Bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act Re-introduced in House
EDGEFIELD, SC — The National Wild Turkey Federation commends the introduction of the Fix our Forests Act, which addresses ongoing issues that slow active forest management and other conservation efforts on National Forests and hamper efforts to reduce wildfire risks.
Since 2000, over 164 million acres have been ravaged by wildfire, and the US has experienced some of the most devastating wildfires on record. More than 8.9 million acres burned in 2024 alone. Over 117 million acres of federal forests are vulnerable to wildfire due to their overgrown, unmanaged state. This threatens more than 44 million homes and the communities in and around these forests.
To expedite the scale and speeds necessary to restore the health and resiliency to our nation’s forests, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) have re-introduced the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) for the 119th Congress to take up.
“Much of the forestland across the country is in a state of emergency,” NWTF Co-CEO Kurt Dyroff said. “The NWTF is working hand-in-hand with the USDA Forest Service to address the growing risks caused by wildfires, drought, insects, and disease through our work under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and stewardship contracting throughout the country. But much more needs to be done, and it can’t wait any longer.”
The provisions of the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act will help NWTF and many other partners move the needle and bring our nation’s forests back into a healthy and resilient state that benefits water resources, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation and the local communities that depend on them.
The bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act of 2025 provides these potential solutions to challenges forest and land managers currently face:
- Simplify and expedite environmental reviews to reduce costs and planning times for critical forest management projects while maintaining rigorous environmental standards.
- Make communities more resilient to wildfire by coordinating existing grant programs and furthering new research.
- Promote federal, state, tribal and local collaboration by creating a new Fireshed Center and codifying the Shared Stewardship initiative.
- Stop frivolous litigation and endless agency consultations that delay needed forest management activities.
- Give agencies new emergency tools to restore watersheds, protect communities in the wildland-urban-interface and prevent forest conversion.
- 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 addressing wildfire, drought, insects and disease.
- Revitalize rural economies by strengthening tools such as Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting.
- Adopt new and innovative technologies to address forest health threats and suppress wildfires quickly and more efficiently.
- Harden utility rights-of-way against wildfire by encouraging more active management and the removal of dangerous hazard trees.
- Support wildland firefighters and their families through the creation of a new Casualty Assistance Program.
The NWTF encourages our members to reach out to their congressional delegates and ask them to be champions for our nation’s forests and the Fix Our Forests Act of 2025.