Last week, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) introduced the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act.

"Decades of fire suppression, coupled with poor forest management, have resulted in larger and more severe wildfires that threaten our air, water, and climate. To address the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires, we must remove the regulatory barriers that hinder our ability to actively manage our forests. The American Conservation Coalition Action and our nearly 50,000 young conservative members across the country applaud this effort to restore the health of America's forests and ultimately protect our environment." - Chris Barnard, president, American Conservation Coalition Action 

"American Forests applauds the bipartisan introduction of the Fix our Forests Act, which offers a suite of wildfire solutions that will not only advance new tools, technologies and partnerships needed to confront the wildfire crisis, but will also improve the transparency and accountability of urgent wildfire mitigation investments. American Forests supports the legislation and looks forward to continuing work with the cosponsors to strengthen provisions that will help ensure our forested landscapes and communities are equipped to recover in the aftermath of severe wildfire events, consistent with our new organizational strategy Restoring America's Forests for Wildfire Resilience in a Changing Climate." - Patrick Holmes, senior policy advisor, American Forests

"Americans support comprehensive, effective, and proactive solutions to our nation's wildfire and smoke crisis. The American Forest Resource Council applauds Chairman Westerman for introducing the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act that promotes science-based active forest management on our unhealthy, overstocked and fire-prone federal forests. Accelerating forest health treatments will improve forest resiliency, protect our communities, and ensure our forests continue to provide clean drinking water, outdoors recreation, quality wildlife habitat, climate friendly wood products, and many other values for the future. As the wildfire season ramps up, we encourage Congress to approve and advance the Fix Our Forests Act to the President's desk without delay." - Travis Joseph, president, American Forest Resource Council

"As demonstrated by its broad group of bipartisan sponsors, the Fix Our Forests Act represents a commonsense approach to improving forest management activities on federal and tribal lands and improving resilience to these overgrown and fire-prone lands. This bill represents a major step in helping to prevent catastrophic wildfires, lessen their environmental damage, and better use the nation’s public and tribal forest lands. Berkshire Hathaway Energy recognizes the growing threat of wildfires affects everyone and requires holistic solutions with businesses, governments and key stakeholders working together to design and implement constructive, enduring solutions." - Scott Thon, president and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Energy

"The Boone and Crockett Club appreciates the bipartisan work of Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA) for introducing a strong forest management bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would allow the U.S. Forest Service to accelerate active forest management on our national forests—reducing the risk of severe wildfires, improving big game habitat, and creating jobs in rural communities. The Boone and Crockett Club has repeatedly supported legislation to improve the Good Neighbor Authority, speed up project review, and stop frivolous litigation—so that the Forest Service can get the job done." - Tony Schoonen, CEO, Boone and Crockett Club

"Catastrophic wildfires continue to wreak havoc on our federal forests, and we thank Chairman Westerman and Congressman Peters for their leadership in introducing the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act. This legislation will expedite environmental analysis for forest management projects, address incessant litigation, remedy the Cottonwood decision, and improve the Good Neighbor Authority to increase forest resiliency and support wildlife habitat through active management." - Jeff Crane, president and CEO, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation

"EEI and our member companies commend Chairman Bruce Westerman and Representative Scott Peters for introducing the Fix Our Forests Act and for their work to address wildfire risk. Our member companies are making significant investments to enhance energy grid resilience and to ensure electricity service to customers is reliable. This includes investments to limit the risk of potential wildfire ignitions. The Fix Our Forests Act is crucial to ensuring that electric companies can properly maintain and clear vegetation on electric transmission and distribution rights-of-way in a timely manner." - Dan Brouillette, president and CEO, Edison Electric Institute

"The loss of life, livelihood, and property due to extreme wildfire sweeping through our towns and wildfire smoke choking our air hundreds of miles away has tragically become an all too common occurrence. As Christians we have a biblical mandate to take good care of God’s creation and to defend the life of all God’s children. That includes ensuring a healthy and safe environment for all. The Evangelical Environmental Network is grateful to Chairman Westerman (R-AR-4) and Representative Peters (D-CA-52) for their leadership furthering the national conversation to prevent wildfire in our most fire-prone forested lands and protect the lives and property of Americans both near and far from these firesheds with the introduction of the Fix Our Forests Acts." - The Rev. Dr. Jessica Moerman, president and CEO, Evangelical Environmental Network

"The Forest Landowners Association commends Chairman Westerman and Congressman Peters for introducing the Fix Our Forests Act. This bipartisan bill would provide the tools needed to counter the spread of wildfires, pests, and diseases by enhancing forest management on our nation's public lands which will create safer neighbors for private forest landowners. We look forward to working with the bill's sponsors to ensure our nation's forests remain healthy and resilient for generations to come." - Forest Landowners Association

"Federal regulations and red tape have unnecessarily delayed or prevented proactive forest management in America’s National Forests. This has created conditions that harm the economies of rural forest-based communities and have resulted in federal forestlands being more susceptible to insects, disease, and catastrophic wildfires. The Fix Our Forests Act provides the necessary tools for the Forest Service to more effectively and efficiently manage forestlands to improve forest health and benefit economies in rural communities." - Tim O’Hara, interim president, Forest Resources Association

"As the megafire crisis grows larger and more severe with each fire season, we need policy solutions that reflect the urgency and scale of the problem. The bipartisan Fixing Our Forests Act is an important step in the right direction that will improve critical fuels treatments and protect communities by responsibly addressing regulatory burdens and leveraging technology to better target and prioritize landscapes. We appreciate the process put forth by Chairman Westerman and Congressman Peters and look forward to working with them to continue improving this bill. We’re particularly excited to see the Fireshed Center established as a joint effort between the Forest Service and USGS to modernize decision support tools and the inclusion of a testbed pilot program for new and innovative wildfire prevention, detection, communication, and mitigation technologies." - Matt Weiner, CEO, Megafire Action 

"We applaud Chairman Westerman (R-AR-04) and Congressman Peters (D-CA-50) for their bipartisan efforts to help address the wildfire crisis. As our climate changes, an all-of-the-above approach is needed to optimize forest health and productivity, improve forest resilience, and proactively reduce wildfire risk to both public and private forestlands. We look forward to working with Congressman Westerman, Peters, and other Congressional partners on bipartisan approaches to advance scientifically proven forest management strategies across ownerships that increase forest health, productivity and resilience; reduce the risk of severe wildfire; and protect our homes, businesses and communities." - David P. Tenny, president and CEO, National Alliance of Forest Owners

"The devastating wildfires threatening life, property, and our treasured natural resources are a consequence of a century of misguided policy favoring fire suppression over responsible management, exacerbated by climate change. Tribal Nations have successfully stewarded this continent’s forests, and the sacred ecosystems they embody, since time immemorial through practices such as cultural burning that enhance habitat resilience. The sponsors of the Fix Our Forests Act recognize that Tribal Nations have a critical role working with the U.S. Forest Services and Bureau of Land Management to restore the health of our forests. The bill acknowledges Tribal sovereignty and provides for shared stewardship in fireshed management as well as cultural burning, and aims to safeguard Tribal resources. Crucially, the bill makes a much-needed fix to the Good Neighbor program, which presently excludes Tribal Nations that undertake forest restoration activities from an important revenue source available to states." - Larry Wright, Jr., executive director, National Congress of American Indians

"Managing increasingly challenging wildfire seasons requires collaboration from all parties, from community partners to the federal government. The National Forest Foundation is encouraged to see the wildfire crisis and related funding needs continue to surface with increased immediacy in Congress. We know that cooperation among all landowners – federal, state, tribal, private, and municipal - is critical to wildfire mitigation and enables all of us to move more quickly and strategically at a landscape scale." - Mary Mitsos, president and CEO, National Forest Foundation

"The health of our nation’s forests are in a state of emergency due to wildfires, drought, insects, and disease. The National Wild Turkey Federation is working diligently with the USDA Forest Service to address these issues through fuels reduction and forest restoration work under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and stewardship contracting throughout the country, but we need to be working even quicker and at a greater scale. The provisions of the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act — including authorization of 20-year stewardship contracts, ensuring the use of categorical exclusions when available, and a long-needed response to lawsuits that hamper critical forest work — will help us move the needle and bring our nation’s forests back into a healthy and resilient state that benefits water resources, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation and the local communities that depend on them." - Kurt Dyroff, co-CEO, National Wild Turkey Federation

"TNC appreciates the serious undertaking of Chairman Westerman and Representative Peters to craft legislation targeted at preventing more catastrophic wildfires through improved forest and fuels management. TNC has been working to restore beneficial fire and improve the resilience of forest systems on the ground for more than 60 years. As the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission recently recognized, we need to act urgently and at all levels of society to address the scope and scale of the wildland fire crisis. Wildfires continue to grow deadlier and more devastating to communities and the environment every year. We are encouraged by how far this legislation has come and the inclusion of several recommendations from the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Report, in which TNC participated. We look forward to continuing to work to improve the bill, and we urge leaders in Congress to do the same, so that we can enact meaningful policy reform to address this growing challenge." - Kameran Onley, managing director of North America policy and government relations, The Nature Conservancy

"Over the past decade, PG&E and other utilities have collectively invested billions of dollars to mitigate the risk of utility-caused catastrophic wildfires and strengthen community resilience across our service areas. Trimming and removing trees near powerlines has played a significant role in our wildfire risk reduction efforts. PG&E supports legislation that would expedite permitting and approvals and reduce barriers to the essential work of keeping powerlines clear of vegetation. The Fix Our Forests Act is a comprehensive approach that would restore the health of our wildlands, reduce catastrophic wildfire risk and protect our customers and communities." - Patti Poppe, CEO, Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation

"With 80 million acres of forest and countless communities at risk of catastrophic wildfire, we need to rapidly accelerate forest restoration efforts before it’s too late. These fires jeopardize wildlife habitat, air and water purification, climate moderation, outdoor recreation, and local economies. By expanding Good Neighbor Authority, fixing the Cottonwood decision, and reducing disruptive litigation, the bipartisan Fix our Forests Act from Chairman Westerman and Congressman Peters would help restore healthy forests and solve the wildfire crisis." - Brian Yablonski, CEO, The Property and Environment Research Center

To learn more about the Fix Our Forests Act, click here.