To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and improve forest management activities on National Forest System lands, on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on Tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseMr. Westerman (for himself, Mr. Peters, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Panetta, …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Fix Our Forests Act creates a new federal framework for managing wildfire-prone forests and reducing fire risk in communities. It establishes "fireshed management areas" across high-risk landscapes, creates a new interagency Fireshed Center for coordination, and significantly streamlines environmental review processes to speed up forest thinning and fuel reduction projects.
Who Benefits and How
The timber industry benefits from expanded harvesting authority on federal lands, longer stewardship contracts (extended from 10 to 20 years), and categorical exclusions that bypass environmental impact assessments for many forest management projects. Electric utilities gain streamlined vegetation management rights-of-way (expanded from 10 feet to 150 feet) and automatic approval of maintenance plans. State and local governments receive new partnership agreements and revenue-sharing opportunities from timber sales on federal lands. Indian Tribes gain expanded self-governance authority over forest management and recognition of traditional cultural burning practices.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Environmental advocacy groups face reduced ability to challenge forest projects in court, as the bill restricts injunctions unless plaintiffs can prove imminent environmental harm, and limits litigation timelines to 120 days. Federal land management agencies must meet accelerated project timelines and new coordination requirements. Environmental review processes under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and the Endangered Species Act are curtailed for many forest management activities.
Key Provisions
- Designates landscape-scale "fireshed management areas" in the highest-risk 20% of fire-prone regions for expedited treatment
- Creates categorical exclusions from NEPA for projects up to 10,000 acres, allowing forest thinning and prescribed burns without full environmental review
- Eliminates requirement to reinitiate Endangered Species Act consultations when new species are listed or new information emerges
- Expands Good Neighbor Authority to allow special districts to conduct timber harvests on federal land and retain revenue
- Establishes a 7-year emergency fireshed management authority with streamlined approval processes
- Limits courts from issuing injunctions against forest management projects unless plaintiffs prove "proximate and substantial environmental harm"
- Expands electric utility rights-of-way for vegetation management from 10 feet to 150 feet on federal lands
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Establishes a comprehensive framework for wildfire risk reduction and forest management through fireshed designation, interagency coordination, streamlined environmental reviews, and expanded partnerships with states, tribes, and local governments.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Accelerate forest management and wildfire prevention by streamlining environmental reviews through categorical exclusions, expanding acreage limits for projects, creating new interagency coordination structures, and limiting litigation options for challenging forest projects"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Timber industry (expanded timber harvest authority, streamlined permitting)
- Electric utilities (streamlined rights-of-way management, vegetation management authority)
- State and local governments (new partnership authority, revenue sharing)
- Indian Tribes (expanded self-governance, cultural burning recognition)
- Ranchers and grazing permittees (grazing for fuel reduction authority)
- Wildland firefighters (casualty assistance program)
- Communities in fire-prone areas (community protection programs)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Environmental advocacy groups (reduced litigation options, streamlined NEPA reviews)
- Federal land management agencies (new coordination requirements, accelerated timelines)
- Federal courts (restricted injunctive relief standards)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the Fireshed Center
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary_concerned"
- → Secretary of Agriculture (for National Forest System lands) or Secretary of Interior (for public lands)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary_concerned"
- → Secretary of Agriculture (for National Forest System lands) or Secretary of Interior (for public lands)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretaries"
- → Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Interior (jointly)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretaries"
- → Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Interior (jointly)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary_of_interior"
- → Secretary of Interior
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary_of_interior"
- → Secretary of Interior
Note: The term Secretary means Secretary of Agriculture throughout the Act, but Secretary concerned varies based on land jurisdiction (Agriculture for National Forest System lands, Interior for public lands)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The Director of the Fireshed Center appointed under section 102
A landscape-scale area that faces similar wildfire threat where a response strategy could influence the wildfire outcome
A project under section 106
The fireshed registry established under section 103
A land use plan prepared by BLM, Forest Service land and resource management plan, or a tribal forest management plan
The Governor or any other appropriate executive official of an affected State or Indian Tribe or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Any vegetation management activities that reduce the risk of wildfire, including mechanical thinning, mastication, prescribed burning, cultural burning, timber harvest, and grazing
As defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003
Land held in trust by the United States for an Indian Tribe or member that is Indian forest land or has/formerly had vegetative cover
The Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Agriculture for National Forest System lands; Secretary of Interior for public lands
A political subdivision of a State with budgetary autonomy created for performing a limited governmental function
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology