The 119th Congress has hit the ground running with an ambitious agenda to redefine its work portfolio with attacks on our country’s bedrock environmental laws. Like the new congress, the new administration is eager to push new policies. The first 100 days are seen as a pivotal point for both, we can expect to see attacks on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other bedrock environmental laws, a push for logging and extraction activities, and an overall dismantling of environmental protections.
In the Horizon | “Fix Our Forests” Act is back
Late last week H.R.471 – Fix Our Forests Act sponsored by Republican Rep. Westerman (R-AR) was reintroduced in the House. This is the same highly controversial bill that passed the House floor vote last September. The deceptively named “Fix Our Forests Act” would override bedrock environmental laws and curtail public participation to mandate landscape-scale logging on federal lands. Elected officials who have co-sponsored this environmentally devastating bill include Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] and Rep. Fong, Vince [R-CA-20].
While the wildfires in Los Angeles were raging, killing at least 25 people and destroying more than 17,000 structures, leaders of the Congressional Western Caucus, Representatives LaMalfa (R-CA), Westerman (R-AR), and McClain (R-MI), sought to take political advantage of this profound tragedy to promote the “Fix Our Forests Act” (H.R. 471), which would increase logging across federal forest lands as a supposed community protection measure. New intel from the Hill says House Republican leadership plans to take the bill for a floor vote on Thursday, January 23, 2025. If passed, this bill will increase threats to at-risk communities from wildfires while amplifying the climate crisis. ForestWatch along with the John Muir Project and Wild Heritage have taken the lead on an NGO Letter Against H.R. 471, ‘Fix Our Forests’ Act directed at Members of Congress and President Trump.
It is unfortunate these fires are being politicized to push bad policy while ignoring more effective solutions like home hardening and defensible space immediately around structures. We are actively working on educating elected officials and their staffers on the best ways to protect our communities from wildfire.
What’s to come?
We can expect that more legislation will be introduced aimed at dismantling bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. We will disseminate information, share it with the public, and make it easy for you to let your voice be heard. As stakeholders, we have to hold elected officials accountable for their decisions.
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