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The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today at 3 PM Eastern on H.R. 471, Fix Our Forests Act. In NLBMDA Weekly, we reported the news of the bill's reintroduction in the 119th Congress. Following the devastating wildfires in Southern California, there has been a push by lawmakers to advance the bill through Congress.
Earlier this week, NLBMDA’s Jonathan Paine and Matthew Delaney were on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers. During the meetings, they expressed NLBMDA’s support for the bipartisan legislation and advocated for an expedited passage through Congress.
Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) reduces the regulatory burdens which has historically hindered active forest management. Additionally, the legislation promotes the implementation of state-of-the-art technologies to identify areas which pose a high fire risk and prioritizes mitigation and forest management treatments to protect high risk communities.
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), lead sponsor for the bill, testified yesterday before the House Committee on Rules in support of the legislation. “The emergency actions occurring now in LA, like clearing brush and cutting fuel breaks, are the same treatments that would take place under this legislation. The bill ensures land managers do the work when the sky is blue, not when it’s orange, and fire is on the doorstep.” Westerman said in his remarks to the committee. More information on this legislation can be found here.
NLBMDA encourages members to contact your Representative to express the LBM industry’s support for this legislation.
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