Rep. George Whitesides (D-Agua Dulce) applauded the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry’s decision to advance the Fix Our Forests Act and urged for its quick passage on the Senate floor.

FOFA is a major bipartisan effort to restore forest health, reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires, and protect communities nationwide. The bill, which Rep. Whitesides advocated strongly for in the House, takes particular aim at addressing wildfire risks in states like California, where longer fire seasons and megafires have become increasingly destructive.

“The Fix Our Forests Act is long-overdue legislation that will help us combat the existential threat of wildfires in my district, our state, and the entire county,” said Rep. Whitesides. “Wildfire and forest management is not a partisan issue, it’s a matter of public safety, and I encourage the Senate to quickly consider this crucial legislation on the floor.”

In January, the U.S. House passed the Fix Our Forests Act on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. The House version of FOFA included provisions that would:

-Simplify and expedite environmental reviews for critical forest management projects, reducing costs and planning times while maintaining rigorous environmental standards.

-Reduce excess litigation that delays urgent forest management projects.

-Promote federal, state, tribal, and local collaboration through the creation of a new Fireshed Center and by codifying the Shared Stewardship initiative.

-Enhance community resilience to wildfires with the establishment of a Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program and a Community Wildfire Defense Research Program.

-Enable federal land managers to use emergency authorities to carry out landscape-scale management projects on the most at-risk firesheds.

The Senate’s version added some key improvements that would:

-Provide decision support for the pre-positioning of wildfire suppression personnel and assets based on real-time risk, a key issue in the Palisades Fire.

-Assist with the safe and effective use of prescribed fire to help prevent catastrophes like Hermit’s Peak escaped prescribed fire.

-Expand the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program to include structure and infrastructure hardening activities and encourage the deployment of proven wildfire technologies.

The Fix Our Forests Act is supported by a broad coalition of organizations in the 119th Congress, including the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE); Environmental Defense Fund; National Wildlife Federation; Utah Farm Bureau Federation; Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action); Alliance for Wildfire Resilience; International Association of Fire Chiefs; Megafire Action; National Audubon Society; Citizens’ Climate Lobby; Federation of American Scientists; Association of Firetech Innovation (AFI); the Nature Conservancy; Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership; American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA); Climate & Wildfire Institute; Wildfire Alliance; Tall Timbers; Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition; The Stewardship Project; Property and Environment Research Center (PERC); National Association of State Foresters (NASF); American Forests; and Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions.