Sponsors (3)
The bill increases and stabilizes federal support for wildfire recovery and landscape restoration—benefiting rural communities, landowners, and planners—while introducing plan-based eligibility constraints and potential budget trade-offs that may limit flexibility and shift funding away from other programs.
Rural and local communities will receive expanded funding for wildfire recovery projects that rebuild and harden land and infrastructure, improving resilience to future fires.
State and local agencies and stakeholders gain multi-year certainty because the program authority is extended through 2031, aiding longer-term planning and investments in landscape restoration.
Landowners, watersheds, and agricultural interests will benefit from expanded eligible activities that improve soil, water, and related natural resources, supporting water quality and productivity.
Taxpayers and state governments may face increased federal spending or reallocation of conservation dollars as eligible activities expand and the program is extended, potentially diverting funds from other programs.
Local initiatives and smaller projects could be disadvantaged because projects must be identified in State forest action plans or similar priority plans, favoring activities already in those plans.
Landowners and communities near roadless areas may face restrictions on some restoration or access activities due to tighter consistency with Roadless Area Conservation rules, limiting certain project options.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership to cover wildfire recovery and soil/water enhancement, requires NRCS–Forest Service coordination, and extends authorities through 2031.
Official title: To reauthorize the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership program, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 15, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress July 15, 2025
Amends the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership program to broaden eligible activities, explicitly add wildfire recovery and soil/water resource enhancement, and require the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief to coordinate with the Forest Service and consider Forest Service management plans. The bill also clarifies selection/evaluation language, updates regulatory cross-references to Forest Service roadless area rules, and extends certain statutory authority periods through 2031. These changes increase coordinated federal support for landscape restoration and post-wildfire recovery, adjust how project proposals are evaluated (including ties to State forest action or similar priority plans), and extend the program's authorization timeline to 2031.