This week, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act, a bill supported by Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), which would improve the health and resiliency of America’s forests.

The legislation was supported by every House Republican and 64 House Democrats.

More than 117 million acres of forests in the United States are overgrown, prone to fires, and in need of active management. The bill would enable expedited approvals for vegetation management, directly benefiting the safety of communities in rural Arizona.

Last Congress, this legislation passed out of the House of Representatives; however, the Democrat-controlled Senate did not hold a vote on the bill. 

Prior to the passage of this bill, Rep. Crane supported the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act, which authorized funds to be used for firefighter training, equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, and general emergency response needs. 

The Fix Our Forests Act would:

• Simplify and expedite environmental reviews to reduce costs and planning times for critical forest management projects while maintaining rigorous environmental standards.
  
• End frivolous litigation that delays needed forest management projects.
  
• Utilize state-of-the-art science to prioritize the treatment of forests at the highest risk of wildfire.
  
• Incentivize forest management projects of up to 10,000 acres to increase the pace and scale of active management.
  
• Promote federal, state, tribal, and local collaboration by creating a new Fireshed Center and codifying the Shared Stewardship initiative.
  
• Make communities more resilient to wildfire by coordinating existing grant programs and incentivizing new research.
  
• Give agencies new tools to restore watersheds, protect communities in the wildland-urban interface and prevent forest conversion.
  
• Revitalize rural economies by strengthening tools such as Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting.
  
• Adopt new and innovative technologies to address forest health threats like wildfires, drought, insects and disease.
  
• Harden utility rights-of-way against wildfire by encouraging more active managementand removal of dangerous hazard trees.

Background:

• The federal government owns and manages approximately 640 million acres of land, primarily located in Western states where wildfires are most prevalent.  
  
• Federal land management agencies have identified 117 million acres of federal land at high or very high risk for wildfire, and wildfires have damaged over 164 million acres since 2000.
  
• The U.S. Forest Service has a reforestation backlog of 4 million acres, 80% of which is the result of wildfire. Despite this declining state, the USFS treated just 3.21 million acres through hazardous fuels reductions in FY 2022, which has resulted in fires in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.

In preparation for fire season:

• Sign up for local emergency updates.
  
• Thin & space trees to prevent fire spread.
  
• Clear underbrush & flammable hazards.
  
• Add fire-resistant plants & shrubs.
  
• Prepare an emergency go-kit with food, water, & supplies.
  
• Have an evacuation plan & know your evacuation zone.
  
• Do not wait for orders to evacuate.