Ian Brickey, ian.brickey@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, a Senate version of a controversial wildfire bill was introduced into the upper chamber.
The Fix Our Forests Act, a modified version of Rep. Bruce Westerman’s legislation of the same name, was introduced to the Senate for consideration. The bill is sponsored by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), John Curtis (R-UT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Tim Sheehy (R-MT).
The Fix Our Forests Act has been met with contention since its introduction to the House of Representatives last Congress. While the House bill purports to address wildfires, it primarily focuses on cutting environmental reviews in national forests to enable greater levels of industrial logging. It would also do nothing to address destructive urban fires, like those that struck the Los Angeles region in January, which are the result of warm, dry weather due to climate change and have nothing to do with forest management. .
The Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act does address some of these holistic wildfire concerns, such as mitigation in the built environment, but its cuts to bedrock environmental laws remain a serious concern. Various provisions in the bill would give the Trump Administration the tools to bypass critical scientific and public review in the name of fast tracking timber harvest.
In response, Anna Medema, Sierra Club’s Associate Director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy for Forests and Public Lands, released the following statement:
“Trump administration officials have talked a lot about wildfires recently, but actions speak louder than words. In just a few weeks in office, Donald Trump has let Elon Musk chaotically fire thousands of Forest Service employees, including wildfire prevention staff. He appointed a logging executive to run the country’s forestry agency, wants to slash departmental budgets, and even place conditions on fire recovery aid to score political points. No one can doubt that our country is facing a wildfire crisis, but nothing the Trump administration has done suggests it’s interested in or capable of addressing it.
“What they have shown is a consistent desire to hand over our national forests and public lands to billionaires and corporate polluters. Now is not the time to give this administration more tools to cut bedrock environmental laws, shut out judicial review, and give free rein to corporate loggers. We are concerned that the Fix Our Forests Act as written will do just that.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.