Environment America recognizes the urgent need to protect communities from the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires, and we support efforts by members of Congress to do so. But instead of promoting policies and forest management practices grounded in science, the Fix Our Forests Act bypasses critical environmental laws that protect our ecosystems and restricts scientific input and public engagement. The bill could have devastating consequences for the environment and endangered species.
Protecting communities from wildfires is becoming increasingly difficult as they grow more frequent and intense with climate change. Despite its name, the Fix Our Forests Act (H.R. 471) introduced by Arkansas Representative Bruce Westerman would weaken critical science-based management practices for maintaining forest health. More than 85 environmental groups, including Environment America, oppose this bill. Here’s why:
- Under the guise of forest restoration and wildfire prevention, the Fix Our Forests Act aims to undermine core environmental protection laws, namely the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires the environmental impacts of all major federal actions—whether a new highway, mining project, or the clearing of a forest—to be considered before implementation, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which protects endangered plants and animals from extinction and conserves the ecosystems on which they depend.
- This bill proposes to exempt a sweeping range of “vegetation management activities” (aka logging) from environmental review on millions of acres of federal land, leaving forests at risk from reckless logging projects. Not only can inappropriate logging destroy habitats and ecosystems, but it can also increase the risk of wildfires by increasing direct sunlight to the forest floor, accelerating wind speeds and leaving behind combustible dead surface vegetation that fuels flames.
- The Fix Our Forests Act seeks to prevent citizens from holding federal agencies accountable by limiting their ability to file lawsuits that would undergo review by a judge. This review is an important check and balance in our government that enables citizens to participate in decision-making and express environmental concerns. This bill would also reduce the ability of members of the public, including scientists and experts, to participate in the review processes.
Forest management practices should support ecosystem resilience, not compromise it.
