To establish an Outdoor Restoration Fund for restoration and resilience projects, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
The Protect the West Act of 2025 creates a $60 billion Outdoor and Watershed Restoration Fund in the Treasury to finance large-scale ecological restoration and wildfire resilience across the United States. The fund is split into $20 billion for a competitive grant program (available to state, local, and tribal governments, special districts, and nonprofits) and $40 billion for a federal Restoration and Resilience Partnership Program focused on designated high-wildfire-risk areas. A 15-member advisory council (including representatives from resource industries, conservation groups, governments, and national experts) guides fund disbursement. The grant program supports planning, coordination, monitoring, wildfire-resistive construction, and equitable outdoor access on non-federal land. The partnership program prioritizes prescribed fire reintroduction, hazardous fuel reduction, old-growth retention, habitat improvement, and water quality. Projects may not be carried out in wilderness areas, inventoried roadless areas, or to remove old-growth stands. The Secretary of Agriculture may use pay-for-performance contracts and waive matching requirements for underserved communities. The bill requires annual oversight reports from the USDA Inspector General and mandates a 60-day report on existing forestry funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establish a $60 billion Outdoor and Watershed Restoration Fund to finance forest, grassland, and rangeland restoration and resilience projects on federal and non-federal land, reduce wildfire risk, and create outdoor jobs through grant programs and federal-state-tribal partnerships.
Who Benefits
- State, local, and tribal governments
- Forest and outdoor industry workers
- Conservation and wildlife organizations
Who Bears Costs
- Federal taxpayers ($60 billion appropriation)
Key Policy Areas
{'domain': 'Environment', 'evidence': ['3', '5', '6']}, {'domain': 'Agriculture', 'evidence': ['2', '5', '6']}, {'domain': 'Labor', 'evidence': ['5', '6']}
Primary Purpose
Establish a $60 billion Outdoor and Watershed Restoration Fund to finance forest, grassland, and rangeland restoration and resilience projects on federal and non-federal land, reduce wildfire risk, and create outdoor jobs through grant programs and federal-state-tribal partnerships.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Provide massive federal investment in restoration and wildfire resilience through a dual-track approach: grants for non-federal land capacity building and a direct partnership program for high-risk federal lands, with safeguards for wilderness and old-growth areas."
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Bennet (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Gallego, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Eligible entities (state/local/tribal), Federal land management agencies, State and local governments
USDA Forest Service faces effects in multiple directions
Resource-dependent industries (agriculture, oil and gas, outdoor recreation, forest products), Restoration and forestry contractors, Restoration and outdoor workforce
Positive-direction: Resource-dependent industries (agriculture, oil and gas, outdoor recreation, forest products), Restoration and forestry contractors, Restoration and outdoor workforce
Negative-direction: Timber industry (limited by old-growth and roadless exclusions)
Communities in wildland-urban interface, Conservation and wildlife organizations, Wildlife and ecological systems
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "secretary_of_treasury"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "secretary_of_interior"
- → Secretary of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
As defined in 36 CFR 219.19.
A project on federal or non-federal land designed per best available science to conduct restoration improving forest conditions, rangeland/grassland health, watershed function, or wildlife habitat.
Secretary of Agriculture.
As defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003.
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