Should Federal Forests be Actively Managed to Prevent Wildfires and Disease? (H.R. 2936)

What is H.R. 2936?

(Updated August 9, 2019)

This bill — known as the Resilient Federal Forests Act — would seek to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and improve the health of federal forests by actively managing federal forests and expediting related environmental reviews. It would also provide for streamlined reforestation after wildfires, allow the president to make disaster declarations for major wildfires, and reform litigation practices involving forest management.

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would be required to analyze only two alternatives when assessing a forest management project proposed by a collaborative group: an “action alternative” (ie the proposal), and a “no action” alternative that considers potential future impacts from not undertaking the project. Among those potential future impacts would be insect & disease threats, catastrophic wildfire and its impact on municipal watersheds, wildlife habitat, and other socio-economic factors.

Categorical exclusions — a category of actions which don’t have a significant effect on the environment and thus don’t require an environmental assessment — could be authorized to counteract insect & disease threats, reduce wildfire hazards, increase water yield, improve or enhance critical habitat, produce timber, or any combination of these purposes. Acreage sizes for categorical exclusions would be limited to 10,000 acres, or 30,000 acres if it’s a collaborative project.

Following a large-scale wildfire, an environmental assessment for reforestation activities would be required within two months, and at least 75 percent of the burned area would have to be reforested. Public input would be limited to 30 days for public scoping, 15 days for filing an objection, and 15 days for an agency to respond to an objection.

The president would be allowed to declare major wildfires a natural disaster under the Stafford Act (which is also used for hurricanes), which would make emergency funding available for wildfire suppression and prevents “fire-borrowing” by the Forest Service from non-fire suppression forest management accounts.

Time limits would be established on preliminary injunctions for forest management litigation, and courts would be required to weigh the risks of not taking action. No awards for attorney’s fees or expenses could be paid to any plaintiff challenging a forest management activity. A pilot program utilizing arbitration for resolving legal challenges to projects carried out under this legislation would be established.

Other provisions of this bill include:

• Indian tribes would be allowed to request to manage adjacent federal lands with streamlined authorities currently available to them on Indian land. They would be required to offer timber obtained using the new authorities for sale through competitive bid.

• The original 500 million board feet of timber minimum volume requirement on Oregon & California Railroad Revested Lands (O&C Lands) managed by BLM is affirmed, and BLM is required to annually offer for sale the greater of 500 mmbf or the sustained yield.

• The Fair Labor Standards Act would be amended to allow 16 and 17 year olds to participate in a family-run mechanized logging operation.

Argument in favor

Wildfires and disease pose a significant threat to national forests, in part because they’re overgrown. Active management using tools already available to the Forest Service and BLM would improve the health resilience of our nation’s forests.

Argument opposed

This bill would expose national forests to reckless logging practices and endanger treasured public lands. It would shortcut environmental reviews and public involvement that let communities weigh in on the process in some cases.

Impact

Federal forests and the communities in and near them; the Forest Service and the BLM.

Cost of H.R. 2936

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) introduced this bill to implement active forest management techniques to prevent wildfires and expedite reforestation after wildfires:

“For far too long, our nation’s forests have been fighting a battle for survival. The conflict is not with logging but with the effects of reactive versus proactive management which has resulted in costly confrontations with wildfire, disease, and insects. In 2015, a record 10.1 million acres burned due to wildfires. This bill would utilize tools already available to the U.S. Forest Service and provide protection to America’s forests by reducing the risks of wildfires through proper management techniques.”

The Wilderness Society expressed its strong opposition to this bill’s predecessor from the last Congress on the grounds that it would expose national forests to “reckless logging practices” and would “short-cut vital environmental reviews and public involvement.” Alan Rowsome, The Wilderness Society’s senior director of government relations in Washington, DC said:

“This divisive bill runs roughshod over time-tested conservation laws put in place decades ago to protect America’s national forests and drinking water. It also silences the public from raising concerns about logging on our treasured public lands, removing checks or balances that allow local communities to be heard. This measure erodes important conservation laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act by creating short cuts that would rush the environmental review and short change the public comment period in some instances.”

This legislation passed the House Natural Resource Committee on a 23-12 vote and has the support of 10 cosponsors in the House, including eight Republicans and two Democrats.

The Trump administration released a statement expressing mixed support for this bill. It cited appreciation for its provisions allowing proactive forest management and post-fire reforestation efforts, and expressed concern about changes to the Stafford Act not doing enough to end the practice of "fire borrowing".

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) Press Release
  
• House Natural Resources Committee Markup Summary
  
• House Natural Resources Committee Fact Sheet
  
• White House Statement of Administration Policy
• Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities (In Favor)
  
• Wilderness Society (Opposed - Previous Version)