On April 14th this week Senators John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA). The bill – which is presented as a measure against wildfire – could open the door to unlimited logging across millions of acres of national forests, erode environmental laws, and make it harder for members of the public to weigh in on government decisions.
If passed, FOFA would allow logging on federal lands without scientific review and community input. The bill limits the right of citizens to judicial review, effectively barring communities from bringing lawsuits to hold federal agencies accountable.
Both the FOFA and the President’s recent executive orders (which I wrote about earlier) call for changes in forest management that could ultimately worsen the risk of fire: Increased timber targets would focus limited Forest Service staff on meeting commercial timber amounts rather than taking appropriate measures to reduce wildfire risk. More logging will exacerbate the underlying causes of severe wildfire blazes – namely, dry forest conditions, caused by rising temperatures and a lack of precipitation due to climate change.
The following is a statement from Earthjustice, Oregon Wild, Standing Trees, and the Center for Biological Diversity, groups in the Climate Forests Coalition:
“Whether we are talking about the Fix Our Forests Act or President Trump’s executive order on forests, we are talking about an attack on our national public lands. This Senate bill could open the door to unlimited logging of forests owned and cherished by all Americans. Cutting down our old-growth and mature trees will ultimately worsen climate change. Rather than handing the keys to the Trump administration to unleash a logging bonanza, Senators should propose an alternative bill focused on supporting sensible wildfire mitigation strategies such as home hardening, local emergency planning, and defensible space.”
Send a letter to Oregon senators with Cascadia Wild’s easy to use opposition letter.
