West are burning hotter, faster and over more ground than ever, the lawmakers said. While supporters argue the Fix Our Forests Act is necessary to reverse this trend and prevent future devastation, critics—including some environmental groups—warn the legislation could weaken endangered species protections and not actually prevent costly wildfires.
To address challenges, the bill proposes to:
• Designate high-priority fireshed management areas across the West, focusing efforts on the top 20% of landscapes most at risk for wildfire exposure. These designations would guide targeted treatments to reduce wildfire risk to communities, critical watersheds and wildlife habitats, while promoting cross-boundary collaboration between federal, state, Tribal and local land managers.
• Strengthen interagency wildfire coordination by creating a comprehensive Fireshed Registry, a publicly accessible geospatial tool to track wildfire risk, completed projects, environmental review status and the effectiveness of fire mitigation efforts across the landscape.
• Streamline forest management tools by expanding stewardship contracts and good neighbor agreements, allowing projects that reduce hazardous fuels and restore forest health to move forward more quickly and flexibly, including larger treatment areas under categorical exclusions for wildfire resilience and post-disturbance restoration.
• Launch community-focused wildfire resilience initiatives, including an interagency program to help at-risk communities in the wildland-urban interface harden homes and infrastructure against wildfires. The program would consolidate grant applications, offer technical assistance and support public-private partnerships to strengthen local preparedness.
• Utilize grazing as a wildfire risk reduction tool by directing the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to develop a strategy for expanding targeted livestock grazing to reduce hazardous fuels. This includes streamlining grazing permit processes, allowing for temporary permits specifically for fuels management, and encouraging grazing for post-fire recovery and invasive grass control, recognizing grazing as a proactive landscape management practice.
• Reform forest-related litigation procedures to reduce delays in implementing forest health projects while preserving access to judicial review. The bill establishes clear standards for injunctive relief, limits the time window for legal challenges and encourages courts to consider wildfire risk and ecosystem health in their rulings.
• Modernize prescribed fire policies and partnerships by enhancing training, workforce development, liability protections and cooperative agreements to safely expand the use of prescribed burns—a scientifically proven tool to reduce wildfire risk and restore ecosystem health.
Environmental groups have strongly opposed the Fix Our Forests Act, warning that it would sideline science, shut out public input and fast-track logging across millions of acres of federal lands—all under the guise of wildfire prevention. Environmentalists argue the legislation would roll back cornerstone environmental protections, including the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, stripping away safeguards that ensure wildlife, ecosystems and local communities have a voice in land management decisions.
Environmental groups found Section 117 to be one of the most contentious provisions, which would expand livestock grazing as a wildfire management tool. They say it would allow “extreme levels of grazing” in sensitive areas like wilderness lands, national monuments and critical wildlife habitats.
“This bill fleeces America—increasing grazing on public lands and our protected wildernesses to reduce fire makes as much sense as a dentist filling a cavity with sugar,” said Katie Bilodeau, legislative director for Wilderness Watch. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
