"A new bill poised to pass the Senate after clearing the House will govern how the federal government thins, burns and otherwise manages nearly 200 million acres of the nation's forests. The Fix Our Forests Act, sponsored by U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., John Curtis, R-Utah, Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., passed out of Senate committee recently in a rare show of bipartisan support, with 18 senators in favor and only five opposed."
"Over a century of fire suppression has left the forests in a weakened state, he added, creating problems that drought, climate change and disease have only intensified. O'Casey hopes the bill can help prevent the megafires that have increasingly scorched the West. The Forest Service currently treats about 4 million acres each year, a drop in the bucket of the nation's 193 million acres of forest. Forest managers need to get to work now in the places "where it's needed most,""
The Fix Our Forests Act will govern federal thinning, prescribed burning and other management across nearly 200 million acres of national forests. The bill is sponsored by Senators John Hickenlooper, John Curtis, Tim Sheehy and Alex Padilla and passed a Senate committee 18-5. Provisions promote prescribed burning, forest thinning, creation of defensible space around vulnerable homes, recognition of wetlands as wildfire buffers, and cross-boundary programs among counties, states and tribes. The bill reauthorizes the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to fund collaborative mitigation and forest-health projects. Current treatment rates are about 4 million acres annually.
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