Gianforte, Westerman Introduce Bill to Improve Forest Management, Reduce Threats of Wildfires

Statement

Congressman Greg Gianforte, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), and 17 other members of Congress introduced the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019, a solution to the growing economic and environmental threats of catastrophic wildfire.

"As Montanans prepare for another wildfire season, they remember 2017 when wildfires burned more than 1.2 million acres across our state," Gianforte said. "We've made progress to reduce the severity of wildfires, but there's more we can and should do. The Resilient Federal Forests Act builds upon what we accomplished last year. The bill makes critical reforms to prevent wildfires, improve reforestation efforts, promote collaboration at the local level, and end frivolous lawsuits as we know them. These are common sense reforms that will make our forests healthier, reduce the severity of our wildfires, improve wildlife habitat, and get our timber workers back to work."

"We have quite literally loved our trees to death. Forests going up in flames and releasing tons of carbon into the atmosphere is not true conservation; proactive, sound forest management is. Years of mismanagement have led to insect infestation, overstocked stands and dead and decaying trees. It's time to allow the Forest Service to use proven, scientific methods when managing our forests," Westerman said. "Arkansas has seen drought conditions and more environmental stress, but at the same time, we haven't seen an increase in the number or intensity of forest fires. If changing climate was the only thing that increased wildfires, surely we would see an increase in the number and intensity in my state. However, because we actively manage our public and private forests, the state has a thriving and expanding forest economy. Sound forest management makes a drastic difference in the health of a forest, which is why I believe The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019 is so important. I'm grateful to my colleagues who have already cosponsored the bill, and look forward to moving this legislation forward."

Industry leaders and stakeholders also issued statements in support of The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019.

"Congressman Gianforte has been pushing for stronger forest management reforms since his first day in office. The Resilient Federal Forests Act makes critical reforms to reduce the intensity of wildfires, improve reforestation efforts, and promote collaboration. Active management leads to healthier forests that are more resilient to insect infestation and wildfires. We believe Congress must pass meaningful reforms and thank Congressman Gianforte for his leadership." -- Chuck Roady, vice president and general manager, F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber

"We support and thank Congressman Westerman and Congressman Gianforte for their support of the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019. The poor health of our federal forests continues to threaten wildlife habitat, public safety, private property and neighboring non-federal lands. The Categorical Exclusions are much needed tools in implementing forest management projects by allowing projects to proceed more quickly on forests managed by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Importantly, the Resilient Federal Forests Act supports the efforts of collaboratives by streamlining the analysis and allowing their hard work to move to implementation quicker." -- Julia Altemus, executive director, Montana Wood Products Association

"Members of the American Loggers Council are in support of The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019. While Congress has championed efforts to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration efforts in the past, there are still areas that are in need of attention in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and help prevent the loss of lives, property as witnessed last year in and around Paradise, California and other Western States. … Our national forests are one of this country's greatest assets. We believe that members of Congress should be concerned about the overall health of those forests and the need to restore and improve those forests as quickly as possible by giving the US Forest Service and other agencies all of the tools that they need to accomplish that task." -- Daniel Dructor, executive vice president, American Loggers Council

Background

The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019 pairs targeted forest management reforms with needed regulatory streamlining to dramatically improve the health and resiliency of forests and rangelands. The bill provides federal land management agencies immediate tools to increase the pace, scale and cost efficiency of forest management projects, without sacrificing environmental protections. Gianforte and Westerman advanced similar legislation in the 115th Congress with bipartisan support, and several provisions were signed into law as part of the omnibus and Farm Bill packages.

The bill utilizes tools that the United States Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) can implement immediately to mitigate insect and disease infestation, prevent damage to municipal watersheds and critical infrastructure, quickly harvest wildfire-killed trees to pay for reforestation and improve the health of forests and grasslands to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire.

It also streamlines environmental reviews of projects for the removal of dead trees to pay for reforestation after large wildfires, requires an Environmental Assessment for a reforestation project, and encourages and speeds wildlife habitat improvement for wild turkey, ruffed grouse, elk, deer and other "early seral" forest-dependent species.

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