Fix Our Forests Act

This bill aims to lower the risk of destructive wildfires and restore overgrown forests on federal and Tribal lands. It targets work in high‑risk “firesheds,” creates a new center to use data to predict fire and smoke, and puts a public map online so people can see where projects are needed and happening . It also speeds up approvals so crews can thin trees, clear brush, and remove hazard trees, with some projects allowed to move forward without long environmental reviews, and it narrows lawsuits over these projects to keep work moving .

It helps communities reduce risk and recover. A new interagency program offers a one‑stop grant portal and support for fire‑resistant building, local plans, and dealing with smoke and other health impacts. Utilities get clearer, faster rules to cut hazard trees and manage power‑line corridors; work avoids wilderness areas, can’t add permanent roads, and must remove any temporary roads after the job . The bill boosts replanting after fires by building up the nation’s supply of native seed and by funding priority reforestation projects . It tests tools like turning forest waste into biochar, which can improve soils and support rural jobs, and it encourages targeted livestock grazing to reduce the dry grasses that feed fires .

• Who is affected: People in fire‑prone communities (including Tribal communities), electric utilities and nearby landowners, forest workers and wildland firefighters and their families .
• What changes: Focus on high‑risk firesheds with a new data center and public map; faster approvals for forest‑health work; quicker hazard‑tree clearing near power lines; more replanting and native seed; biochar pilots and targeted grazing; better public reporting on acres treated and results .
• When: Some steps start quickly (for example, the community program within 30 days), others roll out over 1–2 years (like seed and reforestation efforts), and several programs run for up to 7 years .