Fix Our Forests Act
To reduce wildfire risks, this bill fast-tracks tree thinning, controlled burns, and commercial timber cutting across high-risk federal lands by exempting projects up to 10,000 acres from standard environmental impact studies. It limits the public's ability to delay or stop these forestry projects by imposing a 120-day deadline on lawsuits and severely restricting a judge’s power to issue project-halting injunctions. The measure also lets power companies cut down trees up to 150 feet away from power lines without separate timber permits, and it expands the ability of state, tribal, and local governments to build roads and manage federal forest projects. Finally, it creates a simplified application portal for local fire-prevention grants, requires faster federal repayments to local fire departments, and provides travel support and dedicated caseworkers to families of fallen or injured firefighters.
What this bill touches.
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Electric utilities operating on federal landsExpands authorized hazard tree clearing along electric power lines on federal land from 10 feet to 150 feet, provides for automatic plan approval after 120 days if federal agencies do not act, categorically excludes vegetation and inspection plans from NEPA environmental assessments and impact statements, and allows cutting and removing trees near power lines without a formal timber sale contract.
- Local fire departmentsRequires federal agencies to establish procedures reimbursing local fire departments for reciprocal fire suppression costs upon invoice submission, under a standard aiming for reimbursement within one year.
- Next-of-kin and survivors of wildland firefighters and support personnelCreates the Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program to provide casualty notifications, reimburse travel expenses to visit hospitalized personnel, assign case managers, and help secure federal survivor benefits when personnel are critically injured, fall ill, or are killed in the line of duty.
- Special districtsExpands Good Neighbor Authority to include special districts, allowing them to enter into cooperative agreements with federal land agencies, carry out authorized restoration services and road construction, and retain leftover timber sale funds to cover program administration costs.
- Indian TribesRequires federal agencies to enter into shared stewardship agreements within 90 days of request, prioritizes protection of tribal water supplies and resources in fireshed assessments, and authorizes collaborative white oak research agreements with land-grant institutions and Tribes.
- Federal stewardship contractorsDoubles the maximum stewardship contract term from 10 to 20 years and mandates that the federal government pay a 10 percent cancellation fee on contracts running longer than 5 years if the contract is canceled or terminated early by the government.
- Commercial timber purchasersRaises the maximum value cap for non-advertised federal timber sales from $10,000 to $55,000, indexes that cap to inflation starting in 2027, and directs the Forest Service to solicit bids for fireshed management projects.
- Biochar producers and researchersAuthorizes competitive research grants and public-private commercial demonstration partnerships for biochar facilities, providing federal funding covering up to 35 percent of facility capital costs.
- Private forest landownersProvides voluntary technical assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service to help private landowners restore, manage, and regenerate white oak stands, and authorizes participation in the Water Source Protection Program on adjacent private land with written consent.
Who it burdens
- Electric utilities operating on federal landsRequires electric utilities that cut and sell timber removed along power lines under a Forest Service special use permit or easement to pay all net proceeds from the sale back to the Forest Service, after subtracting transportation costs.
- Litigants challenging federal fireshed projectsImposes a 120-day statute of limitations, restricts standing to parties who submitted specific public comments, bars preliminary injunctions unless plaintiffs demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits and proximate, substantial environmental harm, and requires courts to balance the harms of agency inaction against action.
- Biochar demonstration project partnersRequires participating entities to derive at least 50 percent of their biochar feedstock from thinning and vegetation management activities conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands.
The provisions, in plain language.
Show all 41 provisions
Designates high-risk fireshed management areas covering the top 20 percent of firesheds most threatened by wildfire, updates the designations every five years, and exempts the selection of these areas from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review.
Directs the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for seven years to carry out fireshed management projects—including thinning, tree removal, and fuel breaks—using expedited emergency environmental procedures and existing categorical exclusions.
Increases the acreage limit from 3,000 or 4,500 acres up to 10,000 acres for categorical exclusions from NEPA review for federal hazardous fuels and insect treatments, and expands eligibility to special districts.
Expands Good Neighbor Authority to include special districts, allows timber sale revenues to be used to build and replace permanent roads and administer programs, and extends the authority through 2030.
Extends the maximum length of federal stewardship contracts from 10 to 20 years and requires the government to pay a 10 percent cancellation penalty if a contract running longer than 5 years is canceled early.
Limits court injunctions against fireshed projects by requiring plaintiffs to prove likelihood of success and proximate environmental harm, requiring judges to weigh the harms of agency inaction against action, and establishing a 120-day lawsuit filing deadline.
Exempts the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management from having to reinitiate Endangered Species Act consultation on existing broad land management plans when a new species is listed or new critical habitat is designated.
Establishes a seven-year interagency wildfire reduction program and creates a unified online portal allowing communities to use a single simplified application to apply for federal wildfire, emergency management, and hazard mitigation grants.
Expands authorized hazard tree removal along electric utility power lines on federal lands from 10 feet to 150 feet, requires consulting private landowners, and automatically approves utility vegetation plans if agencies do not act within 120 days.
Establishes a casualty assistance program to notify families, reimburse travel expenses to visit hospitalized personnel, provide case management, and assist with federal benefits when wildland firefighters are killed or critically injured in the line of duty.
Establishes an interagency Fireshed Center operated jointly by the Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey to predict fire and smoke behavior, coordinate data and artificial intelligence tools, and support fire suppression and fuels management.
Directs the Fireshed Center to maintain a public online registry mapping wildfire hazards and to operate a dashboard tracking federal environmental review timelines, permit compliance, and project costs.
Requires the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to enter into shared stewardship agreements within 90 days of receiving a request from a state governor or Indian Tribe to jointly plan wildfire risk reduction projects.
Requires federal land managers and partner states or Tribes to conduct joint fireshed assessments that prioritize projects protecting communities and drinking water, exempting those assessments from NEPA review.
Authorizes federal land managers to deploy interagency strike teams of employees, contractors, and volunteers for up to seven years to accelerate environmental reviews, historic consultations, and project preparation.
Raises the cap on non-advertised federal timber sales from $10,000 to $55,000, indexes that cap to inflation beginning January 2027, and directs the Forest Service to solicit bids for fireshed projects.
Expands the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Program to fund post-wildfire recovery and soil and water protection, and reauthorizes the program through 2030.
Reauthorizes the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program through 2030 and prioritizes projects that treat bark beetle infestations, sell firewood and Christmas trees, and protect cross-boundary drinking water sources.
Directs the Forest Service to develop a strategy to use permitted livestock grazing to reduce wildfire risks, including completing reviews to allow grazing on vacant allotments during droughts and wildfires.
Expands the Water Source Protection Program to include adjacent non-federal lands with landowner consent and authorizes acequia associations, stormwater managers, and wastewater entities to enter into project agreements.
Establishes a seven-year research program and prize competition within the Joint Fire Science Program to test and scale wildfire-resistant building materials and neighborhood designs.
Categorically excludes the approval and routine execution of electric utility vegetation management and power line inspection plans on federal lands from NEPA environmental assessments and environmental impact statements.
Directs the Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, and Defense to create a strategy to increase domestic supplies of native and fire-resistant seeds, expand cold storage warehouses, and shorten seed collection permit reviews.
Directs the Department of the Interior to establish a seven-year reforestation program to identify disturbed public lands that cannot naturally regenerate and fund annual priority restoration contracts and agreements.
Requires federal land agencies to establish standard operating procedures that reimburse local fire departments for reciprocal fire suppression costs within one year of billing.
Establishes a seven-year program of biochar demonstration partnerships and research grants, requiring at least 50 percent of the wood feedstock used to come from thinning projects on federal forest lands.
Mandates standardized data tracking and requires the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to submit annual public reports on the total acreage, per-acre costs, and effectiveness of hazardous fuels reduction projects.
Establishes a seven-year pilot program to test and demonstrate emerging technologies—including artificial intelligence, infrared satellites, and mesh communications—for wildfire detection, prevention, and response.
Directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate Forest Service firefighting operations, budget transparency, and the feasibility of creating a separate federal wildland fire agency.
Directs the Forest Service to conduct a study evaluating potential western locations across at least three states for a new Western headquarters.
Protects the Forest Service from being found in legal violation solely because a land management plan is older than 15 years, while requiring online publication of updated plans and monitoring reports.
Directs federal land agencies to evaluate container aerial firefighting systems for wildfire suppression.
Directs the Forest Service to study the causes, effects, and solutions for pine beetle infestations in northeastern forests.
Allows the Forest Service to permit electric utilities to cut and remove trees near power lines without a formal timber sale, requiring utilities to remit net sales revenues back to the agency.
Establishes the White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition as a voluntary collaborative group to coordinate white oak restoration policies and research across federal, state, tribal, and private lands.
Directs the Forest Service to carry out five seven-year pilot projects in national forests to restore and naturally regenerate white oak stands.
Directs the Department of the Interior to assess white oak presence across its lands and conduct five seven-year restoration pilot projects.
Establishes a seven-year voluntary white oak habitat regeneration program and partners with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to award conservation grants and technical assistance.
Directs the Forest Service to implement a national strategy to expand public and private tree nursery capacity to address nationwide seedling shortages.
Authorizes seven-year collaborative research agreements with Indian Tribes and land-grant colleges on white oak genetics, climate adaptation, and mine site reforestation.
Directs the Natural Resources Conservation Service for seven years to provide technical assistance to private landowners to help restore, manage, and regenerate white oak forests.
Designates high-risk fireshed management areas covering the top 20 percent of firesheds most threatened by wildfire, updates the designations every five years, and exempts the selection of these areas from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review.
Directs the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for seven years to carry out fireshed management projects—including thinning, tree removal, and fuel breaks—using expedited emergency environmental procedures and existing categorical exclusions.
Increases the acreage limit from 3,000 or 4,500 acres up to 10,000 acres for categorical exclusions from NEPA review for federal hazardous fuels and insect treatments, and expands eligibility to special districts.
Expands Good Neighbor Authority to include special districts, allows timber sale revenues to be used to build and replace permanent roads and administer programs, and extends the authority through 2030.
Extends the maximum length of federal stewardship contracts from 10 to 20 years and requires the government to pay a 10 percent cancellation penalty if a contract running longer than 5 years is canceled early.
Limits court injunctions against fireshed projects by requiring plaintiffs to prove likelihood of success and proximate environmental harm, requiring judges to weigh the harms of agency inaction against action, and establishing a 120-day lawsuit filing deadline.
Exempts the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management from having to reinitiate Endangered Species Act consultation on existing broad land management plans when a new species is listed or new critical habitat is designated.
Establishes a seven-year interagency wildfire reduction program and creates a unified online portal allowing communities to use a single simplified application to apply for federal wildfire, emergency management, and hazard mitigation grants.
Expands authorized hazard tree removal along electric utility power lines on federal lands from 10 feet to 150 feet, requires consulting private landowners, and automatically approves utility vegetation plans if agencies do not act within 120 days.
Establishes a casualty assistance program to notify families, reimburse travel expenses to visit hospitalized personnel, provide case management, and assist with federal benefits when wildland firefighters are killed or critically injured in the line of duty.
How your members of Congress line up
How members voted on Fix Our Forests Act.
Recorded roll calls on this bill, most recent first. Open one to see each member's position.
How it moved.
Show all 20 actions
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 119-27.
- Received in the Senate.
- Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 279 - 141 (Roll no. 25). (text: CR H321-333)
- Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 279 - 141 (Roll no. 25). (text: CR H321-333)
- Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H346-347)
- POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 471, the Chair put the question on passage of the bill and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Peters demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
- The House adopted the amendments en gros as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
- The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
- The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 471.
- DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 53, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Carbajal amendment No. 2.
- DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 53, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Perry amendment No. 1.
- GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 471.
- The Speaker designated the Honorable Dale W. Strong to act as Chairman of the Committee.
- House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 53 and Rule XVIII.
- Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 471 and S. 5. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 471 under a structured rule with one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit. Also, the resolution provides for consideration of S. 5 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate and one motion to commit.
- Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 53. (consideration: CR H312-335)
- Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 53 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 471 and S. 5. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 471 under a structured rule with one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit. Also, the resolution provides for consideration of S. 5 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate and one motion to commit.
- Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Introduced in House
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 119-27.
- Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 279 - 141 (Roll no. 25). (text: CR H321-333)
- Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 279 - 141 (Roll no. 25). (text: CR H321-333)
- The House adopted the amendments en gros as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
- Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 53 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 471 and S. 5. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 471 under a structured rule with one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit. Also, the resolution provides for consideration of S. 5 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate and one motion to commit.
- Introduced in House
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Sources & provenance
Cite this page
Civic Herald. “Fix Our Forests Act (H.R. 471, 119th Congress).” https://civicherald.app/bills/119-hr-471. Congress.gov record as of Jul 13, 2026.