This Thursday, a Senate committee will convene to discuss the Fix Our Forests Act, which aims to mitigate the impact of devastating wildfires. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives in January with support from both parties, faces opposition from environmental organizations.
The legislation proposes the designation of certain vulnerable regions as “firesheds” and plans to establish an interagency Fireshed Center. Additional measures include accelerating forest thinning and conducting prescribed burns.
Neil Chapman, a forest health expert from Flagstaff, notes the bill aligns with nine recommendations from over 160 suggested by a federally appointed wildfire commission. However, Chapman also points out the bill’s limitations in enhancing community defenses, stating: “It’s a good start, but it’s not 100 percent of what our community needs to say holistically we’ve reduced our wildfire risk across both natural and built environments.”
Environmental groups criticize the bill for bypassing environmental assessments in the newly designated firesheds and for easing the stipulations of the Endangered Species Act.
Ashley Nunes, a public lands expert at the Center for Biological Diversity, argues, “These environmental rollbacks do nothing to address wildfires, these environmental rollbacks do nothing to make forests healthier or protect communities.” Nunes also mentions that the bill’s broad language may allow the timber industry to exploit certain loopholes.
Read an analysis of the bill from the Alliance for Wildfire Resilience.
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