Sponsors (6)
Official title: Address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public lands, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress January 16, 2025
The bill accelerates and expands hazardous fuels reduction and detection efforts—potentially reducing wildfire risk and creating jobs—while trading off reduced environmental review, public input, and added administrative and taxpayer costs that could harm ecosystems, tribal resources, and generate legal conflict.
Rural and urban residents in wildfire-prone areas will see more acres treated (thinning and prescribed burns), reducing local wildfire risk and protecting homes and lives.
Federal land managers will have clearer statutory definitions and scope, reducing ambiguity about which lands and activities are covered so agencies can apply fuels-reduction programs more consistently.
Taxpayers and state/local governments will get improved transparency and performance measurement through annual public reports and standardized tracking (acres treated, cost-per-acre), which can increase accountability and program efficiency.
Tribal members, rural residents, and recreation users may experience increased ecological, wildlife habitat, or cultural-site damage because faster or expanded treatments and categorical exclusions reduce environmental review and protections.
Local governments, tribes, and nearby residents will face reduced public input and NEPA review (including exemptions for goal-setting and categorical exclusions), limiting community oversight of planning and project decisions.
Rural communities and local governments may be left without coverage or timely fuels reduction where narrower statutory definitions exclude certain lands or activities, creating gaps and administrative uncertainty.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Sets stepped acreage treatment targets for thinning/prescribed fire, streamlines environmental review for specific hazard-tree work, and creates a 7-year wildfire tech pilot program.
Directs the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to measure recent baseline acres treated for hazardous-fuels reduction (mechanical thinning and prescribed fire), publish annual treatment goals starting in FY2025 that ramp up to at least 40% above baseline by FY2029, and assign regional/state allotments. It requires annual public reporting on treated acres, limitations to meeting goals, and insect/disease/high-hazard area tracking. The bill also eases vegetation removal near transmission and distribution lines (including allowing permittees to remove hazard trees without a separate timber sale), lowers certain timber-sale dollar thresholds, directs categorical NEPA exclusions for defined high-priority hazard-tree activities, mandates use of streamlined environmental-review authorities, and creates a seven-year pilot program to test emerging wildfire-prevention and detection technologies.