Misguided forestry bill would send Forest Service into deeper chaos
Clearcutting from logging operations.
Mason Cummings, TWS
After ruthless attacks on the Forest Service, Trump administration ducks from Senate hearing
While thousands of recently terminated Forest Service employees grapple with lost jobs, empty field offices, and reduced capacity to address the wildfire crisis, Republican senators found a needless distraction in a D.C. hearing room.
On Thursday morning, members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee reviewed the Fix Our Forests Act (H.R. 471) – a pro-logging bill masquerading as a wildfire solution. If passed, the legislation would open millions of acres of federal land to logging with minimal scientific review or community input, remove Endangered Species Act consultation requirements, and effectively eliminate the public from seeking justice and holding federal agencies accountable. What's more, the bill is an outright insult to communities suffering from wildfire every year who are desperately in need of smart, science-driven solutions to a warmer world – many of whom have been impacted by the Trump administration’s irresponsible job cuts.
In response to the Senate hearing, The Wilderness Society issued the following statement:
"It’s no surprise that witnesses for both the majority and minority focused on the crisis of the firings taking place at our land management agencies. The Trump administration is busying itself with dismantling the Forest Service and allowing logging companies to reign supreme on our shared, public forests – all while the wildfire crisis grows. The last thing the agency needs is poison pill legislation that claims to be about wildfire, but does nothing to protect communities threatened by it,” said Jordan Schreiber, Government Relations Director of The Wilderness Society. “Senators must reject the Fix Our Forests Act and listen to forestry and wildfire experts, local governments and communities, and scientists to find commonsense solutions that ensure protections for the places that provide us clean air, water, and sustain local economies driven by tourism and recreation. Restoring the Forest Service to full strength and rejecting President Trump’s attacks should be first on their to-do list.”
The Trump administration did not send a witness to respond to its recent, reckless decisions to dismantle the Forest Service. Fix Our Forests Act passed the House in January.
To speak with The Wilderness Society’s forest policy experts and scientists, contact edenny@tws.org
