Sponsors (8)
The bill preserves Forest Service discretion and avoids imposing new criminal penalties on employees and visitors, but that protection may weaken deterrence, raise public safety and economic costs in some forests, and create inconsistent enforcement across federal lands.
Forest Service employees and visitors on National Forest lands will not be subjected to new criminal penalties under the specified rule as applied to Forest Service lands.
The Forest Service will retain existing law enforcement practices and on-the-ground discretion, avoiding immediate procedural or operational changes for agency staff and nearby communities.
People who use National Forest lands (recreationists, campers, visitors) may face reduced protections or deterrence that the rule intended to provide, potentially lowering public safety in some locations.
Law enforcement agencies and the public may encounter inconsistent rules across federal lands if other agencies implement the rule while the Forest Service does not, complicating enforcement and causing public confusion.
Local communities and visitors could incur higher costs (cleanup, damage, enforcement gaps) if the Forest Service's reduced ability to deter or punish criminal conduct leads to more incidents.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits the U.S. Forest Service from administering, implementing, or enforcing the final rule "Law Enforcement; Criminal Prohibitions" (89 Fed. Reg. 92808) as to the Forest Service.
Official title: To prohibit the administration, implementation, or enforcement by the Forest Service of the rule relating to "Law Enforcement; Criminal Prohibitions".
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Celeste Maloy · Last progress December 17, 2025
Prohibits the U.S. Forest Service from administering, implementing, or enforcing the final rule titled "Law Enforcement; Criminal Prohibitions" published at 89 Fed. Reg. 92808 (Nov. 25, 2024), and declares that rule to have no force or effect as to the Forest Service. The bill is short and narrow: it does not change the underlying rule for other agencies, it only prevents the Forest Service from applying that particular rule. The measure affects how the Forest Service can exercise criminal prohibitions on National Forest System lands by removing its authority to apply the specified rule, which may change enforcement practices, compliance expectations for visitors and permittees, and how Forest Service law enforcement operates on those lands.