Clackamas River in the Mt. Hood National Forest - Photo by Kai McMurtry
by Amanda Short
Legislative Committee Member
Sierra Club Oregon
Having lived most of my adult life between Central Oregon and California, I'm no stranger to the devastating impact of wildfires on our homes, health, and communities. These fires have intensified as policy makers fail to implement crucial climate change mitigation measures.
The proposed Fix Our Forest Act (FOFA) is a misguided bill that would hand over control of our national forests to the Trump administration, bypassing crucial environmental safeguards like NEPA and ESA under the guise of wildfire prevention.
FOFA prioritizes large-scale logging on public lands without environmental reviews, essentially giving a blank check to the timber industry. It neglects funding for proven wildfire mitigation tactics like home hardening and emergency planning, which would directly protect communities.
Coming on the heels of Trump's executive order to increase timber targets and his administration's gutting of the Forest Service, FOFA appears to prioritize industry profits over genuine wildfire prevention and environmental protection. We need policies grounded in science that truly safeguard our communities and forests, not legislation that serves special interests.
I respectively urge Senators Wyden and Merkley and Representative Bynum to oppose the Fix Our Forest Act.
As seend in Bend's the Source on May 28, 2025