Our national forests are under increasing pressure. From catastrophic wildfires to overgrown, unhealthy stands and delayed restoration projects, the need for strong, proactive forest management has never been greater. That’s why representatives Bruce Westerman from Arkansas and Scott Peters from California have introduced the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA). This legislation would apply to forests managed by both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
What this bill does:
- Reducing wildfire risk and protecting access: Wildfires devastate not only the natural landscape, but also trail systems, access roads, bridges and recreation infrastructure. FOFA seeks to accelerate forest treatments to reduce the risk of megafires and thereby help preserve the very lands we use and love.
- Getting projects done more quickly: Long delays in planning, environmental review and inter-agency consultation often stall work on federal land. FOFA aims to streamline processes so restoration, fuel-reduction, thinning and forest health work can happen faster.
- Better collaboration across boundary lines: Forests do not adhere to jurisdictional borders: federal lands, state lands, tribal lands, private in-holdings all are connected. FOFA strengthens tools for shared stewardship, cross-agency coordination and local involvement.
- Safeguarding watersheds and recreation environments: Healthy forests provide stable soils, clean water, scenic trails, and abundant wildlife. By addressing overgrowth, disease, insect infestations and fire-fuel build-up, FOFA supports the long-term integrity of recreation lands.
In short: when forests become unhealthy, the trails, access roads, campsites and recreational opportunities we use suffer. Supporting prudent forest management ultimately benefits our community, our economy and our access.
What is in the bill:
Here’s a plain-language summary of what FOFA sets out to do:
- Designate “fireshed management areas” – These are high-priority zones where wildfire risk is elevated and proactive, large-scale restoration is most needed.
- Create a new Wildfire / Fireshed Intelligence Center – Under the bill, the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) would establish an inter-agency center to assess fire risk, track data, provide geospatial mapping of firesheds and support decision-making.
- Establish a Fireshed Registry – A publicly accessible interactive map and database of the firesheds (and the risk conditions in them) so that land-managers, communities, recreation users and others can see where work is needed.
- Expand and expedite forest-health and wildfire-mitigation tools:
- Strengthen “Good Neighbor” agreements and stewardship contracting so that federal lands can partner with states, tribes, non-profits and local groups to do forest thinning, prescribed fire, removal of hazard trees, fuel-breaks, vegetation restoration and more.
- Exempt certain low-impact, high-priority work from lengthy environmental reviews (or accelerate them) under laws like the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) and the National Historic Preservation Act.
- Give additional emphasis to locally-led restoration and watershed protection work — including vegetation management in riparian zones, floodplains, and managing fuels to reduce fire spread into recreation infrastructure and adjacent communities.
- Provide support for reforestation and nursery capacity – The bill recognizes that after severe wildfire or insect/disease damage, we need sufficient seedlings, native seed banks and restoration capacity to bring forests back.
- Shorten timelines for litigation and judicial review of covered agency actions – This means that for certain projects in high-priority firesheds, courts must act quickly and cannot indefinitely delay restoration work.
Why BRC supports it:
- We believe in responsible access — ensuring the forests we use are safe, maintained and resilient.
- We believe in on-the-ground results — not endless delays. This bill helps move from planning to action.
- We respect the multiple-use mandate of our public lands — that includes recreation, habitat, timber, watershed and ecosystem health. FOFA moves toward a balanced approach: thinning, restoration and fuels reduction to protect those uses and keep forests healthy for future generations.
- We support local and collaborative solutions — recognizing that many of the best actions come from local partners, state foresters, tribes and community groups working together with federal managers.
- We understand that wildfire risk is a recreation threat — It’s not just about trees burning, but trails destroyed, access impaired, watershed damage, smoke choking riding seasons, and the resulting costs to communities. We stand for protecting the recreation lifestyle.
